Tuesday, March 4, 2008
A Whole New Mind
I'm starting to see Daniel Pink everywhere I look, including this article about how a psychologist is currently beating most groups of mathematicians working on an algorithm for Netflix that'll earn a million dollar prize. Alternate headlines include "Guy uses Right and Left Hemispheres to Beat L-Brained GroupThinkers" and "Soft Science Melded with Hard Math, Consumerism Wins."
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Isn't that the way it goes, Klara? When you read something or see a new thing, all of a sudden you see reminders of that thing. Raising your consciousness? I had a similar experience to the chapter on design in Pink's book.
I've often thought that certain elements in a house need to be changed. I've lived in several houses and of course, like features of them. For example, in a previous house, I really liked that the laundry area was very close to the bedrooms. In my current home, all of the clothes have to be carried downstairs to be washed and then all the way back to be folded and put away. Lugging heavy laundry baskets up and down 15 steps gets old very quickly! In my "ideal house" design, the washer and dryer would be placed much closer to bedroom area.
The quote on design in Pink's book made struck a chord with me. He quotes John Heskett who said that design needs to "...serve our needs..." This becomes important to us as we use the things in our environment that can make our lives easier.
The connection I made to this definition and Pink's chapter on design came in a quarterly publication from the University of Florida alumni newsletter. It seems that some builders are now designing homes that take aging into consideration to make the houses be more user friendly Google. As people get older, their homes need different elements to help them be able to live in their houses.
These universal design elements can be something as simple as extra outlets or grab bars in the shower. Having these components in a house raises its value because it makes the house more liveable for a longer time as the occupants grow older.
Although I'm not quite ready to retire, there are certainly lots of things that I will want in a house as I get older. And there are some things that I don't want - in this case, 15 stairs - or maybe just less laundry?
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