So where's home?
A new neighbour who lives in the next block of flats came over and was ruing the fact that he had to leave his standalone little house and move into an apartment on a floor so high he could hardly make out people on the ground.
By Mukul Sharma, | Updated:
A new neighbour who lives in the next block of flats came over and was ruing the fact that he had to leave his standalone little house and move into an apartment on a floor so high he could hardly make out people on the ground. It wasn’t the same any more, he said.
Like there was a time when a man could call a dwelling a home because there was soil and the good earth right there underneath his feet all the time. It was real estate. Multi-storeyed buildings with layers of flats, on the other hand, are not the stuff of primeval life and the ancient part of our hominid brains still can’t get used to them in a hurry.
That’s because like a lot of other animals, we’re territorial and possess an instinctive drive that wants to stake a claim on the land we live off that can be guarded against intruders. In a highrise, if you take away the people below, you’re floating on air. What’s there to defend?
Of course, some people — with transferable jobs, for instance — get used to it because they don’t have a choice. But a German study reported in Nature showed that those living in condos are more prone to stress and anxiety disorders.
In fact, even after factoring in age, heredity and education, as well as less definable qualities such as mood and personality, the results consistently showed the same thing. Yet, there are other people who’ve managed to overcome this territoriality bug with seeming ease.
Ask a Bedouin, gypsy or any nomad, “Where’s home?” and chances are he’ll point in the distance somewhere and reply, “There.” They’re not homeless; they’re full of homes.
Like there was a time when a man could call a dwelling a home because there was soil and the good earth right there underneath his feet all the time. It was real estate. Multi-storeyed buildings with layers of flats, on the other hand, are not the stuff of primeval life and the ancient part of our hominid brains still can’t get used to them in a hurry.
That’s because like a lot of other animals, we’re territorial and possess an instinctive drive that wants to stake a claim on the land we live off that can be guarded against intruders. In a highrise, if you take away the people below, you’re floating on air. What’s there to defend?
Of course, some people — with transferable jobs, for instance — get used to it because they don’t have a choice. But a German study reported in Nature showed that those living in condos are more prone to stress and anxiety disorders.
In fact, even after factoring in age, heredity and education, as well as less definable qualities such as mood and personality, the results consistently showed the same thing. Yet, there are other people who’ve managed to overcome this territoriality bug with seeming ease.
Ask a Bedouin, gypsy or any nomad, “Where’s home?” and chances are he’ll point in the distance somewhere and reply, “There.” They’re not homeless; they’re full of homes.
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