Comments

1
Yes! I have noticed this too. Maybe also a means of staying out of the way of passers by?
2
As I get older, the distance to the ground gets more ominous. It becomes a threat that could consume me in one slip or trip or loss of balance. This photo is like defiance of gravity at your peril. And yet, it's something you might not even notice if you're still young.
3
..knew someone who got a degree in urban architecture once, and they had the concept of "prospect and domain". i believe it boiled down to we feel more comfortable from a position which allows us to see some distance around us ("prospect") and which gave us a sense of a defensible zone around us ("domain"). probably sensible from the point of view of a small pro-simian on the savannah with various predators about ((camera tracks back, our subject fails to be looking upwards ... there's a leopard above... screen goes black))
4
So I'm not as much in the way of passersby and my brain has something to engage in (balancing).
5
I think that we are subconsciously excited by the 'danger' of balancing, the extra effort; it makes our senses and brain tingle, and we like it when our brain & body is challenged at low levels like this.

And I think theophrastus@3 is correct also.

(Also, please note, that in general people do not look up. (So its surprising we made it this far, what with all those leopards up in trees).)
6
All very interesting, but what part do the discarded cigarette butts play?
7
To me, it's like kicking a rock down the street: the sort of small thing I used to do as a kid for fun, and never saw any reason to stop.
8
Hardly a mystery- there have been extensive studies about how human beings relate to built spaces- most notably, A Pattern Language, Christopher Alexander's massive 1977 book about architecture, urban planning, and people.
Unfortunately for Charles, it also explains why most people feel differently than he does about Modernist Architecture.
Most modernist architects believe in the singular genius school of design, rather than studying what works and pleases.
Anyway, spaces like this are design details that relate to the scale of the human body, and our inherent love of vistas and secret places.

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