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The Hidden Dimension
An examination of various cultural concepts of space and how differences among them affect modern society. Introducing the science of "proxemics," Hall demonstrates how man's use of space can affect personal business relations, cross-cultural exchanges, architecture, city planning, and urban renewal.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
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About the author
Edward T. Hall
32 books173 followersBorn in Webster Groves, Missouri, Hall taught at the University of Denver, Colorado, Bennington College in Vermont, Harvard Business School, Illinois Institute of Technology, Northwestern University in Illinois and others. The foundation for his lifelong research on cultural perceptions of space was laid during World War II when he served in the U.S. Army in Europe and the Philippines.
From 1933 through 1937, Hall lived and worked with the Navajo and the Hopi on native American reservations in northwestern Arizona, the subject of his autobiographical West of the Thirties. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1942 and continued with field work and direct experience throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. During the 1950s he worked for the United States State Department, at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), teaching inter-cultural communications skills to foreign service personnel, developed the concept of "High context culture" and "low context culture", and wrote several popular practical books on dealing with cross-cultural issues. He is considered a founding father of intercultural communication as an academic area of study.
Hall first created the concepts of proxemics, polychronic and monochronic time, high and low context culture. In his book, The Hidden Dimension, he describes the culturally specific temporal and spatial dimensions that surround each of us, such as the physical distances people keep each other in different contexts.
In The Silent Language (1959), Hall coined the term polychronic to describe the ability to attend to multiple events simultaneously, as opposed to "monochronic" individuals and cultures who tend to handle events sequentially.
In 1976, he released his third book, Beyond Culture, which is notable for having developed the idea of extension transference; that is, that humanity's rate of evolution has and does increase as a consequence of its creations, that we evolve as much through our "extensions" as through our biology. However, with extensions such as the wheel, cultural values, and warfare being technology based, they are capable of much faster adaptation than genetics.
Robert Shuter, a well-known intercultural and cross-cultural communication researcher, commented: "Edward Hall's research reflects the regimen and passion of an anthropologist: a deep regard for culture explored principally by descriptive, qualitative methods.... The challenge for intercultural communication... is to develop a research direction and teaching agenda that returns culture to preeminence and reflects the roots of the field as represented in Edward Hall's early research."
He died at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico on July 20, 2009.
From 1933 through 1937, Hall lived and worked with the Navajo and the Hopi on native American reservations in northwestern Arizona, the subject of his autobiographical West of the Thirties. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1942 and continued with field work and direct experience throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. During the 1950s he worked for the United States State Department, at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), teaching inter-cultural communications skills to foreign service personnel, developed the concept of "High context culture" and "low context culture", and wrote several popular practical books on dealing with cross-cultural issues. He is considered a founding father of intercultural communication as an academic area of study.
Hall first created the concepts of proxemics, polychronic and monochronic time, high and low context culture. In his book, The Hidden Dimension, he describes the culturally specific temporal and spatial dimensions that surround each of us, such as the physical distances people keep each other in different contexts.
In The Silent Language (1959), Hall coined the term polychronic to describe the ability to attend to multiple events simultaneously, as opposed to "monochronic" individuals and cultures who tend to handle events sequentially.
In 1976, he released his third book, Beyond Culture, which is notable for having developed the idea of extension transference; that is, that humanity's rate of evolution has and does increase as a consequence of its creations, that we evolve as much through our "extensions" as through our biology. However, with extensions such as the wheel, cultural values, and warfare being technology based, they are capable of much faster adaptation than genetics.
Robert Shuter, a well-known intercultural and cross-cultural communication researcher, commented: "Edward Hall's research reflects the regimen and passion of an anthropologist: a deep regard for culture explored principally by descriptive, qualitative methods.... The challenge for intercultural communication... is to develop a research direction and teaching agenda that returns culture to preeminence and reflects the roots of the field as represented in Edward Hall's early research."
He died at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico on July 20, 2009.
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June 19, 2021
There are a couple of things that happen when I read a book that is nearly as old as I am, but that brings up ideas that still seems astounding and revolutionary, but that I’ve never heard of before. The first is for me to think, well, maybe the ideas in this have been proven wrong. I mean, why else wouldn’t I have heard of them before? That still is a possibility, of course, although, now I’ve read two other books that reference this book, and who knows, maybe I’ve read lots of previous books too that referenced it and I just didn’t notice. I do this with people all the time, why not with books too?
The other thing that happens is that I get a bit annoyed that people haven’t made more use of the ideas here – at least, I haven’t noticed these ideas elsewhere – and I really ought to have because I do read books around themes where I might have thought the ideas in this ought to have been mentioned. You know, not only have I not noticed this book being mentioned, but I also haven’t noticed the ideas in this book being discussed either.
The hidden dimension in the title is human culture. Although, saying that is both a bit narrow and a bit too broad to for what is really being discussed here. ‘Culture’ is one of Raymond Williams’s ‘keywords’ – a title he used because he probably couldn’t convince his publishers to call them ‘bastard-words’. Whatever culture means when you first think of it, probably isn’t quite what is meant here.
The book starts off in just about the last way I would have expected it to. He starts by saying that Malthus was wrong in his theory of population, although, not in the way others have said he was wrong. You see, Malthus held that populations grow exponentially, while food supplies only grow linearly, and so it doesn’t take too long before populations outgrow their food supplies, and then populations tend to collapse. This book argues that populations collapse long before food runs out. That is, that even while there is more than enough food to go around, over population of most higher animals already starts to lead to a reduction in the amount of space between animals. and this means animals become so stressed they can’t sustain their normal practices. Animals are often highly territorial, and so population explosions lead to animal social chaos, or what you could call animal territorial anxiety, long before starvation kills them off. It is stress that kills them off, not starvation.
The argument then shifts to humans, who are, after all, basically just higher animals with, as we say in Australia, tickets on themselves (that is, high levels of self-opinion). So, when do the levels of proximity we share with other humans start to make us dysfunctional and unable to sustain social, emotional, sexual and other forms of healthy engagement with each other? The question is particularly interesting because our cities are becoming increasingly crowded and are likely to become more so.
This book was written at a time when modernist, post-war architecture for the poor involved building housing developments that were at least partially comparable to the cages that were built in zoos at the time. I kept thinking of this clip throughout this book. Although, it has been decades since I saw it, fortunately it is available on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPe0d...
The bit of this I really liked was his experiments upon what you notice when you are at different distances from other people – you know, when is too close, too close? At what distance is a conversation comfortable and when does it start to become difficult to sustain without raising your voice? And when is the distance between you and the other person simply too great for you to have a conversation no matter now loudly you speak? What I particularly liked about this was the idea of smell being close enough to smell the other person and how we react differently to this level of closeness depending on our culture. Not just sight and sound, but touch and smell too.
Years ago someone told me the story of one of the Maori who signed the Treaty of Waitangi – that he said that negotiations would have gone much more smoothly if the British had first exchanged breath in a hongi (the pressing of nose and forehead together in an act of welcome). The bit of that which struck me was the notion of mixing breath. You know, you could have sex with someone in the West and not be permitted to smell their breath. Now that I think of it, that is close to the saddest things and something that speaks to so many levels of dysfunction in the West. The author makes a lot of the difference between Americans and Arabs on the basis of how prepared they are to breath on the another person. He says that for an Arab to smell someone’s breath is to really engage with them – remember those aerosols people used to use that pumped out peppermint mist? That we have moved to Mentos is hardly an advance.
A lot of the end of this book discusses the differences in the needs cultures have for space and the reactions cultures hold in relation to space. Germans need thick, strong doors and so they judge Americans on the basis of their flimsy, light ones. The Brits were all brought up in dormitories in boarding schools and so don’t need the same forms of privacy that the Americans do. And don’t get me started on the French. Many of the social problems that exist between the white working-class in America and Negros comes down to differences in their relationships to space. You know, a lot of this sounded like nonsense – but he does say that he based much of what he says here on his own observations and that more accurate analysis needs to be done.
To be honest, I don’t know what to make of a lot of this – I feel that there must have been more rigorous work done on this stuff, but, that said, I’ve just finished ‘The Eyes of the Skin’, and Pallasmaa makes the point that this book has been extensively read by architects but that its lessons have been mostly ignored. Hmm. All the same, I have a new word to be getting on with: ‘Proxemics’ – which is, in fact, a new field of study – I will have to see what has been added to this field since 1966 when this book was published.
If anyone knows of a book that discusses the gendering of space – I would really love to read it and will be forever in your debt.
The other thing that happens is that I get a bit annoyed that people haven’t made more use of the ideas here – at least, I haven’t noticed these ideas elsewhere – and I really ought to have because I do read books around themes where I might have thought the ideas in this ought to have been mentioned. You know, not only have I not noticed this book being mentioned, but I also haven’t noticed the ideas in this book being discussed either.
