Category: Life course

Posted on

Owners Dispute

Renovations of housing with distributed ownerships can be a challenging experience. In Berlin you can find a few places with visible long-term disagreement about what kind of modernization should be done. More luxurious additions like balconies or triple window isolation and so on are sometimes hotly debated and contested in courts. For most buildings you cannot spot disagreements on the outside, but some constitute exceptions to this rule. One size does not fit all preferences. In a metropolitan city there is a place and a space for all such exceptions to the rule and most people after years do no longer think about such kind of diversity in preferences or budgets available for modernization. Cities put our level of tolerance to a continuous test. You probably learn to love this or eventually you leave the inner city. There are subtle differences in urban versus rural lifestyles. In the social sciences we continue to try to understand the attraction of cities as on a global scale millions of people flock to cities.

Posted on

Housing renovation

The huge amount of buildings that need renovation is a task for each generation. New constructions are relatively easy to realize even to the best available standards. Particularly energy standards asking nowadays for serious isolation of buildings are easy starting from scratch. Energetic renovations of existing buildings are much more challenging and have to take into account the various stages or predilections of previous generations. Repurposing of buildings raise additional questions like transforming a family home into a representative office building. New technologies like fiberglass instead of copper cables or copper or plastic tubes instead of other hazardous materials cause additional costs and worries. The use of asbestos for interiors of previous generations has created the greatest liability for existing buildings. Technological choices of the past and also of the present (heat pump or not) have lasting consequences and sometimes even health effects. To cherish old buildings and styles is a mixed blessing as the renovation of housing confronts home renovators with more tricky challenges than building a new home. Incremental repairs might do the trick rather than all in one go renovation, however, you might enter into a situation when renovations are always on your mind. Not only the times are a changing, but homes are a changing, too.

Posted on

Biased Results

The use of statistics in presenting results of research is common practice. Empirical studies are summarized using statistics and statistical methods based on samples of bigger populations are cost efficient. However, care needs to be exercised when interpreting results to guard against inappropriate conclusions derived from biased estimates. Since the topic has been highlighted and methods proposed to handle them, these methods were deemed worthy of a Nobel prize.  The basic problem of a bias due to a selective sample has been demonstrated by Stockwell et al. (2024). The authors investigate the old question, whether a little bit of alcohol consumption (per day) could be beneficial for our health. The statistical issue which needs careful examination is the construction of the control group against which the results are compared. Apparently many studies have biased control groups which included persons in the not drinking control group who had stopped drinking for bad health previously. Compared to those persons with other health conditions those drinking a little bit compared rather well. But of course such individuals should not be present in a control group. Of the control group is biased due to many persons with below average health the groups of interest consuming higher levels of alcohol do not perform so badly. Hence, interpretation of results from medical or social science studies has to consider carefully the actual or potential sources of bias. Not really a new results in statistics, but still not well known or understood by the public at large. Drug consumption as well as studies of this consumption could deserve the same sticker: handle with care. (Image: Extract from Tenier II David, Les fumeurs, also entitled Chanson à boire, 17th century, Paris Petit Palais).

Posted on

Retirement Plans

There are debates about the best organization of retirement. The major fault lines lie between public pension systems and systems that are built based on mainly private provision. Retirement plans in either system are subject to constraints. The recent stock market turbulence has increased the amount of uncertainty people face who invested in 401K plans in the US. Some had to take an unannounced hit to their retirement savings due to the loss after Trump’s back and forth policies on tariffs (OECD Pension Outlook). High volatility of stock market prices creates an additional constraint that you are less inclined to retire when your retirement investments have overall a reduced value. You are a bit at the mercy of capital markets even in your retirement decision, irrespective of the difficulty to predict what your retirement funds will yield as returns. Quite an important lesson to keep in mind when comparing retirement systems in OECD countries. It has been all too easy to blame public pension systems for maybe lower short term interests on pension savings. Being subject to an American president concerning your retirement plans is probably not what many countries would like to have. Trump’s choices on tariffs may have consequences we did not expect to affect us so directly.

Posted on

Intimate housing

The housing of famous persons has always attracted a lasting fascination. The “esprit des lieux” or the experience of the surroundings of an artist, composer, author or otherwise famous person, where most of the work had taken place is of general interest. In today’s language we would describe this as the context of creation. Biographical information and references to specific objects central to the process of creation play a crucial role in understanding what is behind human creation as it is district from AI. There are objects ( compare MAD Paris) and there are the social networks of creators. Modern biographies include both, some even in graphic forms similar to ancestry diagrams. 

The design of intimate living spaces for private life or the adequate environment for creativity are becoming more clear with the consciousness of the importance of dedicated designs of furniture, accessories and even scent. Our brains are multimodal and working as well as processing lots of information even beyond our conscious realizations. This black box of creativity is rather unique to the human brain and AI will probably take decades to emulate such complex processing. The MAD exhibition reveals that intimacy is also related to housing design and interior design. It doesn’t seem to be a random process, but habituation is part of the continued creative process. 

