Another thing I'm interested in better understanding the relationship between contemplation or reflection, and materials. Landscape architects have articulated principles for designing restorative or contemplative spaces (Bianca Moura has written a fine thesis [pdf] on this subject), and we all have relationships with, say, writing materials that encourage us to slow down and be more thoughtful. And of course, the idea that "the dull mind rises to the truth through material things" (as Abbot Suger put it) is quite old.

Colin Renfrew's work on the construction of the idea of gold as a valuable material, and the invention of concepts of divinity, suggests a larger literature on the cognitive anthropology of contemplative objects, or perhaps religious objects. What is it about particular materials that makes them valued as objects for supporting meditation? The ubiquity of tools like bells or incense in monastic and meditative practices in both European and Asian religions, for example, suggest that there's more than cultural diffusion or habit underlying their popularity.

Likewise, the fact that we experience certain landscapes as contemplative or restful, even though from an information theory point of view they contain far more raw information than we ever see on a computer screen, suggests that there's something complicated and interesting going on behind the scenes. So far, though, I haven't been able to find that book or article that I'm sure has been written about this topic. I suspect there are conclusions (or at least observations) in such work that can help in the design of better information technologies.