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Why is everything so ugly?

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251–260 of 328 posts

Re: Why is everything so ugly?

#251

> After New York replaced the sodium-vapor lights in the city’s 250,000 streetlamps with shiny new LEDs in 2017, the experience of walking through the city at night transformed, almost . . . overnight. Forgiving, romantic, shadowy orange gave way to cold, all-seeing bluish white. Before the late 1970s, NYC was illuminated at night by pinkish-white incandescent bulbs. When the yellow monstrosities were rolled out peop…

The problem with LEDs is the massive increase in light pollution they cause.

Re: Why is everything so ugly?

#252
post #28

My city and apparently numerous cities in my area have passed ordinances that new buildings over a certain size have to have multiple facades to look like multiple buildings butted up to each other. The effect has been this astonishingly hideous theme park esq approximation of small town America that isn’t fooling anyone. It looks more out of place next to the actual turn of the twentieth century buildings than an un…

Wow, what a misguided and dumb "solution." If they're going to be that controlling, at least they could have enforced a truly helpful set of aesthetic guidelines.

Re: Why is everything so ugly?

#253

I just wanted to echo the gray frustration here. I went to buy vinyl flooring (I can't afford hardwood) and the sheer amount of inexplicably "grey wood" planks was staggering. Why! Like, it's as if some alien only saw wood in an episode of I Love Lucy and wanted to replicate it.

When my parents were selling their house, their realtor told them they needed to paint a bunch of stuff grey because "that's what Millennials want."

Now we mock everything grey as "Millennial grey."

Re: Why is everything so ugly?

#254
post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Tesla vehicles look beautiful to me. As you say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder—but, seriously, the Cybertruck as a thing of beauty? (This is from someone who actually liked the boxy car designs of old.)

If you don't like the Cybertruck, you can close your browser tab and not be offended further. Tesla 3s and Ys exist in the real world, and they're more pleasant to look at than most vehicles.

Relax. He didn't lash out in fury at their existence. He just said he doesn't like their appearance. Did you design it or something?

Re: Why is everything so ugly?

#255
post #246
post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really prefer hospital lighting over yellow lighting?

I really prefer full spectrum lighting over yellow lighting in all circumstances. Bring on the white LEDs.

You should talk with architects and interior designers.

Lights can transform the feel of a place and they have their purpose.

Re: Why is everything so ugly?

#256
post #130
post #127

Well, I for one don't think everything is ugly. Apple devices and stores look clean and elegant to me. Tesla vehicles feel and look simple and beautiful to me. If given a choice, I'd rather live in new buildings with bright, light-filled interiors than in old buildings with darker, mustier interiors. I could provide more examples of things I don't think are ugly. The main point is this: Beauty is in the eye of the be…

> Tesla vehicles look beautiful to me. As you say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder—but, seriously, the Cybertruck as a thing of beauty? (This is from someone who actually liked the boxy car designs of old.)

What's beauty? It seems like a bit of a handwavy term.

Re: Why is everything so ugly?

#257
post #127

Well, I for one don't think everything is ugly. Apple devices and stores look clean and elegant to me. Tesla vehicles feel and look simple and beautiful to me. If given a choice, I'd rather live in new buildings with bright, light-filled interiors than in old buildings with darker, mustier interiors. I could provide more examples of things I don't think are ugly. The main point is this: Beauty is in the eye of the be…

We are talking about beauty here, and the first thing that comes to mind is freakin' Apple devices and Tesla vehicles? Even by HN standard, that feels like ... weird.

Re: Why is everything so ugly?

#258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't like the Cybertruck, you can close your browser tab and not be offended further. Tesla 3s and Ys exist in the real world, and they're more pleasant to look at than most vehicles.

Relax. He didn't lash out in fury at their existence. He just said he doesn't like their appearance. Did you design it or something?

I couldn't read any strong emotion in my comment. Maybe it's on your end?

Re: Why is everything so ugly?

#259
West is not just ugly, it’s also dirty, its streets smell pee, it has no moral compass, no standard in anything. It promotes abandoning traditions in favor of degeneration and the result is ugly and disgusting.

Its politicians have orgies and organize festivals to run naked on the street once a year in the name of “pride”. Art is not art anymore, they’re producing “artists” who put candles in their ass and walk like dogs for “art”. Same as poets or singers. So much nakedness, nothing deep or beautiful. There’s no more good art, novels or movies coming out of Western culture. Careful people even take steps to protect their children from it.

Re: Why is everything so ugly?

#260
post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Now this dude is nostalgic for them? No, they really were better for sleep. With the orange-ish sodium lights, I could go to sleep with their light still coming through the bedroom window. The amber glow was reminiscent of the glow of fire. The harsh blue light now tells my brain it's daytime. I had to buy blackout curtains to be able to fall asleep. It's the same principle as using the amber-hued Night Mode on you…

The evidence that blue light is bad for sleep is much worse from an experimental standpoint than the evidence that it improves cognition and reaction time, which are obviously rather important considerations in street lights. Consider for instance that placebo glasses which filter the so-called harmful blue light wavelengths have been shown to fully reverse the apparent effect on sleep quality. This is despite them j…

I have seen something similar on TV to do with MSG. The room was split down the middle and I believe the participants were told half the room ate food with MSG and the other half without. They interviewed the participants after and the majority on the side with MSG had symptoms. The only problem was that no one had consumed MSG.

going off of memory from something I saw a decade ago

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