Apparently, architects are increasingly looking to science to help them build more emotionally-inviting homes. That’s all good and fine, if one bases one’s ideas upon good science.

But as Vaughn over at Mind Hacks notes, sometimes something important can be lost in the translation. He skillfully picks apart a sad article in the Financial Times that turns hard science into fantasy architecture with no basis in research.

I especially enjoyed the quote about how a kitchen should be designed to enhance human communication and contact. Kitchens are places to cook and prepare food. Only in the past decade or two have they turned into what they once were hundreds of years ago, the center of social activity with guests. People spend far more time washing dishes by themselves than they do so when others are around, so perhaps that is why most sinks face outside (as it gives us poor dishwashers something interesting to look at).

I’m all for science guiding our decisions in our lives, especially when it comes to designing our living spaces. But pseudoscience babble only confuses what the actual data show us, and give people a false sense of the neurological basis for such decisions (which should be made as much for actual everyday function as they should be for the enhancement of emotional connections).

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 20 Sep 2007
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.