Reading Thoughts

Spheres Theory
by Peter Sloterdijk

As humans, we are functions of our inner-selves.  We form a relationship with ourself (made up of inner parts), and we look for what we lack internally with others.  We create spheres, or boundaries, for ourselves.  Our spheres touch others’ spheres, but we are also isolated from them by the walls of our sphere.  Sloterdijk gives the example of a modern apartment building.  Each apartment was designed for a single dweller.  The apartment walls shelter us from the noise and disruption created by others, yet we still share walls and there is an outer boundary that contains us.  

Our space is defined by our memory of previous space we occupied.  This idea also explains why we became home-dwellers in the first place.  Inside space was originally derived from the need, in agricultural terms, to wait for the crops to mature and bear fruit.  In waiting, we created a habit of being inside.  While we are now less patient, we are habitual home-dwellers, made so by our collective memory of the previous space “we” occupied, waiting for the crops to mature.

I think Sloterdijk has made an interesting point here.  We are products of our inner-selves in the context of others.  Without others around us, our fragile bubble would burst and we would be nothing.  Yet, our bubble protects us from the dangers and annoyances of the outside world and we are able to relax and reflect on our own.

It is our job as designers to keep this notion in mind when creating experiences for users.  User experience is relational to previous experiences of the user and each user occupies their own space, relational to others.  We must design experiences where the user is comfortable in their own thoughts, and where they are protected as they interact with others.