The hidden dimension in the title is human culture. Although, saying that is both a bit narrow and a bit too broad to for what is really being discussed here. ‘Culture’ is one of Raymond Williams’s ‘keywords’ – a title he used because he probably couldn’t convince his publishers to call them ‘bastard-words’. Whatever culture means when you first think of it, probably isn’t quite what is meant here.
The book starts off in just about the last way I would have expected it to. He starts by saying that Malthus was wrong in his theory of population, although, not in the way others have said he was wrong. You see, Malthus held that populations grow exponentially, while food supplies only grow linearly, and so it doesn’t take too long before populations outgrow their food supplies, and then populations tend to collapse. This book argues that populations collapse long before food runs out. That is, that even while there is more than enough food to go around, over population of most higher animals already starts to lead to a reduction in the amount of space between animals. and this means animals become so stressed they can’t sustain their normal practices. Animals are often highly territorial, and so population explosions lead to animal social chaos, or what you could call animal territorial anxiety, long before starvation kills them off. It is stress that kills them off, not starvation.
The argument then shifts to humans, who are, after all, basically just higher animals with, as we say in Australia, tickets on themselves (that is, high levels of self-opinion). So, when do the levels of proximity we share with other humans start to make us dysfunctional and unable to sustain social, emotional, sexual and other forms of healthy engagement with each other? The question is particularly interesting because our cities are becoming increasingly crowded and are likely to become more so.
This book was written at a time when modernist, post-war architecture for the poor involved building housing developments that were at least partially comparable to the cages that were built in zoos at the time. I kept thinking of this clip throughout this book. Although, it has been decades since I saw it, fortunately it is available on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPe0d...
The bit of this I really liked was his experiments upon what you notice when you are at different distances from other people – you know, when is too close, too close? At what distance is a conversation comfortable and when does it start to become difficult to sustain without raising your voice? And when is the distance between you and the other person simply too great for you to have a conversation no matter now loudly you speak? What I particularly liked about this was the idea of smell being close enough to smell the other person and how we react differently to this level of closeness depending on our culture. Not just sight and sound, but touch and smell too.
Years ago someone told me the story of one of the Maori who signed the Treaty of Waitangi – that he said that negotiations would have gone much more smoothly if the British had first exchanged breath in a hongi (the pressing of nose and forehead together in an act of welcome). The bit of that which struck me was the notion of mixing breath. You know, you could have sex with someone in the West and not be permitted to smell their breath. Now that I think of it, that is close to the saddest things and something that speaks to so many levels of dysfunction in the West. The author makes a lot of the difference between Americans and Arabs on the basis of how prepared they are to breath on the another person. He says that for an Arab to smell someone’s breath is to really engage with them – remember those aerosols people used to use that pumped out peppermint mist? That we have moved to Mentos is hardly an advance.
A lot of the end of this book discusses the differences in the needs cultures have for space and the reactions cultures hold in relation to space. Germans need thick, strong doors and so they judge Americans on the basis of their flimsy, light ones. The Brits were all brought up in dormitories in boarding schools and so don’t need the same forms of privacy that the Americans do. And don’t get me started on the French. Many of the social problems that exist between the white working-class in America and Negros comes down to differences in their relationships to space. You know, a lot of this sounded like nonsense – but he does say that he based much of what he says here on his own observations and that more accurate analysis needs to be done.
To be honest, I don’t know what to make of a lot of this – I feel that there must have been more rigorous work done on this stuff, but, that said, I’ve just finished ‘The Eyes of the Skin’, and Pallasmaa makes the point that this book has been extensively read by architects but that its lessons have been mostly ignored. Hmm. All the same, I have a new word to be getting on with: ‘Proxemics’ – which is, in fact, a new field of study – I will have to see what has been added to this field since 1966 when this book was published.
If anyone knows of a book that discusses the gendering of space – I would really love to read it and will be forever in your debt.
June 19, 2021
تحديث
بعد ثلاث سنوات تقريبا من قراءة هذا الكتاب يجب أن أعترف أن إعادة تقييم هذا الكتاب "واجب" لابد منه
صحيح أنه كتاب ممل وفي بعض الصفحات يصل لقمة الملل ولكن كل يوم تحدث مواقف ومشاهد تستدعي هذا الكتاب فوراً .... تقريبا يوميا لسان حالي يقول "صدق البعد الخفي!"0
____________________________
كل شخص موجود داخل "فقاعة" تصنع نوعاً من الحدود الخفية بينه وبين محيطه رغم كونها فقاعة غير مرئية لكنها مؤثره بقوة بعلاقة الفرد السوية بمحيطه .. .. فأي اختلال في هذه الحدود قد يؤثر سلباً على العلاقات، الاستقرار، التوازن النفسي للأفراد داخل المجتمع .. .. .. وهذه الفقاعة حددها الكاتب وأطلق عليها اسم البعد الخفي
البعد الخفي ليس مقدار ثابت و لكنه يتغير بتغير الظروف والأشخاص فمثلاً مدى البعد الخفي في مكان عام "منتزه مثلاً" بين العائلة يكون ضيق ولكن نلاحظ اتساعه بين شخص وناس غرباء لا إرادياً ( يختلف أكثر بين المجتمعات فنلاحظ المجتمعات العربية يكون واااااااسع مع الغرباء بعكس الغربية)0
مفهوم البعد الخفي يختلف من مجتمع لأخر و يحدد في الواقع طبيعة المجتمع، وإنشاء تصميم "فعَّال" لمدينة لا يعتمد فقط على التصميم العمراني و لكن أيضاً تعزيز هذا المفهوم
أنسب مثال يوضِّح المشاكل الناجمة عن اختلال مفهوم البعد الخفي هو "الازدحام" سواء كان ازدحام السكان في منطقة سكنية معينة أو ازدحام السير .. .. سنلاحظ فوراً كم التوتر والمشاكل التي ستنتج بين الأشخاص لأن كل شخص توجد لديه أبعاد خفية (مساحة شخصية) لو حصل فيها اختلال (انتهاك) ستظهر فوراً الاضطرابات .. .. ولهذا نلاحظ ازدياد نسبة الانحرافات، المشاكل والجرائم في المناطق المزدحمة سيئة التخطيط
الكتاب يحوي العديد من الأمثلة والتجارب العلمية (على الفئران) التي توضِّح أهمية هذا المفهوم .. .. شعرت بالملل في بعض الأجزاء ولكنها في المجمل تجربة جديدة، مفيدة، أضافت لي الكثير
بعد ثلاث سنوات تقريبا من قراءة هذا الكتاب يجب أن أعترف أن إعادة تقييم هذا الكتاب "واجب" لابد منه
صحيح أنه كتاب ممل وفي بعض الصفحات يصل لقمة الملل ولكن كل يوم تحدث مواقف ومشاهد تستدعي هذا الكتاب فوراً .... تقريبا يوميا لسان حالي يقول "صدق البعد الخفي!"0
____________________________
كل شخص موجود داخل "فقاعة" تصنع نوعاً من الحدود الخفية بينه وبين محيطه رغم كونها فقاعة غير مرئية لكنها مؤثره بقوة بعلاقة الفرد السوية بمحيطه .. .. فأي اختلال في هذه الحدود قد يؤثر سلباً على العلاقات، الاستقرار، التوازن النفسي للأفراد داخل المجتمع .. .. .. وهذه الفقاعة حددها الكاتب وأطلق عليها اسم البعد الخفي
البعد الخفي ليس مقدار ثابت و لكنه يتغير بتغير الظروف والأشخاص فمثلاً مدى البعد الخفي في مكان عام "منتزه مثلاً" بين العائلة يكون ضيق ولكن نلاحظ اتساعه بين شخص وناس غرباء لا إرادياً ( يختلف أكثر بين المجتمعات فنلاحظ المجتمعات العربية يكون واااااااسع مع الغرباء بعكس الغربية)0
مفهوم البعد الخفي يختلف من مجتمع لأخر و يحدد في الواقع طبيعة المجتمع، وإنشاء تصميم "فعَّال" لمدينة لا يعتمد فقط على التصميم العمراني و لكن أيضاً تعزيز هذا المفهوم
أنسب مثال يوضِّح المشاكل الناجمة عن اختلال مفهوم البعد الخفي هو "الازدحام" سواء كان ازدحام السكان في منطقة سكنية معينة أو ازدحام السير .. .. سنلاحظ فوراً كم التوتر والمشاكل التي ستنتج بين الأشخاص لأن كل شخص توجد لديه أبعاد خفية (مساحة شخصية) لو حصل فيها اختلال (انتهاك) ستظهر فوراً الاضطرابات .. .. ولهذا نلاحظ ازدياد نسبة الانحرافات، المشاكل والجرائم في المناطق المزدحمة سيئة التخطيط
الكتاب يحوي العديد من الأمثلة والتجارب العلمية (على الفئران) التي توضِّح أهمية هذا المفهوم .. .. شعرت بالملل في بعض الأجزاء ولكنها في المجمل تجربة جديدة، مفيدة، أضافت لي الكثير
December 27, 2012
This is an extraordinary book, full of great insights despite having been first published fifty years ago. It's considered a foundational text in the anthropology of space, the study of "space" as a function of nurture rather than nature, and as something that varies from one culture to another. The author is specifically concerned with what he calls "proxemics," the perception of proximity. Different cultures have different, unstated, rules for what constitute intimate, personal, social, and public interpersonal spaces. Hall argues that these rules need to be taken into account if we are to communicate successfully across cultures. They also need to be taken into account in the design of our buildings and cities. Written at a time when the American city was in precipitous decline, the book calls for a sensitive consideration of the spatial cultures of ethnic minorities in the design of urban spaces that will allow their communities to flourish. The book is very accessible, free of jargon and full of illustrative examples. A great book for someone eager to think about how culture creates the spaces we inhabit, and that form an intimate if unrecognized part of who we are.
