Articles liés à We All Fall Down: staying vertical in a hazardous world
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Synopsis
From Chapter 1 of the Book
Think of all the ways we use the word fall and all the meanings it has. Probably the first thing that comes to mind is falling in love when we seem to have almost no control over what happens. We get carried away with the current and have little power to slow it down or get off. Later some people fall out of favor with the ones they love. When we are told a joke and are led up to the punch line, or when someone plays a prank on us, we fall for it. We fall victim to scams and schemes to get our money. There is also the fall guy, the person that gets blamed or falsely accused.
When we are marching with a band or a military unit, we follow certain protocols to fall in place, and to fall out. In wartime, we fall in battle, we get commands to fall back, and civilizations fall to conquerors. Our leaders fall out of power or fall from grace. There is also fall-out from radioactive particles after nuclear explosions, and there are always falling stars from both Hollywood and the sky above.
At work and in our relationships with others, we fall in line, but we also fall behind, and sometimes we fall all over ourselves. We also fall short of expectations, and sometimes we even fall flat. People fall out with each other. Our faces can communicate a lot when they fall after disappointment. Often the responsibility of a situation falls on us or falls within our duty. We also fall ill as we pass viruses from one to another. Stock prices, housing prices, even the price of meat, all rise and fall, and we are often advised to take a fallback position regarding our investments. There are also waterfalls and the season of fall when we have fall colors and fall weather. And at night darkness falls over the land.
Regardless of the many meanings of the word fall, We All Fall Down focuses on people actually falling from a walking, standing, or seated position due to the force of gravity.
During a typical day you probably don’t think about the force of gravity. Imagine (warning, don’t actually try this) that you are holding a ten-pound brick in front of your face with your elbows bent. Now imagine that you suddenly let go and drop it. Your immediate reaction is to jump out of the way, so the brick does not land on your feet. You instinctively react without thinking about it because you know the impact gravity has on the brick, making it fall fast with such force that, if it lands on a foot, it will likely break it. Now imagine you trip on a crack in the sidewalk, lose your balance and fall forward, face first. What will the force of gravity do to your ten-pound head when it hits the pavement?
When you suddenly lose your balance and fall to the surface below your feet, you are immediately reminded of the overwhelming and constant effect of gravity. As human beings we walk erect on only two feet and we have learned to adjust to a world where the force of gravity is constantly trying to pull us down. We have learned to deal with it at an early age and as adults we constantly balance ourselves against this force without giving much thought to it. When we lose our balance we instantaneously try to readjust to a stable position to avoid falling, but sometimes it is too late to correct ourselves.
As an architect and professor of architecture my interest in the subject of falls spans more than 50 years. Over the years I found myself increasingly interested in what causes people to fall until I admittedly became preoccupied with the issue 25 years ago when I made the decision to write this book. Just ask my friends and family, and they will tell you that I can’t go to a grocery store or a restaurant without pointing out at least a few falling hazards. I do my best to report the most egregious hazards to the building owners and managers, but if I were to report all the hazards I notice, I would have another full-time job...
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