Six quick thoughts
1. Contagion in remote online learning
I saw a tweet today.
And it got me thinking. I wonder if university classrooms are empty because of a phenomenon previously observed in remote work (we talked about remote work in detail here). The more frequently people in a company work remotely, the less of a draw the office becomes. Remote work can become "contagious" -- why bother coming in if no one is around? Individuals choose to work offsite as their coworkers choose to work offsite.
Is the same thing happening in the classroom? If only some of the students make it in, the experience is less vibrant than normal for whoever does show up. So why bother? At a certain point you’re just watching the behind-the-scenes of a professor talking into a Zoom call.
I don’t think the fact that students aren’t showing up to mixed in-person / remote classes is any indication of their true preference. I’d guess the current situation (the decreasing incentive of coming into class) plays a larger role.
2. Masks as tripping hazard
I’m a klutz and sometimes unaware of where my body ends, and the rest of the world begins. Wearing a mask while walking around, especially if there are stairs involved, is hard! Peripheral vision toward the ground is pretty much gone. I know I’m not alone.
A few weeks ago, I saw an older woman take a big tumble walking up the stairs to the local supermarket. And I’ve seen older adults clutching the railing as they walk down the broad steps of a nearby bank.
Will we see more falls, especially among high-risk populations like older adults, as long as mask-wearing continues?
Great minds think alike cause the BMJ is on it with a new paper that provides recommendations about what to do to minimize mask-related-fall-risk, like paradoxically not looking down.
3. Object weirdness and liquidity
For one work project, I am learning a lot about investing, which has already made me notice new details in the world.
In Kelsey Keith’s latest Ground Condition newsletter, she explains what affects the resale value of Saarinen tulip tables, quoting design expert Alex Gilbert:
“Marble. Arabescato, the white marble with greater figuration than Carrera, is most likely the easiest to sell for the highest price. Some of the rare colored marbles or black granite might go for a bit more, but they are also harder to offload.”
AKA the material choice affects liquidity.
So, are lowest-common-denominator (within the world of people buying designer furniture) inoffensive objects generally more liquid?
This relates to a conversation I had with my friend Micah (not only is this guy a reader, he’s also the self-declared producer of my marriage!), who emailed after the last piece on curved furniture asking why I thought curved furniture wasn’t the norm all the time.
I think trends are powered by picking up on some degree of weirdness or going against properties we all generally find pleasant – like the past couple summers’ ugly sandals.
Still, are trend-driven objects that follow our intrinsic preferences to some degree, whether that’s for material or color choice, as in the Saarinen table example above, or for curvature, easier to sell once the trend is over?
4. Running into winter
Here in Montréal, we’re under a partial lockdown. Large chunks of Europe are under lockdown again.
Gyms are closed and we’re continuing to exercise outside. Running or walking in nature is an experience that makes many of us happy. And that’s been true during COVID as well – exercising, going for walks, and being outside have all been linked to positive emotional experiences.
Image source. Positive and negative experiences during COVID.
Nike and Adidas, I hope you are on this. Here’s a once-in-a-generation chance to get people to become winter runners.
Sure, a quick Google search reveals some new weatherized Nikes featured on SneakerNews. But come on! Winter’s coming, so let’s see some cool ice-traversing sneakers and inspirational ads already.
5. Restoring vs. rehabbing
We live in an old (for North American standards) building from 1906. The buildings around ours are from around the same time. Pretty much all of them are split floor-by-floor into apartments. Some owners have kept original details, like the detailed tile-work, the cast iron tubs, the separate toilet room, the stained-glass windows.
Others have fully rehabbed. And rehabbed. And rehabbed.
I want to know: what predicts people’s desire to keep original historical details and what fuels the desire to rehab?
For example, a neighbor moved in at the same time we did, and immediately rehabbed. Meanwhile, I recently spent weeks finding a refurbished antique radiator to exactly match the ones in our apartment after one leaked. I feel like the steward of this place. The number of buildings with original details from any given time is ever decreasing, so if we have to replace an original detail, it’ll be only because of a safety issue.
Our personalities and values predict so much of how we arrange our homes. I haven’t seen any research about what drives the desire to preserve vs. rehab, and I’m so curious to know!
Image source. Some original home details from a seriously spooky house. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.
6. Children like it cool
Something else I’d love to understand: why do people bundle up their kids? I see the coats, hats, and mitts come out as soon as it drops below 60 F / 15 C.
Kids feel more comfortable in lower temperatures than adults, and they’re more sensitive to being too-hot. But parents must have some belief that kids, being more fragile in so many other ways, are also more sensitive to feeling cool.
Again, a topic that’s in the wild west of the research world, but it would be interesting to compare a dependent group’s (e.g., kids’) own environmental preferences to those ascribed to them by their caretakers.