December 30, 2011
I saw this book referenced in many works on technology and social organization. Since I like to think about such things, and since I like to know the theoretical background of scholars who generate the sour metal taste of repugnance in my mind, I picked up this book.
My first impression was 'this could have been really cutting edge for the turn of the century.'
It was published in 1969.
The idea of the book, according the the author's preface, was to deal with the following: "Information overload increases the need for organizing frames of reference to integrate the mass of rapidly changing information. The Hidden Dimension attempts to provide such an organizing frame for space as a system of communication, and for the spatial aspects of architecture and city planning."
Drawing from the concept of linguistic relativity, Hall argues that 'culture' should be viewed as the same sort of extension as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, and thus “In light of what is known of ethnology, it may be profitable in the long run if man is viewed as an organism that has elaborated and specialized his extensions to such a degree that they have taken over, and are rapidly replacing, nature. In other words, man has created a new dimension, the cultural dimension, of which proxemics is only a part. The relationship between man and the cultural dimension is on in which both man and his environment participate in molding each other.”
This had potential, as Hall was willing to consider smell, distance, and other sensations in his analysis.
To demonstrate such sensations, however, the book falls into a number of broad generalization about animal behavior (random animals, from birds to lions, without any conscious effort to deal with lifespan and social structure differences in these species) to broad generalizations about human behavior (Grouping discussions of the "german," "english," and "French," can I SUPPOSE be SOMEHOW justified, but "JAPAN" and a generic "ARAB WORLD?") without any conscious effort to make a gesture towards gender, economic status, region, or age.
I should have known that this book would be disappointing since Marshall McLuhan and Walter Ong were the major celebrants of this work.
*blech*
My first impression was 'this could have been really cutting edge for the turn of the century.'
It was published in 1969.
The idea of the book, according the the author's preface, was to deal with the following: "Information overload increases the need for organizing frames of reference to integrate the mass of rapidly changing information. The Hidden Dimension attempts to provide such an organizing frame for space as a system of communication, and for the spatial aspects of architecture and city planning."
Drawing from the concept of linguistic relativity, Hall argues that 'culture' should be viewed as the same sort of extension as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, and thus “In light of what is known of ethnology, it may be profitable in the long run if man is viewed as an organism that has elaborated and specialized his extensions to such a degree that they have taken over, and are rapidly replacing, nature. In other words, man has created a new dimension, the cultural dimension, of which proxemics is only a part. The relationship between man and the cultural dimension is on in which both man and his environment participate in molding each other.”
This had potential, as Hall was willing to consider smell, distance, and other sensations in his analysis.
To demonstrate such sensations, however, the book falls into a number of broad generalization about animal behavior (random animals, from birds to lions, without any conscious effort to deal with lifespan and social structure differences in these species) to broad generalizations about human behavior (Grouping discussions of the "german," "english," and "French," can I SUPPOSE be SOMEHOW justified, but "JAPAN" and a generic "ARAB WORLD?") without any conscious effort to make a gesture towards gender, economic status, region, or age.
I should have known that this book would be disappointing since Marshall McLuhan and Walter Ong were the major celebrants of this work.
*blech*
September 28, 2016
هذا كتاب رائع جدا ويستحق القراءه ، يتحدث عن فكرة مهمة جدا وهي الحيز بين البشر ..إلى اي مدى يحتل الحيز اهمية في حياتنا الاجتماعيه ؟ كيف يجعلنا اقرب او ابعد ؟ وكيف يكون سببا في الامراض الجسديه والاكتئاب ؟
دلل ادوارد هال بتجارب اجريت على الحيوانات وكانت مقنعة الى درجة كبيره ..
مهم جدا للمتخصصين في تخطيط المساكن والاماكن
دلل ادوارد هال بتجارب اجريت على الحيوانات وكانت مقنعة الى درجة كبيره ..
مهم جدا للمتخصصين في تخطيط المساكن والاماكن
August 30, 2016
I guess it was alright. Had to read most of it for uni, again, only adding it cause it stopped me from reading better stuff haha.
April 7, 2012
كتاب مُذهل وممتع ويحملك إلى عالم آخر حيث تتعلم فيه عن مصطلح البروكسيميه وتأثيرها على الإنسان المُعاصر ..
بدأ هذا الكتاب بتبسيط هذا المصطلح وشرحة، وضع لنا فصلاً يتحدث عن الحيوانات وتأثير الإكتضاض والإزدحام فيها وأسباب النفوق الجماعي المُفاجئ رغم وفرة الغذاء في الطبيعة المُحيطة ثم قارنها مع الإنسان وتأثيراتها في المُجتمع والمدينة ..
قارن الكتاب أيضاً بين شعوب عدة دول في حيزها المكاني الخاص وكيف تتعامل معه “ هذا الفصل بالذات كان مهماً جداً لكثيري السفر والتجوال او الدراسين في الخارج لأول مرة” حيث قد يطلع القارئ على أسباب سوء فهم قد تعود إلى سوء تواصل ناتج من إختلاف البيئة والتربية ..
كتاب مُذهل، رائع، لا أستطيع أن أكتفي منه وقد حزنت لإنهائه !
لن أتردد في قراءته مرة أخرى : )
April 22, 2018
الثقافة الجمعية تعكس رؤيتنا للعالم و ترسم معالم فنه و عمارته
الدكتور عبدالوهاب المسيري طرح أشكالية التحيز في الفن و العمارة مما يجعل موضوع الكتاب و مضمونه مألوف للغاية و غير ممتع
الدكتور عبدالوهاب المسيري طرح أشكالية التحيز في الفن و العمارة مما يجعل موضوع الكتاب و مضمونه مألوف للغاية و غير ممتع
October 2, 2020
Edward T. Hall, amerikai antropológus megalkotta a proxemika nevű tudományágat, amely az ember (és állat) térhasználatát, a tér kitöltésének kérdését vizsgálja. Mindezt ma már az ember különböző kulturális mintái, szocializációja is meghatározza. Hall szerint a tér érzékelése és kitöltése a kommunikáció része. Az én interpretálásomban talán nem tűnik izgalmasnak, pedig az. Hall az állatok biológiai kódoltságából indul ki, és az alapvető távolságérzékelés illetve zsúfoltságérzet meghatározását vezeti le belőle, minthogy minden élőlénynél megfigyelhetőek bizonyos meghatározások, erre tesz rá az ember által megalkotott kultúra, a biológián túli térhasználat. Ez utóbbi a könyv legnagyobb részét lefedi, különböző érzékszervek által megtapasztalható szaglás, hallás, tapintás elsatnyulását taglalja, hogy végül rátérjen a szemre, a vizuális érzékelőre, ami a modern ember legtöbb információt bevételező szerve.
A globalizáció korának kellős közepén a kulturális eltérések persze egyre inkább összemosódnak. Például egy kinézetre ázsiai emberről nem tudhatod, hogy hol, hogyan szocializálódott. Emiatt és a világ különböző helyein átvett építészeti stílusok, városrendezési minták stb. miatt néhány passzusa a könyvnek mára biztosan meghaladott. De ezt maga a szerző is említi, hogy a világ változása folyamatban van.
Hall könyve mindenről szól: evolúció, civilizáció, nyelv, biológia, etológia, antropológia, minden a tér használatával összekapcsolva, vagy annak alárendelve.
