A Sense of Space

Space and the way we perceive it has a drastic impact on our lives. It defines who we interact with , what we do, and where we go. The development in technology and shifting societal norms have changed how people perceive the space around them in new and interesting ways, similar to the changes happening around the turn of the last century. Kearns talks about the changes in such space in his book, The Culture of Time and Space. I would like to investigate further parallel thoughts for the present era.

Major ideas that influenced the perception of space in the early 20^th century include Cubism, special relativity and general relativity. Cubism came about for a few different reasons. As photography improved and became more popular the need for realistic two dimensional renderings were reduced. Cubism is commonly called an experiment of showcasing multiple view points within one canvas. The slight abstractness allowed an artist to convey much more feeling and depth than more traditional style. These were important first steps in expanding our perceptions of space in art beyond the flat plane of canvas.

On the scientific front, special and general relativity brought forth many new ideas of space. The Michelson-Morley experiment disproved the existence of the ether and Einstein's theory of special relativity helped explain what actually happened. The size of space was now able to be accurately measured using light to form a sense of absolute space. General relativity helped change even that a little. Space was no longer nice simple Euclidean geometry that most people are familiar with, but rather consisted of many deformations and bending due to gravitational forces and energy density. Imaging such a space is quite difficult considering the scales of size involved.

Modern technology has also influenced our perceptions of space. Services such as Facebook, Twitter, and other social sites have lowered the limit for physical proximity on social and even romantic interactions. It is not only possible, but common to have a close relationship with someone over a thousand miles away. In the 19^th and early 20^th century a distance of only a few miles was a huge strain on any such relationship. Back then all meaningful action was done primarily in person. The advent of the internet has all but removed that requirement. I would argue that meaningful interactions are still best done in person, but current technology and social norms have allowed relationships to develop completely void of face to face meetings.

Another development that change our concept of space is the difference in how we travel. Back in the 19^th century, people were primarily limited to either foot or horse and carriage. This means that in order to travel more than a couple a significant amount of time and effort had to be expended. This is part of the reason that people often did not interact with others more than a couple of miles from their home. When some one visited from 'far' off, it was generally a big deal. At the turn of the 20^th century railroads were common place and personal vehicles were no longer too rare. This allowed cities and other major developments to expand. It was now feasible to traverse an entire city quickly thanks to railcars and the like. Today cars are extremely common place. The time it took to cover even a few miles on foot can now cover over a hundred in a car. This allows locations to feel closer as the time it takes to reach them has decreased significantly. The popularity of air travel has done a similar change but on a global scale. No where near as much trouble and planning is needed to travel from Atlanta to New York or even across the country.

I can see as technology further develops, our sense of social and practical space will continue to expand. The efficiency of such space will also be called into question as more junk fills our world. We are running out of easily accessible space and will have to take a good hard look on where we can go from here.

~Matthew McKenna