( CNN ) -- Much as I love the Internet — and I love it thiiiiiiiis much ! — it is not a physical space . And no factor so directly and causally affects us as our physical space . The temperature in your room determines which drawers you 'll open when you 're choosing your clothes . The location of your stove determines where you 'll cook . The distance to the front door determines the magnitude of the interruption when someone knocks . The fact that stores are away from our homes explains entire concepts like `` errands . '' Half of what I find annoying in life is due to things not being near me when I want them . The space we 're in is deeply determinative of the lives we lead . So , when a CEO says that I ca n't work at home any more , it 's very much like being fired from one job and hired for another without anyone asking if I agree to the deal . CEO right : Yahoo workers must show up . For me , this is ultimately the arrogance of Marissa Mayer 's mandate that Yahoo employees can no longer work from home . Which is a way of saying that I want to skip two other arguments . The first is about whether letting people work from home is good or bad for a business . I think we all agree that physical proximity breeds an intimacy that online connections can not , and it enables sustained creative development that online interactions inhibit . Policy riles workers everywhere . Except we do n't all agree . For instance , I do n't . I 've worked at home for many years over the past couple of decades , and I do n't believe I always work better in an office . After all , the main point of space is to keep things apart , whereas the Net only exists as a set of connections . And the Net as a social platform is getting so sophisticated that for many sorts of ideas at many stages of development , it makes the real world look like a big box of 404s . ( Disclosure : I work in an office with hugely creative people and enjoy it . ) Slightly more scientifically : The research data on this topic are hard to generalize from . For example , studies that show that dispersed coding teams work more slowly may simply be an indication that these dispersed teams need better tools or management . And perhaps in particular circumstances a balanced approach — Together Tuesdays ! — might work . So , that 's the first argument I do n't want to have . At least not here . Who works from home and how they do it . The second is about whether Marissa Mayer is a hypocritical , entitled , privileged , spoiled 1 % 'er because she gets to bring her infant to work with her . The content of her character is irrelevant to whether she 's made a good decision . Even entitled 1 % 'ers are sometimes right . So let 's not have that argument either . Instead I want to ask what sort of decision Mayer has made . Point No . 1 is where we began : A change in place is one of the most profound changes one can make . Imagine you are working at home and your company gives you the choice of either working 9 to 5 in the office or moving to another state where you will be allowed to telecommute . I personally would have considered moving . Perhaps you would n't . But the point is that those two choices are roughly equivalent for many of us . That 's how big a deal it is to be told to show up for work every day . It 's a big , big deal . A work-at-home mom defends Yahoo 's Mayer . Point No . 2 is that Mayer clearly has issued this edict to send a signal . Otherwise , she would have announced that Yahoo is going to re-evaluate the work-at-home folks on an individual basis . If your job passes the test , congrats , you can stay in your bathrobe . But requiring everyone to show up all the time is a signal expressed as a policy . The problem is that if you send a signal by , say , firing off a flare , you 're supposed to aim the flare well over the heads of the folks in the lifeboat . If you aim it at them and set some of them on fire , it 's not a signal any more . It 's an assault with a bright weapon . Opinion : Allow Yahoo workers to work at home . So , while Mayer has successfully signaled that Yahoo is desperate , the signal contains other messages , as well . The first message is that she distrusts her employees , and distrusts the Net . The second is that she does n't understand how important where one works is to an ordinary person 's life — not just to the quality of one 's life , but to the substance of it . This is odd since she herself has said that for her , family comes before Yahoo . Third , she has signaled that sending signals is her idea of substance . Bad signals . Especially since to the recipients , they are not signals but wrenching changes in what is the most important element of our lives : our place . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of David Weinberger .
David Weinberger : Mayer shows arrogance to require Yahoo workers to come in . If you 've signed on for telecommuting , banning it is like a firing and rehiring , he says . Mayer signals Yahoo is desperate , he says , but it conveys disdain for workers . Weinberger : She seems unaware how important `` place '' is to an ordinary person 's life .