A globalizáció korának kellős közepén a kulturális eltérések persze egyre inkább összemosódnak. Például egy kinézetre ázsiai emberről nem tudhatod, hogy hol, hogyan szocializálódott. Emiatt és a világ különböző helyein átvett építészeti stílusok, városrendezési minták stb. miatt néhány passzusa a könyvnek mára biztosan meghaladott. De ezt maga a szerző is említi, hogy a világ változása folyamatban van.
Hall könyve mindenről szól: evolúció, civilizáció, nyelv, biológia, etológia, antropológia, minden a tér használatával összekapcsolva, vagy annak alárendelve.
July 7, 2022
"Las personas habitan diferentes mundos sensorios".
Se me hizo muy interesante como estudia a profundidad la relación del hombre con el espacio y con el mismo hombre. El ejemplificar todo con estudios hechos en animales es muy 60s de su parte (y porque es un libro de etologia) pero entiendo el punto al que quiere llegar, sin embargo, justo en los animales no existe esta dimensión oculta, que es la cultura y es por eso que por naturaleza compartimos ciertos rasgos con los animales, pero al crear las "prolongaciones" creamos la dimensión oculta que es la misma que nos une y separa como sociedad.
Es cierto que todos vemos el mundo diferente, sin embargo, con las "gafas" de la dimensión oculta , esa perspectiva se ve alterada. Al final, en el mundo existen mil dimensiones ocultas que al buscar coexistir en el mismo mundo pueden ocasionar conflictos y el no ser conscientes de que existe esta barrera cultural los hace peor.
En general aprendí mucho leyendo el libro pero las conclusiones fueron la misma idea que a lo largo del libro menciona, además de que no hubo nada nuevo en cuanto a reflexión.
Se me hizo muy interesante como estudia a profundidad la relación del hombre con el espacio y con el mismo hombre. El ejemplificar todo con estudios hechos en animales es muy 60s de su parte (y porque es un libro de etologia) pero entiendo el punto al que quiere llegar, sin embargo, justo en los animales no existe esta dimensión oculta, que es la cultura y es por eso que por naturaleza compartimos ciertos rasgos con los animales, pero al crear las "prolongaciones" creamos la dimensión oculta que es la misma que nos une y separa como sociedad.
Es cierto que todos vemos el mundo diferente, sin embargo, con las "gafas" de la dimensión oculta , esa perspectiva se ve alterada. Al final, en el mundo existen mil dimensiones ocultas que al buscar coexistir en el mismo mundo pueden ocasionar conflictos y el no ser conscientes de que existe esta barrera cultural los hace peor.
En general aprendí mucho leyendo el libro pero las conclusiones fueron la misma idea que a lo largo del libro menciona, además de que no hubo nada nuevo en cuanto a reflexión.
September 4, 2018
بالمعنى الاكثر ايجازا فأن رسالة هذا الكتاب هو انه بغض النظر عن الجهد الذي يبذله الانسان فمن المستحيل ان يفصل نفسه عن ثقافته الخاصة لانها تغلغلت ختى جذوره جهازه العصبي وحددت كيف يدرك العالم .
December 22, 2017
Spatial relationships, Hall states, have a biological substrate. Space involves territoriality and all the values that go along with that. Referring to the studies of an animal psychologist, Hall writes that “Territoriality…insures the propagation of the species by regulating density. It provides a frame in which things are done—places to learn, places to play, safe places to hide. Thus it co-ordinates the activities of the group and holds the group together. It keeps animals within communication distance of each other, so that the presence of food or an enemy can be signaled. An animal with a territory of its own can develop an inventory of reflex responses to terrain features. When danger strikes, the animal on its home ground can take advantage of automatic responses rather than having to take time to think about where to hide.” In addition to protection of food supply, proper spacing “protects against over-exploitation of that part of the environment on which a species depends for its living.”
Hall then illustrates the centrality of the spacing dimension in the notion of flight distance in which “a wild animal will allow a man or other potential enemy to approach only up to a given distance before it flees.” Hall notes that “there are…other ways of coping with a predator, such as camouflage, protective armor or spines, or offensive odor. But,” he states, “flight is the basic mechanism of survival for mobile creatures.” With this statement, Hall is saying that fear is not just another “emotion.” If life is about seeking what one needs to survive and live well, then fear (ranging from a state of vigilance to freezing in place, to hiding, to flight) is its equal but opposite manifestation. It is the first line of defense against threats to survival and only when a critical separation point is breached (e.g., when cornered), does a fear-based flight response turn into aggression (fight). (1)
Hall refers to contact and non-contact species (those in physical contact with each other when at rest, versus those who need some separation--“an invisible bubble”--around them), to the need among dominant animals for greater spatial distance, to the regulation of intra-species aggression by spacing (not crowding); and, to a social distance that keeps species members in contact with each other (via sight, sound or smell). Then Hall moves to his bottom line by saying that crowding (violation of spatial separation) leads to stress, violence, reproductive maladies, and die offs.
Man is part of this biological substrate. (2) In his chapter, “Distance in Man,” Hall develops this universal biological dimension somewhat by breaking down spatial requirements down into intimate, personal, social and public distance dimensions and he comments that these break down, negatively, with increases in population and crowding. Yet, in his introductory chapter, Hall’s central theme is far more cultural than biological (3). Later in his book, Hall discusses the different cultural and artistic manifestations of spatial needs, but these examples, which seem more antidotal than what his science-sounding term “proxemics” would suggest, seem to be about cultural styles, not underlying biological form.
This distinction between biological and cultural effects becomes further blurred in his last chapter when Hall writes that his research is concerned more with “structure than content and more interested in the question of ‘How?’ than ‘Why?’” Here, structure means underlying cultural form, filled with specific cultural content, not biological needs (universal forms or structures) that then are molded by and expressed through culture. “The message of this book,” Hall writes, “is that no matter how hard man tries it is impossible for him to divest himself of his own culture, for it has penetrated to the roots of his nervous system and determines how he perceives the world…..Even when small fragments of culture are elevated to awareness, they are difficult to change, not only because they are so personally experienced but because people cannot act or interact at all in any meaningful way except through the medium of culture.” (4)
Well yes, it might be stated in response, but why does culture have such an impact and might this be about the tribalism that Darwin discussed and its overwhelmingly potent relationship to survival, including territoriality and the “space sensing and space setting” mechanisms that maintain proper spatial distances? And what happens when these needs are violated or, per his “The Silent Language” observation, when there’s a “failure to read adumbrations correctly?” This book would have benefited from drawing a deeper linkage between these universal biological factors and their particular cultural expressions involving space. The connection is fuzzy at best. Also, in doing so, Hall may also have picked up what is likely to be the wide individual variations in spatial requirements, independent of culture.
1. The critical distance for a lion tamer, Hall notes, can be “measured in centimeters.”
2. “This cursory review of the functions of territoriality should suffice to establish the fact that it is a basic behavioral system characteristic of living organisms including man.”
3. “In light of what is known of ethology, it may be profitable in the long run if man is viewed as an organism that has elaborated and specialized his extensions to such a degree that they have taken over, and are rapidly replacing, nature….[And] in creating this world he is actually determining what kind of an organism he will be.”
4. The same concept has a deep time as well as a cross-cultural application. For example, Hall writes that “The greatest criticism one can make of many attempts to interpret man’s past is that they project onto the visual world of the past the structure of the visual world of the present.” He uses paelolithic cave art as an example. That art was not art per se, Hall states. It’s more than likely that it was one of man’s first efforts to control the forces of nature…” his first step in gaining control” over the forces of nature.
Hall then illustrates the centrality of the spacing dimension in the notion of flight distance in which “a wild animal will allow a man or other potential enemy to approach only up to a given distance before it flees.” Hall notes that “there are…other ways of coping with a predator, such as camouflage, protective armor or spines, or offensive odor. But,” he states, “flight is the basic mechanism of survival for mobile creatures.” With this statement, Hall is saying that fear is not just another “emotion.” If life is about seeking what one needs to survive and live well, then fear (ranging from a state of vigilance to freezing in place, to hiding, to flight) is its equal but opposite manifestation. It is the first line of defense against threats to survival and only when a critical separation point is breached (e.g., when cornered), does a fear-based flight response turn into aggression (fight). (1)
Hall refers to contact and non-contact species (those in physical contact with each other when at rest, versus those who need some separation--“an invisible bubble”--around them), to the need among dominant animals for greater spatial distance, to the regulation of intra-species aggression by spacing (not crowding); and, to a social distance that keeps species members in contact with each other (via sight, sound or smell). Then Hall moves to his bottom line by saying that crowding (violation of spatial separation) leads to stress, violence, reproductive maladies, and die offs.
