I am posting this because many people on this list are of a like mind and I
would like comments.
I hope this is not too off topic.
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                        Chi of the Caveman
                        Richard Keene
                        July 2000

I have recently studied Feng Shui quite a bit and applied its principals.
It is very effective and interesting in its effect on living spaces.  My own
application of Feng Shui to my home has made it more livable and the house
simply feels better.  It is an axiom that just because a principal has a
good result does not prove that the principal is correct.  In Feng Shui
there is emphasis on Chi, the force that flows through all things. Why
assume that some mystical force accounts for the feeling of a well-balanced
room, when a simpler explanation might make more sense?

Feng Shui divides materials and objects into five categories, Fire, Earth,
Water, Metal, and Wood.  Fire is created by fire, candles, light, sunlight
and red colors.  Earth is created by dirt, stucco, brick, rectangles and
dark earth tones.  Water is created by water, glass and blue tones.  Metal
is created by metal, stone and black tones.  Wood is created by wood, plants
and green plant colors.  In all of these categories appearance is more
important than actual makeup.  For example if it looks like wood, then it
counts as wood.  Paintings count as the things they represent.

For this exposition I would like to substitute Stone for Metal as a
category.  Stone is included in the metal category and is more natural or
elemental (no pun intended) than metal.  In fact, metal does not count as
metal in Feng Shui unless it looks like metal.  Also artificial stone counts
as stone, even if it is simply a painting of a mountain.

Cavemen choose campsites and living areas with great care.  A good campsite
must have water for drinking, fishing, and washing. Nearby food sources such
as green fields with deer and edible plants make foraging easier.  Wood for
fire, tools and shelter should be nearby.  Stone is necessary for tools and
shelter. A good cliff can greatly enhance safety, storm survival and
defensibility. The center of any campsite is the fire circle.  Notice that
the above criterion is exactly what Feng Shui dictates as the elements that
must be in balance in any living space.

In any human society the above criterion for living spaces have been very
important to survival.  If any one of the elements is missing, then death of
the tribe is almost certain.  It makes sense that humans have an instinctive
need to have these elements in balance, and the brain is thus wired to feel
more comfortable in such and environment.  What Feng Shui practitioners seem
to have done is convert this intuitive feel for correct spaces, into a rule
set for designing good in spaces.  In a similar way, deer have an
instinctive feel for a good place to sleep for the night, and have no
language to teach a fawn what such a good place is.  It simply feels right
to the deer.

There are also Chi issues with overly large bedrooms, too high of living
room ceilings, and other space size considerations.  This makes perfect
sense for a Caveman.  Sleeping areas should be small with close walls and
only one door for defense and heat retention.  Social areas should be large
enough, but fenced in for security, like a ring of shelters around a central
fire.  This survival need also explains the theory that lines of sight
through a house let the Chi flow through too quickly in one side and out the
other.

Another Chi related feature of Feng Shui is that areas where people work,
such as kitchen stoves and desks, should face the door.  This brings to mind
the shelters that most tribal societies have where you sit in the doorway,
with the fire just outside and face outward.  This is a natural way to
arrange the work area for defense, heat, and conversation.

This also explains the "difficult Chi" areas of a house.  For example a long
dark narrow stairway needs decorations to break up the downward flow of Chi
and good illumination. In nature such a space, a narrow dark downward
passage, is very unnatural and usually dangerous either from falling or
getting ambushed by some hungry predator.  A slope as steep as a stairway,
with loose rock and gravel is very dangerous indeed.

Thus we see that what Feng Shui is really doing in making the living
environment more like what humans have survived in with natural
environments.  Wind chimes take environments that are far too quiet, and put
back in the blowing leaves on trees.  Water fountains put back the natural
streams.

There is a bigger problem successfully addressed by Feng Shui, which is the
un-naturalness of human environments ever since the beginning of
agriculture.  For this problem Feng Shui is highly suitable and successful.
Over thousands of years the practice of Feng Shui has intuitively arrived at
what is a good-feeling environment for living and in tune with the instincts
of the human mind for survival.