Nature's call on hold
Fredosor.com
The caveman transcending the fight
to meet the basic needs
for food, clothing and shelter.
From subsistence to the satisfaction of the palate - and back
A movement in our attitudes from food as nutrition to food as a sensual experience, and back to food as nutrition (just faster than before, as junk).
As the income level has risen, we have seen the development of a paradox in food consumption. Two consumption patterns coexist. One movement is towards higher quality food. Within this movement we find variations around healthy, low fat diets and more wholesome diets where nutritional health considerations do not enter and all the focus is on sensual refinement. The proliferation of modern cook books illustrates the extent of this trend.The other movement is towards so-called fast food, where the basic element is speed of preparation and speed of consumption. Many people wish to minimize the time spent on making food and eating it – regardless of their level of income. People with a so-called fast life style, where the focus is on carrying out a maximum of tasks in a day, consider food on the same level as gasoline for a car – without any consideration for all the other important functions of meals (social contact with friends, meditation, communication with own children and spouse, business transactions).
The consumption of fast food is often associated with low-income groups, because they less often seek the information needed to distinguish harmful food from healthy food. Only when you compare to eating in other restaurants do fast food chains appear to be cheaper. Fast food bought at a food store is not cheaper when you compare to food prepared at home with natural ingredients. However, as mentioned, higher income groups with little time to spare often seem to go for fast food as well. The total effect of this pattern is an endemic increase in overweight and diabetes, not only among low-income groups.
There are two life-style patterns that favor the proliferation of fast-food. The first, then, is the time pressure that many people are in, partly because of pressures on the job and partly because of pressures stemming from ambitious agendas in their private lives. The second is of a very different nature. It is connected with physical inactivity. A number of people are physically inactive (for numerous different reasons). An increasing number of people develop life styles where any kind of physical activity feels burdensome, including the act of making food. They often spend much of their lives in front of an electronic screen, and they wish to take the food out of the fridge and straight into the micro-wave oven, in order to lose as little time as possible in the process.
People involved in those two life-style patterns do not seem to consider that more rewarding things in life – which are well within their reach – may be passing them by as time passes. Social contact, friends, affection and love - major forces in shaping a happy life - seem to be outside their field of interest. Vastly “successful” people who have pursued one-dimensional objectives throughout their lives, at the cost of loss of social contact, love, affection and friends, come to realize - when their lives are close to ending - that they pursued objectives that were not really worth pursuing. Leaving families and friends to themselves, they come to think, was not a smart choice – and they often express regret at having made that choice. At the heart of social contact and family life stands a well-prepared meal, and ample time for consuming it while exchanging thoughts and feelings.
The proliferation of cook books of all kinds indicates that an increasing number of people have come to realize the importance of a well-prepared meal, and the social contact that goes with it, for their general quality of life. This does not necessarily entail spending great amounts of money on food. The same social effects can be obtained with a simple meal as with an expensive meal. It is the gathering and the time spent together that counts. Rich people of course put more into it than poorer people, but the quality of the gathering does not depend on that. It is the effort put into it, and the amount of time spent together, that is appreciated. The great film Babette's feast gives us this feeling of what life can offer when the meal is given careful attention.
Seasonal identity
The original function of clothes, protection from inclement weather, was already showing signs of becoming obsolete in pre-historic times. This original function of clothes co-existed with an increasing number of other functions – with signs of rank and function in the tribe as the predominant ornamental clothing, followed by various symbols of mythological nature and signs indicating a projection of personality and sense of identity. Over time, the use of symbols and signs of different types has developed into a great variety – combined with informal directives of “proper clothing” by self appointed fashion judges and creators. Distinction of rank, aside from the obvious use of such distinctions in official functions such as army and police, came in many ways, through choice of colors, shape and, in particular, through choice of the quality of the material used for making clothes.
As clothing varies according to changes in climate, the notions of proper clothing have also been made to vary according to variations in seasons and differences in climate in different parts of the world, thus giving producers of clothes ample opportunities for marketing of new products..
The use and meaning of clothes is different for different people. Some people do not attach any importance to clothes, except in the original way clothes were introduced, as some form of protection against weather and climatic conditions. Others, at the other end of the scale, invest their entire sense of identity in their choice of clothes. Their choice of clothes will then become dependent on what sense of identity they have, and what kind of clothes that match this sense of identity. The more extreme cases at this end of the specter are those who blindly follow “the fashion”, regardless of how it fits them. They fully leave it to someone else to decide what they will wear.
