Through empathetic perception, we experience a person’s impulse to act – that is, their individual way of acting. A person’s impulse to act is expressed in every activity. That is why any activity can be used to discover this impulse. When several people perform the same activity, it becomes clear that each does so in their own individual way. Give ten people a broom and each will sweep the floor differently – in their own individual way. Amazing!
The impulse to act
The following example illustrates how differently people act when performing the same task. In this example, we are filling a seed tray with fresh soil.
When Robert spreads the soil over the seed tray with the small scoop, the edge of the tray is no barrier. Soil flies over the edge, and yet it is astonishing that most of it lands in the small pots. Robert goes about the task with a playful ease, yet without losing sight of what he might try or do next. His impulse to act is ‘experimenting while playing’.
Whilst Daniel is filling the seedling pots with soil, he says: “Look how the soil feels on my hand” and holds his hand up. Shortly afterwards, he says: “There’s still some grass there” and picks the small leaf of grass out of the potting soil. He shows me what he is doing and what he sees. His impulse to act is ‘presenting while collecting’.
Constantin specifically selects the pots he fills with soil. From the outside, it is impossible to predict which small pot will be filled next. He remains calm and steady in his rhythm until all the small pots on the seed tray are filled. His impulse to act is ‘maintaining while selecting’.
Dorian piles soil onto the seed tray to then spread it out. Julia and I stand nearby, watching and making no move to imitate him, until Dorian moves the bucket of soil a little closer to us. It is like an invitation to join in, even though Dorian later admits in the reflection that he probably did this unconsciously. Whilst working, he keeps an eye on everything. Almost imperceptibly, his gaze wanders now to the work area, now to the gardening group. When he finishes the job, he places the small scoop parallel to the seed tray. I put the small scoop into the bucket of soil, whereupon he points out to me with a laugh how his small scoop is positioned. We describe his impulse to act as ‘moderating while looking around’.
It is astonishing what differences can be observed in the way people act. Taking the time to notice these individual ways of acting inspires new forms of learning space design.
