A more general class of tests for life

Nowadays, since use of this empirical method has become the cornerstone of my method of practice, my colleagues and I do not exclusively use the mirror-of-the-self test. It is a little too exotic for daily use, a little too eyebrow-raising for everyday professional work. In recent years, when making comparisons between possible building designs, we are more likely to ask ourselves which fills us with the greatest feeling of our own life, which has the most life, which touches the soul most deeply, which one creates the greatest sensation of wholeness in us. It is this, above all, which is the cornerstone of the test, the observation that the systems with the most life have the greatest impact on our own wholeness.

I find that for daily use, the [test] that works best is the question: “Comparing A and B, which one makes me feel the most wholeness in myself, which allows me to come closest to my own life, which makes me experience life most deeply?” It is not always easy to answer this question, but it is usually possible.

#book/The Nature of Order/1 The Phenomenon of Life/9 Beyond Descartes: A new form of scientific observation#