Posted on

Private Intimacy

Intimacy has been reserved for private affairs for centuries. Although in the medieval ages formally the right of so-called noble men could be very far-reaching into intimacy of families when the permission to marry was quite restrictive. The private intimacy is the central theme of the Paris exhibition at MAD (Link) « Private Lives ». The organization into 14 almost private rooms around a larger center piece on design leads us through the major topics of intimacy. Maybe as a surprise to some, the exhibition starts with the major actors of change related to privacy and intimacy, i. e. women. Opening up enclosures gave women more room for intimacy and at the same time it made intimacy a conscious choice and decision. “A room of one’s own” is an important step in personal development of children particularly with respect to one’s intimate life. Restrooms are another issue of intimacy, just consider recent adaptations tor m/f/d people. A whole set of accessories are on display which previously were intimate products or even secrets prepared for public viewing. Of course odors are part of the experience with a test space of noble perfumes. The various manifestations of sexuality has brought about a growing number of pleasure objects, which might also be criticized as a growing commodification of intimacy as well. The connected bedroom and the risk of surveillance are raised to warn on overexposure on social networks. Intimacy in prisons or community shelters closes the exhibition before the final highlight the room on “conversations with oneself”. A whole literary form of keeping an intimate journal has arisen from the conversations not intended to be shared with others, at least not during one’s lifetime. After a person’s death for some persons of public interest even their private intimate journals will be published shifting the balance between the private and public parts of intimacy. (Image below from exhibition, photo bottom left, Matisse painting on wall while in bed in old age). 

Posted on

Intimate change

Society changes and with it so does intimacy. The major changes pass through the behavioral changes of persons and sooner or later the whole society adopts such changes as the new normal. Trends of individualization have moved over centuries as the exhibition in the Museum of decorative art (MAD) in Paris demonstrates. At the same time the changed individual approaches to intimacy have become more widely spread quickly over time. Social media have accelerated such new trends again. Social class is yet another intervening variable in this context which created different speeds of adjustment as well as sustaining differences in kind. 

Religious beliefs and practices have made claims about how individuals should handle intimate relationships and affairs. Legal issues are defined by each society to guide moral practices as well. Hence, the sociology of intimacy is a huge topic and comparing societies an interesting topic. The development of intimacy over a person’s life course, however, is given little attention due to a lack of adequate longitudinal data. From the exhibition we are encouraged to think about the relationship of hygiene and intimacy. Bathrooms accompany us throughout our lives and privacy was originally a bourgeois concept. Over the life course we move from dependency to independence and maybe dependency again in very old age. The images (below) from the MAD exhibition range from basics of bath tubs to a painting of Edgar Degas in the background. Instagramer or YouTuber share lots of images and stylized arrangements of bathrooms on social media. It seems that intimacy is moving further into the public domain. 

Posted on

Body Soul Membrane

The 40 art works from the Pinault Collection on display at the “Bourse de Commerce Paris” deal with a depiction of the body and soul in the broadest sense. The range of works from paintings, sculptures and video installations is impressive. The link between the body and the feelings or emotions is obvious. Contexts leave deep impressions on bodies and frequently embodiments do not fit emotions. The membrane between the two instances creates an additional barrier or chance to align both instances. Racism and discrimination are recurrent topics in the exhibition. This makes the exhibition a welcome antidote against the increasing risks of violence in many societies. Artists have a subtle emotional connection to suffering of people and their art work does not shun away from confronting us with violence experienced by large groups of society. Body and soul membranes are also an internal or intimate affair, which words can only address with difficulty. Many artists therefore chose other ways than writing or drawing to express or cope with this reflexive relationship of body and emotions. We do not leave the exhibition unmoved, maybe even a bit unsettled in our emotional state of mind. Our own membrane might be moved or become unbalanced after the visit. 

Posted on

Guidelines Follow-up

The are many professional organisations which agree after thorough discussions on guidelines how to conduct professional services. As long as we have such guidelines, the adherence to the guidelines is an issue as well. This is part of a research program of organisational sociology, but there is a rather strange paradox in this field of compliance with guidelines. In the most highly educated professions like medical doctors, the rate of compliance to guidelines is below average. A study of 20+ years ago published in the JAMA Journal: Cabana et al. (1999) “Why Don’t Physicians Follow Clinical Practice Guidelines?” highlighted this paradox among medical doctors. The lack of awareness of existing or changed guidelines is one of the major reasons mentioned in this respect. Self-efficacy is also an issue, but mentioned less frequently for not following guidelines.
Besides a professional bias, related to the above average educational attainment of physicians, (believed) superior coping mechanisms compared to the average population might be at work. Mastering advanced technology might lead to a behavior that assumes to be able to handle higher risks as well.
For a profession that is used to confront issues of life and death on a regular basis some adherence to a very specific medical guideline might appear a negligible risk. However, maybe comparable to some cases among politicians or priests a logic: “rules or guidelines are for others to follow” rather than the physicians bear obvious risks to these persons themselves, but even to others in specific circumstances like the spreading of infectious diseases.
Drug or substance abuse has been evidenced before in relationship with specific professions or in historical time periods. We should take care to repeat similar studies (Cabana et al. (1999) every now and again.

Posted on

Law and Witches

Medical and chemical authorities have been questioned for many centuries. As far back as Friedrich Spee (1591-1635) in the early 17th century there were even among the clergy men with enlightened views on what might be helpful ways to assist people on their journey to better health or simply pain relief. This did include many unhelpful or detrimental methods as well. Scientific rigor was not well established at that time, which opened up many doors for alternative diagnosis and treatment. From a historical and sociological perspective the closing procedures of professional organizations are interesting as well as opposition to them. Early moderators between hardliner positions are rare at the times of forceful and fierce competition between opinions and doctrines that characterized medieval history. In the absence of an independent judiciary earlier moderation could be influential in specific instances. A testimony for can be found in a documentation of the biography of Friedrich Spee and the society that promotes the memory of such exemplary behavior.