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The age of average

alexmurrell.co.uk

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Re: The age of average

#401

Post by civilized »

crazygringo wrote: post #123

What the article describes is correct, but I don't think the words "average" or "homogeneity" or "conformity" are the right terms, as they seem to carry negative connotations here. Rather, the right word is "convergence". The point is, people like certain things aesthetically. It used to be that artists and designers were still trying to figure out what looks good, and trying all the things. But now we've tried so ma…

I'm favorable towards the position that we've converged to the optimal electric toothbrush.

I'm neutral about five over one apartment buildings.

I emphatically reject that it's natural or desirable for everyone to aspire to look like Kim Kardashian or have Instagram Face. Ugh.

Re: The age of average

#402

Post by pixl97 »

bluetomcat wrote: post #78
davemp wrote: post #11

This seems somewhat cherry picked, and lacking real insight. Sure we can agree on the obvious conclusions that mass production is going to try for mass appeal and thus “saminess”. But my house certainly isn’t white with wood tones. That’s because I’ve been putting in the work to select and restore beautiful furniture from decades past and gradually building towards a more unique aesthetic. Let me tell you it is expen…

> I don’t think they’re entirely wrong, but I’m also pretty sure it’s always been like this. It hasn't always been like that, if you put down the US-centric lens. Every shopping mall in a bigger city anywhere in the world now looks similar to a US shopping mall. Fast-food venues across the world resemble US venues, even if it's not a franchise under a US brand. It's a cultural hegemony that is exported through consum…

Because you all buy from the same factory. This is where everything in the world is heading to because of cheap shipping.

Make shipping 100x the cost and this disappears.

The only reason the US 'won' here is after WWII we had relatively high pay and transported a lot of goods. As shipping got faster and cheaper it expanded beyond the US and took over the world.

Re: The age of average

#403

Post by anonymouskimmer »

nine_k wrote: post #399
titzer wrote: post #381

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, and all the local (and unfortunately global incentives, like GDP) are aligned for production , not wealth preservation and quality of life. The reupholster option is the most efficient wealth preservation option and saves production capacity for making new furniture for other people.

Since birth rate is below reproduction in most of the world, and population declines (slowly or faster) basically everywhere in the "developed world", even including China, there will be fewer and fewer "other people". We'll have to produce less and less if we do not keep replacing existing stuff with new (hopefully superior) stuff.

> new (hopefully superior) stuff.

And this is a big deal, too. We've made huge strides in cars and appliances. Outside of specialty needs furniture and carpentry hasn't changed much over the years.

> there will be fewer and fewer "other people".

This is going to take a long time (when measured over the typical human lifespan), and won't be very noticeable outside of child-oriented institutions. Major changes in industries and other events that prompt large numbers of people to move will still be more noticeable.

Re: The age of average

#404

Post by tycho-newman »

masswerk wrote: post #126
tycho-newman wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the growing homogeneity of spaces that starts at AirBnB and cafes and spreads Like I said, there's options when you look outside AirBnB. There is diversity in design if you look outside the haunts of the bourgeois classes. And look, some people want to struggle reading metro maps. I am not one of them. I, for one, am glad that Harry Beck designed the tube map that would become so influential all over the world. Pra…

But you could go to Paris and have the equally iconic and functional plan illuminé, and it instantly felt like Paris.

Paris is is the crown jewel of the petit bourgeois.

Re: The age of average

#406

Post by m0llusk »

livelielife wrote: post #389
psychoslave wrote: post #83

What can I say, criticism of mediocracy all look the same: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/51961637 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/104973152110363... https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jems.12469 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1049731520974764 https://revistaseletronicas.pucrs.br/ojs/index.php/revistafa... http://manuscript.elsevier.com/S004727271500119X/pdf/S004727... http…

this is very funny, that all criticism of convergent blandness when written down converges blandly

Makes me wonder what ChatGPT has to say about all of this.

Re: The age of average

#408

Post by stefl14 »

groby_b wrote: post #370
titzer wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Even if those things have converged aesthetically? But they haven't converged aesthetically any more than preferences have been absolutely overwritten , overridden , and overprinted by whatever is most easy to produce today. Your comment somewhat assumes that where we are is the ultimate endpoint of some long process, when in reality fads come and go. Tastes change. What is out there now is no more inevitable than…

This is a core point. It most stuck out to me when the article talked about car colors - most cars are black or white because car makers mostly make black or white . Buying a car with a splash of color is hard. Red is your best chance. Followed by butt-ugly blues. You cannot meaningfully choose according to your taste because choice is restricted. (Related, try to buy furniture that isn't a fucking cheap imitation of…

Manufacturers mostly make black or white cars because that's what people want. Modern culture has made people so boringly conventional that there's no point in manufacturers painting on different colours, so they charge a premium or don't do it at all. Your explanation fails to explain why exactly the same trend is happening in fashion. Is there some conspiracy where clothing manufacturers are trying to restrict choice in clothing, too? At some point, you have to question the culture at large rather than individual industries.

Re: The age of average

#409

Post by jonny_eh »

crazygringo wrote: post #123

What the article describes is correct, but I don't think the words "average" or "homogeneity" or "conformity" are the right terms, as they seem to carry negative connotations here. Rather, the right word is "convergence". The point is, people like certain things aesthetically. It used to be that artists and designers were still trying to figure out what looks good, and trying all the things. But now we've tried so ma…

> Things don't need to be different just for the sake of being different

Indeed, but this also opens up an opportunity for things to be different because they can be different.

Re: The age of average

#410

Post by pixl97 »

a_c wrote: post #34

I think what the article describes is true. We are fed with ocean of information, the same bundle of information, with historical speed. If you are looking for e.g. interior design ideas, SEO, instagram, twitter, or whatever search channel du jour, including LLM, dictates what you are going to read. We are also living in the most globalized era, having access to products unmatched in our history, the same bunch of pr…

>having access to products unmatched in our history, the same bunch of products

Paradox of Choice.

Lets say you have access to 100 items, you'd probably want more in your life. Having 101 items would likely give a great improvement to your life.

Now image you have access to 1,000,000 items. Having access to 1,000,001 items isn't probable to change your life in any particular fashion. In fact each additional item you have to track is a mental burden. More work for you to figure out if its actually worse or better. Now bounce up this item to 10s of millions. Yea, life actually might get worse in this scenario.

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