Man is part of this biological substrate. (2) In his chapter, “Distance in Man,” Hall develops this universal biological dimension somewhat by breaking down spatial requirements down into intimate, personal, social and public distance dimensions and he comments that these break down, negatively, with increases in population and crowding. Yet, in his introductory chapter, Hall’s central theme is far more cultural than biological (3). Later in his book, Hall discusses the different cultural and artistic manifestations of spatial needs, but these examples, which seem more antidotal than what his science-sounding term “proxemics” would suggest, seem to be about cultural styles, not underlying biological form.
This distinction between biological and cultural effects becomes further blurred in his last chapter when Hall writes that his research is concerned more with “structure than content and more interested in the question of ‘How?’ than ‘Why?’” Here, structure means underlying cultural form, filled with specific cultural content, not biological needs (universal forms or structures) that then are molded by and expressed through culture. “The message of this book,” Hall writes, “is that no matter how hard man tries it is impossible for him to divest himself of his own culture, for it has penetrated to the roots of his nervous system and determines how he perceives the world…..Even when small fragments of culture are elevated to awareness, they are difficult to change, not only because they are so personally experienced but because people cannot act or interact at all in any meaningful way except through the medium of culture.” (4)
Well yes, it might be stated in response, but why does culture have such an impact and might this be about the tribalism that Darwin discussed and its overwhelmingly potent relationship to survival, including territoriality and the “space sensing and space setting” mechanisms that maintain proper spatial distances? And what happens when these needs are violated or, per his “The Silent Language” observation, when there’s a “failure to read adumbrations correctly?” This book would have benefited from drawing a deeper linkage between these universal biological factors and their particular cultural expressions involving space. The connection is fuzzy at best. Also, in doing so, Hall may also have picked up what is likely to be the wide individual variations in spatial requirements, independent of culture.
1. The critical distance for a lion tamer, Hall notes, can be “measured in centimeters.”
2. “This cursory review of the functions of territoriality should suffice to establish the fact that it is a basic behavioral system characteristic of living organisms including man.”
3. “In light of what is known of ethology, it may be profitable in the long run if man is viewed as an organism that has elaborated and specialized his extensions to such a degree that they have taken over, and are rapidly replacing, nature….[And] in creating this world he is actually determining what kind of an organism he will be.”
4. The same concept has a deep time as well as a cross-cultural application. For example, Hall writes that “The greatest criticism one can make of many attempts to interpret man’s past is that they project onto the visual world of the past the structure of the visual world of the present.” He uses paelolithic cave art as an example. That art was not art per se, Hall states. It’s more than likely that it was one of man’s first efforts to control the forces of nature…” his first step in gaining control” over the forces of nature.
September 27, 2025
I took a seminar in freshman year titled "the self in/as space" (no capitalization, slash included). Some of the books the professor assigned are now among my favorites: Stoner by John Williams, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and The Trial by Franz Kafka. True masterpieces that I believe everyone should read.
BUT—and there's always a big but to attend to in these sorts of matters—we were also assigned a book about boarding school BDSM among adolescent boys (The Confusions of Young Törless by Robert Musil [DO NOT READ IT]), another about a deadbeat dad who vacillates between killing and not killing his newborn son with a brain/head deformity and ends up "resolving" the situation by having an affair with an ex while his wife is still in the hospital waiting for news about the baby who was taken away from her (A Personal Matter by Kenzaburō Ōe), and one where a chapter's full text is literally: "My Mother is a Fish." (As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner [actually pretty entertaining once you get past the migraine-inducing writing style]).
Pair those books with a ten-minute final presentation by one of my classmates, where the first four minutes were taken up by a full air-guitar performance of Eye of the Tiger, and needless to say, the class made quite the impression on me without ever answering the question of why it was titled the way it was.
Now, after 11 years, I finally found a book that would actually be a good fit for a class named "the self in/as space".
BUT—and there's always a big but to attend to in these sorts of matters—we were also assigned a book about boarding school BDSM among adolescent boys (The Confusions of Young Törless by Robert Musil [DO NOT READ IT]), another about a deadbeat dad who vacillates between killing and not killing his newborn son with a brain/head deformity and ends up "resolving" the situation by having an affair with an ex while his wife is still in the hospital waiting for news about the baby who was taken away from her (A Personal Matter by Kenzaburō Ōe), and one where a chapter's full text is literally: "My Mother is a Fish." (As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner [actually pretty entertaining once you get past the migraine-inducing writing style]).
Pair those books with a ten-minute final presentation by one of my classmates, where the first four minutes were taken up by a full air-guitar performance of Eye of the Tiger, and needless to say, the class made quite the impression on me without ever answering the question of why it was titled the way it was.
Now, after 11 years, I finally found a book that would actually be a good fit for a class named "the self in/as space".
August 26, 2018
كتاب رائع جدا يتحدث عن موضوع مثير ولافت وفريد وهو البروكسيميكس ماهيتها واختلافاتها واثارها في الشعوب المختلفة ..موضوع شيق جداا...
November 4, 2017
تعيش الكائنات وعلى رأسها الإنسان داخل أبعادٍ ثلاثة تكوّن المحيط المادي وتمكنها الحواس التي تملكها من التعرّف والتفاعل مع هذا المحيط للقيام بالأفعال المختلفة التي تنسج خيوط حياة كل منها , إن كل مجموعة من الكائنات تتفاعل مع المحيط بطريقة تلائم احتياجها وخصائصها وتشترك الكائنات جميعها ببعض طرق التعامل مع المحيط
إن الكتاب عبارة عن توصيف علمي لتلك العلاقة مرورا بالفئران والغزلان التي خضعت لتجارب بما يسمى علم الإيثولوجي للتعرف على سلوكها ضمن الفراغ والآثار السلبية للاكتظاظ العددي على مجتمعات الحيوانات وانتهاءا باستبصارات بما يتعلق بطرق تفاعل الإنسان مع الحيّز وتنوع طرق التفاعل تلك بين الشعوب والحضارات المختلفة و محاولة فهم آلية استخدامنا للحواس في إدراك الفراغ المحيط مع عقد مقارنات بين الشعوب المختلفة
إنّ الكتاب تجربة رائعة لكل مهتم بفهم آليات إدراك الإنسان للفراغ سواءا على الصعيد النفسي أو الاجتماعي يجعل القارئ يرى المحيط العمراني والعلاقات الإنسانيّة بعين جديدة لم يعتد عليها.
أعتقد أن الكتاب مضجر قليلاً و خصوصاُ في التجارب الأولى المتعلقة بعلم الإيثولوجي لكن بلا شك يعتبر ضرورة لكل مهتم بالتخطيط والعمراني وعلم الإنثروبولوجيا.
إن الكتاب عبارة عن توصيف علمي لتلك العلاقة مرورا بالفئران والغزلان التي خضعت لتجارب بما يسمى علم الإيثولوجي للتعرف على سلوكها ضمن الفراغ والآثار السلبية للاكتظاظ العددي على مجتمعات الحيوانات وانتهاءا باستبصارات بما يتعلق بطرق تفاعل الإنسان مع الحيّز وتنوع طرق التفاعل تلك بين الشعوب والحضارات المختلفة و محاولة فهم آلية استخدامنا للحواس في إدراك الفراغ المحيط مع عقد مقارنات بين الشعوب المختلفة
إنّ الكتاب تجربة رائعة لكل مهتم بفهم آليات إدراك الإنسان للفراغ سواءا على الصعيد النفسي أو الاجتماعي يجعل القارئ يرى المحيط العمراني والعلاقات الإنسانيّة بعين جديدة لم يعتد عليها.
أعتقد أن الكتاب مضجر قليلاً و خصوصاُ في التجارب الأولى المتعلقة بعلم الإيثولوجي لكن بلا شك يعتبر ضرورة لكل مهتم بالتخطيط والعمراني وعلم الإنثروبولوجيا.
April 10, 2023
Hall argues that our perception of space is not simply a matter of physical distance, but is also deeply influenced by cultural and social factors. He introduces the concept of "proxemics," the study of the ways in which people use space in their daily interactions, and argues that different cultures have different rules and expectations when it comes to personal space, touch, and eye contact.
Throughout the book, Hall draws on examples from a wide range of cultures, including those of the United States, Japan, and the Middle East. He explores the ways in which architecture, furniture, and other elements of our physical environment shape our behavior and attitudes, and argues that understanding these factors is essential to effective communication and cross-cultural understanding.
Throughout the book, Hall draws on examples from a wide range of cultures, including those of the United States, Japan, and the Middle East. He explores the ways in which architecture, furniture, and other elements of our physical environment shape our behavior and attitudes, and argues that understanding these factors is essential to effective communication and cross-cultural understanding.