What does a sense of identity contain? You can identify yourself with another person (idol), with a profession (fisherman, farmer, ..), an activity (hunter, polar explorer, sportsman,artist,..), a sociological status (nobleman, bourgeois, working class hero, hippie, an ascetic, an exhibitionist,...). Or, you can “be yourself”. Being yourself implies being in a state of equilibrium with your nature, not desiring to be someone else, to have other characteristics than those you actually have, or to be told what to like and what to wear. That may in the end imply that you resemble many other people or that you dress and look very “ordinary”, but – being yourself – you don’t care.
Artistic sheltering
From the pre-historic caves, shelters have evolved in conjunction with life styles and material wealth. The major historic change was brought about by the gradual move from nomadic to sedentary life style. Whereas the nomadic style dominated before the development of agriculture around ten thousand years ago, the sedentary style gradually took over as agriculture increasingly became the dominant way of sustaining life.
The nomadic life style imposed mobile homes. Housing needed to be easily assembled and disassembled, as well as easy to transport. This made for use of furs as cover, placed over rudimentary wooden structures. Sedentary life styles led to building of homes that were made to stay at a fixed place, which implied the possibility to use more robust, heavy materials that gave better protection from and isolation against variations in weather. Stationary homes also opened up for variations in the amount of resources put into building a house.
As the case is for clothes, shelters became more and more sophisticated with time, and – characteristically – an opportunity for demonstration of rank and power. In this area it was even easier to find material expression for rank, power, and prosperity than it has been in the case of clothes. The size of a building would by itself convey an important message. In addition, multitudes of ways to decorate the building, both with symbols and with quality of materials have been at the disposal of architects and builders. A very telling example of how crudely such notions of prestige and power would influence building customs, can be found in San Gimignano in Tuscany – where the most prominent families in Medieval times would compete with each other by building higher and higher towers. Although the towers had defensive functions, these functions became secondary to the status-seeking motives behind the highth of the towers. With the advent of more powerful military means, which rendered the military functions of the towers obsolete, highth gave way to volume as a general status symbol for buildings. However, highth is still an important symbol of prestige in building customs. Today it signals financial power, technological prowess, and – because it has become a way for some nations to compete - it attempts in general terms to signal that your country is advanced. There is an ongoing national competition on a global scale, with ever taller buildings as a result.
On top of such considerations as these, you may also wish to add the aesthetic dimensions to architecture that have been developed through different periods.
A movement in our attitudes from food as nutrition to food as a sensual experience, and back to food as nutrition (just faster than before, as junk).
As the income level has risen, we have seen the development of a paradox in food consumption. Two consumption patterns coexist. One movement is towards higher quality food. Within this movement we find variations around healthy, low fat diets and more wholesome diets where nutritional health considerations do not enter and all the focus is on sensual refinement. The proliferation of modern cook books illustrates the extent of this trend.The other movement is towards so-called fast food, where the basic element is speed of preparation and speed of consumption. Many people wish to minimize the time spent on making food and eating it – regardless of their level of income. People with a so-called fast life style, where the focus is on carrying out a maximum of tasks in a day, consider food on the same level as gasoline for a car – without any consideration for all the other important functions of meals (social contact with friends, meditation, communication with own children and spouse, business transactions).
The consumption of fast food is often associated with low-income groups, because they less often seek the information needed to distinguish harmful food from healthy food. Only when you compare to eating in other restaurants do fast food chains appear to be cheaper. Fast food bought at a food store is not cheaper when you compare to food prepared at home with natural ingredients. However, as mentioned, higher income groups with little time to spare often seem to go for fast food as well. The total effect of this pattern is an endemic increase in overweight and diabetes, not only among low-income groups.
There are two life-style patterns that favor the proliferation of fast-food. The first, then, is the time pressure that many people are in, partly because of pressures on the job and partly because of pressures stemming from ambitious agendas in their private lives. The second is of a very different nature. It is connected with physical inactivity. A number of people are physically inactive (for numerous different reasons). An increasing number of people develop life styles where any kind of physical activity feels burdensome, including the act of making food. They often spend much of their lives in front of an electronic screen, and they wish to take the food out of the fridge and straight into the micro-wave oven, in order to lose as little time as possible in the process.
People involved in those two life-style patterns do not seem to consider that more rewarding things in life – which are well within their reach – may be passing them by as time passes. Social contact, friends, affection and love - major forces in shaping a happy life - seem to be outside their field of interest. Vastly “successful” people who have pursued one-dimensional objectives throughout their lives, at the cost of loss of social contact, love, affection and friends, come to realize - when their lives are close to ending - that they pursued objectives that were not really worth pursuing. Leaving families and friends to themselves, they come to think, was not a smart choice – and they often express regret at having made that choice. At the heart of social contact and family life stands a well-prepared meal, and ample time for consuming it while exchanging thoughts and feelings.
