64
QERALD L. YOUNG
decisions . . . only by being perceived and reacted to psychologically in
the light of the environed individual’s felt needs and previous experience”. Pfaltzgraff (1968) asserted that “political systems have adaptive,
integrative, goal-attainment, and pattern-maintenance functions”, and
that in fulfilling such functions, “systems interact with their social and
non-social environment”.
E t c h (1972) bases much of his work on the housing environment on
the need to recognize and relate “experiential reality” to architectural
design. Neutra (1954) acknowledges that “functionalism can turn into a
superficial creed for extroverts”, but indicates that “it can also be
guided to honor the functions within our skin and the innermost life”.
He also suggests that appearance and aesthetic appeal be grounded in
“the train of functional circumstance”.
Functionalism, as en integral concept in human ecology, transcends
the way in which it has been utilized up to the present. Its importance
creates a paradoxical situation that must be resolved. The problem is
that people’s perception of the real world is a function of their ability to
comprehend complexities beyond the immediate; for natives in New
Guinea, this may be only a couple of miles. For well-educated people,
this m y be earth-inclusive, though there is seldom evidence of this
really being the case. Such functional perception depends on the extent
of the ability to interact with other peoples and other environments.
Technology (such as television) extends this ability much further than
in areas where people do not have advanced techniques of communication. (The question that qualifies this is, of course, the “reality” of
people and events on the screen.) Human ecologists might benefit in
their study of functionalism by referring to the work of Locke, Berkeley
and Hume on empiricism, the theory that all knowledge originates in
experience.
The paradox is related to this experiential limitation of reality, and is
inherent in a functional concept of community. It is necessary on the
one hand for people to achieve a sense of local community, a sense of
belonging with boundaries around it. This is one necessary aspect of a
functional community concept. But it is also necessary for people to
assume an obligation that extends beyond the limits of their local
community, to an ultimately world community of all mankind. This is
necessary because of the acceleration of interaction opportunities with
the advent of accelerated efficiency of communication, and because the
by-products of human action are now all too often world-wide in their
Every individual with access to television, radio, newspapers etc. is
now a world citizen if he is able even in a small way to comprehend the
vastly speeded up number of information bits to which he is subjected.
impact.
QERALD L. YOUNG
decisions . . . only by being perceived and reacted to psychologically in
the light of the environed individual’s felt needs and previous experience”. Pfaltzgraff (1968) asserted that “political systems have adaptive,
integrative, goal-attainment, and pattern-maintenance functions”, and
that in fulfilling such functions, “systems interact with their social and
non-social environment”.
E t c h (1972) bases much of his work on the housing environment on
the need to recognize and relate “experiential reality” to architectural
design. Neutra (1954) acknowledges that “functionalism can turn into a
superficial creed for extroverts”, but indicates that “it can also be
guided to honor the functions within our skin and the innermost life”.
He also suggests that appearance and aesthetic appeal be grounded in
“the train of functional circumstance”.
Functionalism, as en integral concept in human ecology, transcends
the way in which it has been utilized up to the present. Its importance
creates a paradoxical situation that must be resolved. The problem is
that people’s perception of the real world is a function of their ability to
comprehend complexities beyond the immediate; for natives in New
Guinea, this may be only a couple of miles. For well-educated people,
this m y be earth-inclusive, though there is seldom evidence of this
really being the case. Such functional perception depends on the extent
of the ability to interact with other peoples and other environments.
Technology (such as television) extends this ability much further than
in areas where people do not have advanced techniques of communication. (The question that qualifies this is, of course, the “reality” of
people and events on the screen.) Human ecologists might benefit in
their study of functionalism by referring to the work of Locke, Berkeley
and Hume on empiricism, the theory that all knowledge originates in
experience.
The paradox is related to this experiential limitation of reality, and is
inherent in a functional concept of community. It is necessary on the
one hand for people to achieve a sense of local community, a sense of
belonging with boundaries around it. This is one necessary aspect of a
functional community concept. But it is also necessary for people to
assume an obligation that extends beyond the limits of their local
community, to an ultimately world community of all mankind. This is
necessary because of the acceleration of interaction opportunities with
the advent of accelerated efficiency of communication, and because the
by-products of human action are now all too often world-wide in their
Every individual with access to television, radio, newspapers etc. is
now a world citizen if he is able even in a small way to comprehend the
vastly speeded up number of information bits to which he is subjected.
impact.