January 12, 2015
A core scientific reference guide studying the effect of proxemics on modes of behavior and communication in different cultures. While the author diligently compiled a detailed analysis comparing the European nations'- namely the British, German, French and Japanese- behaviors with the Americans in terms of space and time, he synopsized the study for the Arab nation. It would have been effective and valuable to sample some major countries from the Middle East & Africa, since they are ethnically as diverse as the French, English, German, Japanese etc.
Though a bit outdated, I would certainly recommend this book to architects, civil or space engineer experts.
Though a bit outdated, I would certainly recommend this book to architects, civil or space engineer experts.
Want to read
April 10, 2013In this article appeared in the book, there are misconceptions about Arab's behavior, but we agree with him on one point which is involvement. Arabs are more involved with each other unlike Westerners; as they socialize and interact on a daily basis. For example, it is rare to see an Arab sitting alone in a coffee-shop or a restaurant while Westerners don't mind it at all.
February 12, 2018
باختصار شديد، قرأت هذا الكتاب 3 مرات، هو يضرب عرض الحائط كل ما نؤمن به كمسلمات ثقافية.. كتاب رائع جدا، لدرجة أنني لا أستطيع إعارته لأحد مخافةَ ألا أستردّه !
Read
January 13, 2022Although this book wasn't particularly mind-blowing because I had already learned many of the major concepts in anthropology courses I have taken, The Hidden Dimension is an interesting discussion of how cultural experiences and perceptions of space should be considered in architectural planning or in everyday interactions with others.
Since this book was first published over 50 years ago, I'm interested to see what observations have changed since then. Taking the original publication date into account was definitely important, and I found myself dismayed by the emphasis on gender roles, vague generalizations about cultural differences (though thankfully this came with somewhat of a disclaimer), and the assumption that all Americans are a dominant white middle class population (denying additional groups of people space in the identity of being U.S. 'American,' due to othering language). Moreover, although the several chapters that focused on studies with animals were somewhat interesting, I found the direct comparisons between them and human populations to be demeaning, as they did not account for the complex role that cultural differences play into city planning, population growth, and misunderstandings between groups of people, even if unintentional.
Since this book was first published over 50 years ago, I'm interested to see what observations have changed since then. Taking the original publication date into account was definitely important, and I found myself dismayed by the emphasis on gender roles, vague generalizations about cultural differences (though thankfully this came with somewhat of a disclaimer), and the assumption that all Americans are a dominant white middle class population (denying additional groups of people space in the identity of being U.S. 'American,' due to othering language). Moreover, although the several chapters that focused on studies with animals were somewhat interesting, I found the direct comparisons between them and human populations to be demeaning, as they did not account for the complex role that cultural differences play into city planning, population growth, and misunderstandings between groups of people, even if unintentional.
May 23, 2016
This is one of those books that was probably really ground breaking when it came out but now just kinda feels like, "Eh...". Edward Hall discusses "proxemics", or the (science?) of space (not outer space, just like, how we use space).
Before I proceed, let me just say that I hate the word "space". It reminds me of a rad leftist magazine at my alum mater, along with a host of other words like "intersectionality" and "oppression". All of which are fine but for some reason I just don't like hearing them. It makes me feel antsy, like I'm around people who will call me out for being problematic, even though they have the best of intentions. Anyway. So I hate the term "safe space".
Now, thanks to this book, I finally know who to blame for this vilified term. Edward Hall. Okay, so I don't have conclusive proof that the use of "space" in such a sort of psychophysical manner came from his work, but I'm just gonna assume it did. THANKS A LOT.
Anyway, so basically, Hall's thesis is that humans are animals and have territoriality and stuff, and a "sink" which is basically too many people in one place that kills off animals (and presumably, humans), and that responding to space is in our chemico-biological nature, and all of this differs between cultures, and we should bear this in mind when building things. So first he goes through all these experiments about space and animals, especially with lil mice, which are pretty interesting. Then he talks about our different senses (because that's how we interact with space). Then he gets to the juicy stuff, which is: a) Americans; b) Eastern Europeans and Germans; c) Japanese; d) Arabs (samples of whose populations in America he's interviewed). And he basically concludes that all of these people have different ideas of space and it can affect our interactions with one another, cuz one person's bubble is another person's harassment.
He actually has a lot of neat observations in this section. My favourite story is about a Polish guy who didn't like queues so he basically played non-consensual Red Rover with an unsuspecting queue of Americans ("just to rile up those sheep"). He talks about breath; how Americans are taught not to breathe into people's faces but other people might not think that's weird. Germans apparently close doors and people in offices might be like "omg are they mad" but really they are just private. It's just all very interesting, even if it is generalization, because it just makes you consider how you yourself use space.
Lastly, he talks about things like "social space", "personal space", etc. So the reason I think this work was probably groundbreaking is because he has to define "personal space", which probably means he made up the term, whereas now everybody knows what it means (especially that woman from the TEDTalks about Introversion). And he thinks architects should consider everything he is talking about and social scientists should be funded/consulted when you are planning cities and stuff.
This book made me think about how my family uses space. My cousins in Pakistan got their house renovated a few years ago. It was a really old house, with 3 big bedrooms, a big attic space, and just overall just a lot of space and very few walls and very little privacy. They would host a lot of family members as guests, and we would all sit in the bedroom-cum-tv-room and watch TV on mattresses that were kept on the ground (to host the maximum number of bums). That's basically where we all sat and there was basically no privacy and people always saw each other cuz it was unavoidable. And everybody shared like, 3 washrooms.
So, like I said, their house was renovated into this superrrrr nice IKEA type house with a lot of bedrooms (one for each of their daughters) and a separate TV room. Honestly, straight out of an IKEA catalogue. Gorgeous house. Each daughter got her own washroom too. But, despite the obvious nostalgia for one's own house, I swear a bunch of the daughters feel so depressed in that house. And I swear it's because they are not used to living in this separate sort of way, with their own beds. They were raised in a very close-knit everybody sees everybody else all the time type of way. It seems like they just have too much privacy and they can't handle the lack of "ronaq" (fun/interaction). So what was meant to be a really nice renovation is actually causing my uncle's daughters a bit of depression and changing their family culture a lot.
So that's the first time I thought about how space has affected someone's psyche. Another one is how houses in Canada don't have bedrooms on the ground floor. As a result, the elderly are forced to walk up stairs to get to their beds, which increases their risks of falling down the steps, which increases their chances of going to long-term care, which a lot of them don't want. It just seems so simple - keep your bed on the main floor? But nope. That's not the way houses are designed here (mostly).
And my family isn't very private either. We kind of have bedrooms but kind of don't and anybody can sleep anywhere and you just have to deal with it. And I like it this way. Although my brothers are messy and it drives me crazy, there is something nice about knowing that the house is your oyster. And the lack of privacy sort of builds a trust? I guess?
Anyway. What I'm saying is, that after reading this, I guess I don't dislike the term "safe space" that much anymore. I guess.
Before I proceed, let me just say that I hate the word "space". It reminds me of a rad leftist magazine at my alum mater, along with a host of other words like "intersectionality" and "oppression". All of which are fine but for some reason I just don't like hearing them. It makes me feel antsy, like I'm around people who will call me out for being problematic, even though they have the best of intentions. Anyway. So I hate the term "safe space".
Now, thanks to this book, I finally know who to blame for this vilified term. Edward Hall. Okay, so I don't have conclusive proof that the use of "space" in such a sort of psychophysical manner came from his work, but I'm just gonna assume it did. THANKS A LOT.
Anyway, so basically, Hall's thesis is that humans are animals and have territoriality and stuff, and a "sink" which is basically too many people in one place that kills off animals (and presumably, humans), and that responding to space is in our chemico-biological nature, and all of this differs between cultures, and we should bear this in mind when building things. So first he goes through all these experiments about space and animals, especially with lil mice, which are pretty interesting. Then he talks about our different senses (because that's how we interact with space). Then he gets to the juicy stuff, which is: a) Americans; b) Eastern Europeans and Germans; c) Japanese; d) Arabs (samples of whose populations in America he's interviewed). And he basically concludes that all of these people have different ideas of space and it can affect our interactions with one another, cuz one person's bubble is another person's harassment.
He actually has a lot of neat observations in this section. My favourite story is about a Polish guy who didn't like queues so he basically played non-consensual Red Rover with an unsuspecting queue of Americans ("just to rile up those sheep"). He talks about breath; how Americans are taught not to breathe into people's faces but other people might not think that's weird. Germans apparently close doors and people in offices might be like "omg are they mad" but really they are just private. It's just all very interesting, even if it is generalization, because it just makes you consider how you yourself use space.
Lastly, he talks about things like "social space", "personal space", etc. So the reason I think this work was probably groundbreaking is because he has to define "personal space", which probably means he made up the term, whereas now everybody knows what it means (especially that woman from the TEDTalks about Introversion). And he thinks architects should consider everything he is talking about and social scientists should be funded/consulted when you are planning cities and stuff.
