ABSTRACT
A major part of the interaction between man and his surroundings is the reception and processing of sensory information. The physical environment should be controlled so as to harmonize with human requirements. This chapter inquires into the way people receive sensory information and respond with preferences. The human being can be thought of cautiously as a discriminating process which receives information about its surroundings and computes satisfaction. Some aspects of the preference process consist of genetically-controlled physical mechanisms or “hardware,” to use computer jargon, which is part of man’s “standard” physical structure. The chapter suggests a strategy for organizing conceptually man’s very complicated feelings about his visual environment.
