

Building a Thinking Room - fun2have
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703778104576287121392285518.html?mod=wsj_share_twitter

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roryokane
The title first made me think this was an account of how someone constructed a
“Chinese room” (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_room>), a room which as
a system performs calculations like a computer, appearing to think. That might
have interested me more than this article did.

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jrockway
At work we have grey walls with grey windows with grey blinds with grey carpet
with grey ceiling tiles. And the photos on the walls are black-and-white
mounted in grey picture frames.

Nobody has ever walked into our office and been offended by the decoration.
And nobody has ever done any amazing creative work, either.

~~~
saurabh
I would love to see some pictures.

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jrockway
Sure, I'll take some.

But to help you visualize in the mean time: imagine choosing interior
furnishings by always saying, "I'll take the cheapest, please", and you'll
have the right feeling. It's not beautiful in its simplicity, it's shocking in
its lack of personality.

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illumen
From experience: high ceilings, and big space let you have very different
thoughts than if you are in a tiny flat.

I've worked in an advertising agencies where the office is designed to look
plain, and let the work stand out more. It was also designed to look good with
the macs. The lighting is different for different areas, and also floors are
designed with the types of clients they service in mind. Different designs for
sectors like financials to creatives to airlines. With different journeys
through the building depending on who the visitor was. There are white boards
built into the walls, meeting rooms, board rooms, pitch rooms, reading areas,
relaxing areas, and other special purpose areas including thinking areas.

There are architects who specialise in party dynamics, and provoking all sorts
of different emotions. There are people who specialise in shopping centers,
public areas, and sporting areas. Each type of place has it's own needs and
requirements.

However, none of this is new - it's been happening since people have made and
designed buildings.

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_debug_
I take a bus to the library and spend some time there, interspersed with many
breaks which involve walking to a nearby tea house. Taking a bus outsources
the attention-drain of driving while still being conducive to the trance-like
free-floating state of mind in which one can feed the thoughts to the unknown
and allow the ideas to come to you.

Most of the times that I have sat down at the same desk for 2 hours, I have
regretted it. It's sub-optimal unless you are literally just typing in what is
already known.

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billswift
Unless you're in flow. That is the only time I sit for any extended period -
when I am so engrossed in what I am doing that I don't notice the time.
Normally I get up and walk around every ten to twenty minutes, I'm a little
hyperactive and usually need to _do_ something active fairly frequently.

And unfortunately, libraries don't work for me, I find other people much too
distracting.

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dangrossman
My thinking room is my car. If I need some time to think, I'll drive somewhere
an hour or so away. On the open road watching the horizon and sky the whole
way is good as sitting outside, while driving avoids the temptation to hop on
a computer or watch TV or do anything else distracting.

~~~
robotresearcher
How about a walk?

~~~
BasDirks
From Nietzsche's Ecce Homo:

"So wenig als möglich sitzen; keinem Gedanken Glauben schenken, der nicht im
Freien geboren ist und bei freier Bewegung, in dem nicht auch die Muskeln ein
Fest feiern."

"Remain seated as little as possible; trust no thought that is not born in the
open, to the accompaniment of free bodily motion-nor one in which your very
muscles do not celebrate a feast."

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alanfalcon
Sounds like I should paint one wall of my office blue, for when I'm doing
creative tasks, and one wall of my office red, for when I'm doing detail
oriented work. I wonder what would happen if I painted a third wall blue with
orange and lavender spots?

~~~
calebmpeterson
Levity aside, this is an interesting idea: have the red and blue walls facing
one another with a neutral on the in between walls...

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datasink
Or grab a digital projector off eBay and project a video loop of moving clouds
or flowing lava. Less painting, more interesting.

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ggchappell
> Why? According to the scientists, the color blue automatically triggers
> associations with openness and sky, while red makes us think of danger and
> stop signs. (Such associations are culturally mediated, of course; Chinese,
> for instance, tend to associate red with prosperity and good luck.)

Let's understand that, while the article discusses scientific studies, the
above explanations are merely guesses. I would suggest something different:
red stands out so much to the human visual system because it is the color of
two very important things that did _not_ originate as culturally mediated
associations: (1) blood, and (2) many kinds of ripe fruit. I leave it to the
reader to speculate how this might translate into accuracy and attention to
detail.

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lo_fye
I find it disappointing that there wasn't a single mention of a leather wing-
backed chair, or "sitting cushions", or incense.

Also, interesting that the author thinks architecture has always been about
aesthetics, not psychology. Do you think the Greek & Roman temples were only
about aesthetics? I think their largesse was _definitely_ designed to take
your mind somewhere else; to make you think of the heavens; to expand your
mind. Same for the great cathedrals of europe.

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tokenadult
My thinking room is my neighborhood, where I can take a walk while listening
to bird calls (and occasionally coyote howls) or at least the scrunching of
snow under my feet.