This book made me think about how my family uses space. My cousins in Pakistan got their house renovated a few years ago. It was a really old house, with 3 big bedrooms, a big attic space, and just overall just a lot of space and very few walls and very little privacy. They would host a lot of family members as guests, and we would all sit in the bedroom-cum-tv-room and watch TV on mattresses that were kept on the ground (to host the maximum number of bums). That's basically where we all sat and there was basically no privacy and people always saw each other cuz it was unavoidable. And everybody shared like, 3 washrooms.
So, like I said, their house was renovated into this superrrrr nice IKEA type house with a lot of bedrooms (one for each of their daughters) and a separate TV room. Honestly, straight out of an IKEA catalogue. Gorgeous house. Each daughter got her own washroom too. But, despite the obvious nostalgia for one's own house, I swear a bunch of the daughters feel so depressed in that house. And I swear it's because they are not used to living in this separate sort of way, with their own beds. They were raised in a very close-knit everybody sees everybody else all the time type of way. It seems like they just have too much privacy and they can't handle the lack of "ronaq" (fun/interaction). So what was meant to be a really nice renovation is actually causing my uncle's daughters a bit of depression and changing their family culture a lot.
So that's the first time I thought about how space has affected someone's psyche. Another one is how houses in Canada don't have bedrooms on the ground floor. As a result, the elderly are forced to walk up stairs to get to their beds, which increases their risks of falling down the steps, which increases their chances of going to long-term care, which a lot of them don't want. It just seems so simple - keep your bed on the main floor? But nope. That's not the way houses are designed here (mostly).
And my family isn't very private either. We kind of have bedrooms but kind of don't and anybody can sleep anywhere and you just have to deal with it. And I like it this way. Although my brothers are messy and it drives me crazy, there is something nice about knowing that the house is your oyster. And the lack of privacy sort of builds a trust? I guess?
Anyway. What I'm saying is, that after reading this, I guess I don't dislike the term "safe space" that much anymore. I guess.
July 5, 2024
يتناول الكتاب العلاقة ما بين الثقافة العامة وبين الحيز المكاني الذي يعيش فيه معتنقي تلك الثقافة ويقول الكاتب أنه يجب على الإنسان أن يضع في اعتباره الاختلافات المابينثقافية خاصة عند التعامل مع إنسان ما من ثقافة مختلفة عن البيئة التي تعيش فيها وأنه يجب علينا أيضا أن نضع في اعتبارنا تصميم المباني والمدن عند السفر إلى بلاد مختلفة عن ثقافتنا وأنه يجب على المهندسين مراعاة حقوق الأقليات والثقافات المتباينة عند تصميمهم للمدن والمباني الجديدة.
October 30, 2019
Ok... so usually I don’t rate non-fiction, theoretical books. But I’ve read this one for my big end of studies project. One of my teachers recommends it to me for the topic I want to work with... And it didn’t help me. I mean... I only took note of 2 things out of the whole book and the last one was page 83 out of 244...
February 21, 2023
one of the most interesting things i have ever read fr
September 4, 2024
Do we grasp because we have hands or do we have hands because we grasp?
Edward T. Hall goes dummy mode in this ambitious volume, crossing boundaries between anthropology, architecture, sociology & evolutionary biology. If you don't get turned off by extended sequences describing biological & population control experiments at the beginning, you will find a very interesting introduction to the science behind personal space, and how we culturally condition patterns of human behavior.
Hall references himself quite a bit, really hyping up his other works, The Silent Language, Beyond Culture, and one that really interests me with an insane title: The Dance of Life: The Other Dimension of Time. Drawing from Boas and Whorf, he concludes “Experience cannot be counted as a stable point of reference, because it occurs in a setting that has been molded by man”.
Berkeley’s metaphysic is often referenced, emphasizing the method of abstracting and interpreting information about the world gathered by our raw senses, even going as far to say “spatial concepts are internalized action”. Hall impresses with his depth as he goes into The Seeing Mechanism, differentiating between macular perception, peripheral and foveal vision, describing stereoscopic depth vision as emerging out of contrasting two overlapping visual fields.
He then goes into an interesting investigation of art: analyzing zeitgeists of perception through time by clues hidden within visual art. Going further than linear, forced perspective and parallax, he uses art to ‘learn from the artist himself just how he sees his subject and uses his medium to convey this perception.’ he does this by deconstructing different mediums of art through history, expanding the idea of an artist to ‘Not only a commentator on the larger values of the culture, but on the microcultural events that make up larger values…
I’ll also say some of the spatial and temporal elements of various literature examples through time felt a little clunky, but could be a cool study if more thoroughly investigated.
The way our senses combined subconsciously was very thoroughly drawn out in the Immediate Receptors: Perception of Space chapter. Diving in-depth conversations about each sense from varying distances and how they relate to each other.
Whorf is discussed at length, and with quotes like
Through chapters on the anthropology of space, Hall had interesting notes about architectural features that delineate work from life, home from public, fixed-feature, form/ function, content / structure, formal/ informal and sociopetal / sociofugal space. Contrasting usage of public space in the US and Japan yielded some intriguing reflections about how underlying cultural conceptions play out in human geography and urban sprawl.
Next was a very unique study on distances between human perception, visual detail and distortion, temperature, vocal inflection, and the instinctual social psychology that we take for granted. After reading this, even small details of multi-sensory social perception and engagement become apparent in everyday life, with notable differences in the recreational, professional, confrontational, formal and informal social realms.
Where Hall’s arguments fall a little short in terms of thorough-ness are the cultural comparisons. For an anthropologist, he always has an American-centric reference point. For someone who is showing how culturally conditioned all of our tendencies, I feel like we were always contrasting other views with our ‘more correct’ view. I'm sure modern audiences could find plenty to be offended by. It would be pretty cool to see other cultures taking this information and responding to the American culturally-conditioned aspects of socialization, or at least offering more dialogue between cultures to really kind of ground many of his arguments.
exocrinology
exterioceptors
ethology
biotope
dissynchronous
adumbrative
altamira
kinesthesia
servomechanics
doxiadis
ekistics
settee
demesne
Critical distance
proprioceptors
louvers
histological
adrenocortical
Edward T. Hall goes dummy mode in this ambitious volume, crossing boundaries between anthropology, architecture, sociology & evolutionary biology. If you don't get turned off by extended sequences describing biological & population control experiments at the beginning, you will find a very interesting introduction to the science behind personal space, and how we culturally condition patterns of human behavior.
Hall references himself quite a bit, really hyping up his other works, The Silent Language, Beyond Culture, and one that really interests me with an insane title: The Dance of Life: The Other Dimension of Time. Drawing from Boas and Whorf, he concludes “Experience cannot be counted as a stable point of reference, because it occurs in a setting that has been molded by man”.
“Man… is distinguished from other animals by virtue of the fact that he has elaborated extensions of his organism by developing his extensions. Man has been able to improve her specialized various functions. The computer is an extension of the brain. The telephone extends the voice. The wheel extends the leg and feet. Language extends experience in time and space while writing extends language. Man has shifted evolution from his body to his extensions and in doing so has tremendously accelerated the evolutionary process… It may be profitable in the long run if Man is viewed as an organism that has elaborated and specialized his extensions to such a degree that they have taken over and are rapidly replacing nature. In other words, man has created a new dimension, the cultural dimension of which proxemics is only a part."His discussion of varying levels of perception evolving to convey increasingly more information over time was truly mind-blowing. Like how a baby primarily gathers information through touch, until it can make sense of other stimuli. Even viewing sensory perception as organizations of data is pretty cool when you focus on one being reinforced, altered, or in conversation with others. The chapter on Vision as Synthesis was extremely profound, distinguishing between the retinal image and what man perceives– the difference between the visual field and visual world, “The visual field is made up of constantly shifting light patterns recorded by the retina which man uses to construct his visual world”.
“We can never be aware of the world as such, but only of the impingement of physical forces on sensory receptors- F.P. Kilpatrick, Explorations In Transactional Psychology.
Berkeley’s metaphysic is often referenced, emphasizing the method of abstracting and interpreting information about the world gathered by our raw senses, even going as far to say “spatial concepts are internalized action”. Hall impresses with his depth as he goes into The Seeing Mechanism, differentiating between macular perception, peripheral and foveal vision, describing stereoscopic depth vision as emerging out of contrasting two overlapping visual fields.