The proliferation of cook books of all kinds indicates that an increasing number of people have come to realize the importance of a well-prepared meal, and the social contact that goes with it, for their general quality of life. This does not necessarily entail spending great amounts of money on food. The same social effects can be obtained with a simple meal as with an expensive meal. It is the gathering and the time spent together that counts. Rich people of course put more into it than poorer people, but the quality of the gathering does not depend on that. It is the effort put into it, and the amount of time spent together, that is appreciated. The great film Babette's feast gives us this feeling of what life can offer when the meal is given careful attention.
Seasonal identity
The original function of clothes, protection from inclement weather, was already showing signs of becoming obsolete in pre-historic times. This original function of clothes co-existed with an increasing number of other functions – with signs of rank and function in the tribe as the predominant ornamental clothing, followed by various symbols of mythological nature and signs indicating a projection of personality and sense of identity. Over time, the use of symbols and signs of different types has developed into a great variety – combined with informal directives of “proper clothing” by self appointed fashion judges and creators. Distinction of rank, aside from the obvious use of such distinctions in official functions such as army and police, came in many ways, through choice of colors, shape and, in particular, through choice of the quality of the material used for making clothes.
As clothing varies according to changes in climate, the notions of proper clothing have also been made to vary according to variations in seasons and differences in climate in different parts of the world, thus giving producers of clothes ample opportunities for marketing of new products..
The use and meaning of clothes is different for different people. Some people do not attach any importance to clothes, except in the original way clothes were introduced, as some form of protection against weather and climatic conditions. Others, at the other end of the scale, invest their entire sense of identity in their choice of clothes. Their choice of clothes will then become dependent on what sense of identity they have, and what kind of clothes that match this sense of identity. The more extreme cases at this end of the specter are those who blindly follow “the fashion”, regardless of how it fits them. They fully leave it to someone else to decide what they will wear.
What does a sense of identity contain? You can identify yourself with another person (idol), with a profession (fisherman, farmer, ..), an activity (hunter, polar explorer, sportsman,artist,..), a sociological status (nobleman, bourgeois, working class hero, hippie, an ascetic, an exhibitionist,...). Or, you can “be yourself”. Being yourself implies being in a state of equilibrium with your nature, not desiring to be someone else, to have other characteristics than those you actually have, or to be told what to like and what to wear. That may in the end imply that you resemble many other people or that you dress and look very “ordinary”, but – being yourself – you don’t care.
Artistic sheltering
From the pre-historic caves, shelters have evolved in conjunction with life styles and material wealth. The major historic change was brought about by the gradual move from nomadic to sedentary life style. Whereas the nomadic style dominated before the development of agriculture around ten thousand years ago, the sedentary style gradually took over as agriculture increasingly became the dominant way of sustaining life.
The nomadic life style imposed mobile homes. Housing needed to be easily assembled and disassembled, as well as easy to transport. This made for use of furs as cover, placed over rudimentary wooden structures. Sedentary life styles led to building of homes that were made to stay at a fixed place, which implied the possibility to use more robust, heavy materials that gave better protection from and isolation against variations in weather. Stationary homes also opened up for variations in the amount of resources put into building a house.
As the case is for clothes, shelters became more and more sophisticated with time, and – characteristically – an opportunity for demonstration of rank and power. In this area it was even easier to find material expression for rank, power, and prosperity than it has been in the case of clothes. The size of a building would by itself convey an important message. In addition, multitudes of ways to decorate the building, both with symbols and with quality of materials have been at the disposal of architects and builders. A very telling example of how crudely such notions of prestige and power would influence building customs, can be found in San Gimignano in Tuscany – where the most prominent families in Medieval times would compete with each other by building higher and higher towers. Although the towers had defensive functions, these functions became secondary to the status-seeking motives behind the highth of the towers. With the advent of more powerful military means, which rendered the military functions of the towers obsolete, highth gave way to volume as a general status symbol for buildings. However, highth is still an important symbol of prestige in building customs. Today it signals financial power, technological prowess, and – because it has become a way for some nations to compete - it attempts in general terms to signal that your country is advanced. There is an ongoing national competition on a global scale, with ever taller buildings as a result.
On top of such considerations as these, you may also wish to add the aesthetic dimensions to architecture that have been developed through different periods.