Numinose

Human beings are equipped with psychological reactions such as anxiety&sbquo fear and awe—a fundamental or deep level psychology that attempts to avert danger and escape from it by all means. In his book The Idea of the Holy (1917) Rudolf Otto defined the word numinose as the feeling of awe towards holy things from the Latin word numen that means "holy power." By analyzing this religious feeling he demonstrated that there exists without fail a pair of feelings that is contrary to the force or will of God. In other words&sbquo awe (tremendum) and fascination (fascinans). The Psychologist Jung stated that people naturally felt this fundamental fear and fascination when encountering the archetypes that lay dormant deep within the human mind. The sympathetic nerves are excited due to an emotional reaction generated when sensing a numenose-like danger. This causes cold sweat and shivers. As the peripheral nerves contract the face turns pale&sbquo breathing hastens&sbquo and the heartbeat becomes abnormally fast or slow. Furthermore&sbquo adrenaline is secreted from the adrenal gland&sbquo causing a tendency for the blood to coagulate and sugar to be excreted. There is a theory that says these emotional reactions are caused by maladaptation. On the contrary&sbquo they are also considered as physiological reactions to protect the body by raising the blood pressure for improving blood circulation and excreting sugar to boost energy. While many physicians and psychologists suggest these reactions are due to the flight instinct&sbquo in some cases the voluntary muscles relax; in this state limbs will not move&sbquo the heart slows to a near stop&sbquo and the body becomes paralyzed—the worst condition for escaping. Some say this happens as a way to "play dead&sbquo" which is properly called the feigning-death reflex. At times&sbquo physical escape is called "active escape" and the feigning-death reflex is called "passive escape." It is said that the greater part of these reactions is acquired through conditioned response. For design&sbquo numinose is an important theme&sbquo especially in evading and handling danger and design oriented interactive sensations in crisis management.

Copyright © 2009 Kazuo KAWASAKI All rights reserved.