He then goes into an interesting investigation of art: analyzing zeitgeists of perception through time by clues hidden within visual art. Going further than linear, forced perspective and parallax, he uses art to ‘learn from the artist himself just how he sees his subject and uses his medium to convey this perception.’ he does this by deconstructing different mediums of art through history, expanding the idea of an artist to ‘Not only a commentator on the larger values of the culture, but on the microcultural events that make up larger values…
“By studying man's artistic productions, it is possible to learn a great deal about the sensory world of the past and how man's perception changes, as does the nature of his awareness of perception.”“Why was it that the Greek sculpture was a full thousand years ahead of Greek painting?”Overall, I would have loved more examples of visual art reflecting historical conceptions of spatiality, and considering there were several sequences with photos in this book, I would have loved to see some of them printed here for a more comprehensive gallery of examples.
I’ll also say some of the spatial and temporal elements of various literature examples through time felt a little clunky, but could be a cool study if more thoroughly investigated.
The way our senses combined subconsciously was very thoroughly drawn out in the Immediate Receptors: Perception of Space chapter. Diving in-depth conversations about each sense from varying distances and how they relate to each other.
Whorf is discussed at length, and with quotes like
“The world is presented in a kaleidoscopic flux of impressions which has to be organized by our minds- and this means largely by the linguistic systems in our minds. We cut nature up, organize it into concepts, and describe significances as we do largely because we are parties to an agreement to organize it in this way- an agreement that holds throughout our speech community and is codified and the patterns of our language”,it's easy to see why his studies on the unconventional conceptions of space and time in the Hopi language are extremely relevant to see the metaphysical implications of language and its limitations.
Through chapters on the anthropology of space, Hall had interesting notes about architectural features that delineate work from life, home from public, fixed-feature, form/ function, content / structure, formal/ informal and sociopetal / sociofugal space. Contrasting usage of public space in the US and Japan yielded some intriguing reflections about how underlying cultural conceptions play out in human geography and urban sprawl.
Next was a very unique study on distances between human perception, visual detail and distortion, temperature, vocal inflection, and the instinctual social psychology that we take for granted. After reading this, even small details of multi-sensory social perception and engagement become apparent in everyday life, with notable differences in the recreational, professional, confrontational, formal and informal social realms.
Where Hall’s arguments fall a little short in terms of thorough-ness are the cultural comparisons. For an anthropologist, he always has an American-centric reference point. For someone who is showing how culturally conditioned all of our tendencies, I feel like we were always contrasting other views with our ‘more correct’ view. I'm sure modern audiences could find plenty to be offended by. It would be pretty cool to see other cultures taking this information and responding to the American culturally-conditioned aspects of socialization, or at least offering more dialogue between cultures to really kind of ground many of his arguments.
exocrinology
exterioceptors
ethology
biotope
dissynchronous
adumbrative
altamira
kinesthesia
servomechanics
doxiadis
ekistics
settee
demesne
Critical distance
proprioceptors
louvers
histological
adrenocortical
How long can man afford to consciously ignore his own dimension?...
Such research is no more a luxury than the gauges in an airplane cockpit.
September 12, 2022
Edward T. Hall provides a refreshing approach to understanding the sense of space, a topic which has been termed proxemics. Whereas typical Western scientists focus on a topic from a Western viewpoint, Hall takes into consideration the differences in thought and experience between cultures; different cultures perceive personal space differently.
Hall claims to have discovered different types of space that is perceived be every person: intimate space (close contact with a partner), personal distance (space shared with close friends and family), social distance (space shared with familiar acquaintances), and public distance (space shared with strangers). A stress response can be triggered if these distances are breached, inappropriately. With the increasing human population in the world, it is more important than ever to provide the suitable amount of available social and private space.
The book has also forced me to consider the effect of overcrowding in the digital dimension. If we perceive our bodies to extend past its physical properties in the form of personal space 'bubbles' in the real world, then do we extend our sense of self in the form of personal bubbles in the digital world? How do we deal with digital distance, if such a thing exists? Might digital overcrowding result in a stress response similar to that of physical overcrowding?
The topic of proxemics, and space in general, is fascinating as it opens up a world (or a hidden dimension) that you've never paid attention to before. This book will expose you to a way of thinking that is new and illuminating.
Hall claims to have discovered different types of space that is perceived be every person: intimate space (close contact with a partner), personal distance (space shared with close friends and family), social distance (space shared with familiar acquaintances), and public distance (space shared with strangers). A stress response can be triggered if these distances are breached, inappropriately. With the increasing human population in the world, it is more important than ever to provide the suitable amount of available social and private space.
The book has also forced me to consider the effect of overcrowding in the digital dimension. If we perceive our bodies to extend past its physical properties in the form of personal space 'bubbles' in the real world, then do we extend our sense of self in the form of personal bubbles in the digital world? How do we deal with digital distance, if such a thing exists? Might digital overcrowding result in a stress response similar to that of physical overcrowding?
The topic of proxemics, and space in general, is fascinating as it opens up a world (or a hidden dimension) that you've never paid attention to before. This book will expose you to a way of thinking that is new and illuminating.
June 7, 2012
أمتعتني قراءة هذا الكتاب، لكنه من النوع الذي يستلزم بعضاّ من التركيز لاستيعابه.. الفصول الأولى أشعرتني بالملل إلى حدِّ ما؛ فقد كانت تحكي عن تجارب الحيوانات وبيئاتها وتفاعلاتها، ربما كان المقصود أن نربط بين الحيوانات وبين الإنسان في تلك التجارب.. إلا أن الفصول اللاحقة كانت ممتعة خاصةً عندما بدأ الحديث عن الأبعاد والمساحات والبيئات والتفاعلات بين البشر من جنسيات مختلفة..فتحدث من منظور الأمريكيين والأوروبيين واليابانيين والعرب..
أعجبتني دراساته وتفسيراته لسلوكيات العرب وأنماط معيشتهم وسكناهم وتعاملاتهم، لكن كان من المضحك نوعاً ما أن تجد أن كثير من عدم التوافق بين العرب وغيرهم يعود إلى اختلاف النظرة أو الثقافة المتبعة للتعامل مع ذلك الأمر.. الكاتب أمريكي لكنه أدرج دراساته بكل موضوعية ودعمها بتجاربه الشخصية وملاحظاته.
أعجبتني دراساته وتفسيراته لسلوكيات العرب وأنماط معيشتهم وسكناهم وتعاملاتهم، لكن كان من المضحك نوعاً ما أن تجد أن كثير من عدم التوافق بين العرب وغيرهم يعود إلى اختلاف النظرة أو الثقافة المتبعة للتعامل مع ذلك الأمر.. الكاتب أمريكي لكنه أدرج دراساته بكل موضوعية ودعمها بتجاربه الشخصية وملاحظاته.
November 18, 2020
A refreshing studying social distancing, relevant during during the coronavirus pandemic more acutely than when the book was published in 1969.
Though I was already familiar with the basic concepts and the significance of anthropology to increase our understanding of cultural differences in our space requirements, I especially enjoyed the discussions on the place of architecture appropriate to different cultures and space preferences. It reminded me of Russian era kitchens built for the Poles in ugly high rises during the Soviet occupation. Russian plans were not designed to fit Polish culture values.
Though I was already familiar with the basic concepts and the significance of anthropology to increase our understanding of cultural differences in our space requirements, I especially enjoyed the discussions on the place of architecture appropriate to different cultures and space preferences. It reminded me of Russian era kitchens built for the Poles in ugly high rises during the Soviet occupation. Russian plans were not designed to fit Polish culture values.
May 5, 2009
I read this one a long time ago, but I still count it as one of my favorite books. Interesting sociological study of how different people use space in their everyday relationships. The meaning of open and closed doore in different cultures; the importance of distance in human relationships, etc. Fascinating and an eye opener on cultural differences!
May 13, 2016
كتب ثري بالتفاصيل الدقيقة المهمة المغفلة في معرفة النفس والبيئة وفهم
التواصل والأنفعال كنت أفكر في هذه الامور ووجدت كتاب ملم فيها ويشرحها أستمتعت بالتفاصيل
..تمنيت لو كان الكتاب في هذه السنوات ليشرح تأثير الاجهزة الذكية في التواصل والبيئة
..لم أتافجئ كثيرا في معاناة المؤلف في دراسة مفهوم الحيز لدى العرب فهذا أنعكاس مبرر جداً لعدم وضوحهم مع انفسهم ومع الحياة بشكل عام
التواصل والأنفعال كنت أفكر في هذه الامور ووجدت كتاب ملم فيها ويشرحها أستمتعت بالتفاصيل
..تمنيت لو كان الكتاب في هذه السنوات ليشرح تأثير الاجهزة الذكية في التواصل والبيئة
..لم أتافجئ كثيرا في معاناة المؤلف في دراسة مفهوم الحيز لدى العرب فهذا أنعكاس مبرر جداً لعدم وضوحهم مع انفسهم ومع الحياة بشكل عام
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