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Chapter1.VantageTheory:originandbasictenets
2.Thetheory
2.1Thespace-time:categorizationanalogy
Apersonlocateshimorherselfinspace-timebyplotingthespatialaxesof
up-down,front-backandleft-right,unifiedintoasinglebodyofreference,
withthetemporalcoordinatemanifestedasmotion.Thecoordinatesdefine
theperson’slocationinspace-timeoraseriesoflocationsthroughwhichthe
personprogresses.Einstein’s(1920)classicexampleisthatofarockdropped
fromamovingtrain.Forsomeoneonthetrain,itstrajectoryisstraightbutfor
someonestandingbythetrackitisparabolic.Fromtheshapeoftrajectoryone
candeducethepositionoftheviewer.1
MacLaury’sexampletoillustratethewayapersonfunctionsinspace-time
isthatofsomeonelocatinganobjectthroughaseriesoffigure-groundar-
rangements:
TocomprehendtheordinaryspatialdescriptionThenewspaperisontheliving
roomtable,onemustlocatethelivingroominrelationtothehousedesign,the
tableinrelationtothelivingroom,andthenewspaperinrelationtothetable.
One“zoomsin”fromabroadtoanarrowpurviewbyenvisioningthreerela-
tionsoffiguretoground:livingroomtohousedesign,tabletolivingroom,and
newspapertotable.Asonenarrowsconcentrationthroughthethreelevels,one
takesthefigurefromthebroadestleveltouseasthegroundonthenextlevel.
Thus,thelivingroomisafigureinrelationtothehousedesignbutaground
inrelationtothetable,which,inturn,isafigureinrelationtothelivingroom
butagroundinrelationtothenewspaper.(MacLaury1997:139)
Therealsoexiststhereversephenomenonofzooming/panningout.Bothare
continuouslyutilizedinspatio-temporalorientation.Aoyagi(1995)provides
thefollowingexample:
1InEinstein’sownwords:
Istandatthewindowofarailwaycarriagewhichistravellinguniformly,anddropastoneonthe
embankment,withoutthrowingit.Then,disregardingtheinfluenceoftheairresistance,Isee
thestonedescendinastraightline.Apedestrianwhoobservesthemisdeedfromthefootpath
noticesthatthestonefallstoearthinaparaboliccurve.Inowask:Dothe“positions”traversed
bythestonelie“inreality”onastraightlineoronaparabola?...Thestonetraversesastraight
linerelativetoasystemofco-ordinatesrigidlyatachedtothecarriage,butrelativetoasystem
ofco-ordinatesrigidlyatachedtotheground(embankment)itdescribesaparabola.Withthe
aidofthisexampleitisclearlyseenthatthereisnosuchthingasanindependentlyexisting
trajectory,butonlyatrajectoryrelativetoaparticularbodyofreference.(Einstein1920,ch.3)