¶ Mast in the Earth
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Index Entry
Man has tended to think of structure as being built solid in the Earth. He made a hole in the solid Earth and put a solid mast in it. In order to keep the wind from getting hold of the top of the mast and breaking it, he then put a tension member in the direction of the various winds, acting at the end of the lever to keep it from being pulled over.
In this way tension became the helper. We found that he built what he thought was a solid boat, and then put in a solid mast, and then added on tension helpers as shrouds. Tension has been secondary in all man’s building and compression has been primary for he has always thought of the compression as solid. Man must now break out of that habit and learn to play at nature’s game where tension is primary and where tension explains the coherence of the whole. Compression is convenient, yes, very convenient, but always secondary and discontinuous.
