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The age of average

alexmurrell.co.uk

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Re: The age of average

#461

Post by fennecfoxy »

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…

Yup, exactly. My comment was going to be "so what?"

Maybe it's globalism, maybe it's that deep down all humans are the same species and like the same things.

But a lot of these are millennial/zoomer aesthetics, generations who are now in their 30s/early 40s and coming of age/20s. The whole piece reads like a "millennials are killing uniqueness" spiel.

I feel like the author hasn't really covered the fact that things have been converging forever. It's like they're musing about the fact that so many Greek and Roman buildings have stone columns. Or that all 1950's soda bars all looked the same, no matter where you went. Or that all 1900s English factories all looked the same.

The point is that people have ALWAYS been converging on stuff, it's just now that we're more global and we have the Internet to connect us, of course we're seeing it happen regardless of proximity or borders.

Re: The age of average

#462

Post by fennecfoxy »

hoosieree wrote: post #194
ryandrake wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if they had to ultra-optimize the aerodynamics so all the cars look like the same bar of soap (they don't have to), they could still at least paint the damn soap a different color. But, no. All you see coming out of the factory are white, silver, gray, black, the occasional red and the occasional blue. What's driving this? That's what the article is about. Is it actually pull from customers, or is it push from t…

There are a lot of good reasons for "the AirBNB look. White walls reflect ambient light and can enhance existing light sources. This can help make up for small (i.e: cheap) windows or limited light fixtures. Natural wood is durable but not hard and cold like metal or glass, nor will it break down and end up permeating your cell membranes like plastic. Exposed beams make ceilings more interesting visually but also dam…

As a millennial, like much of my generation who loves good coffee, I'd say it's primarily because we don't want the usual shitty instant coffee packets - Nespresso & similar is a good way to get a decent coffee without too much faff/cleaning (ie my proper machine at home is more expensive, harder to clean & maintain in an airbnb context).

For previous generations the same effect would've been before hotel rooms had TVs; there would have been a stark difference between hotel rooms that did and didn't have TVs for boomers (and maybe GenX?)

Re: The age of average

#463

Post by fennecfoxy »

golergka wrote: post #262
ryandrake wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if they had to ultra-optimize the aerodynamics so all the cars look like the same bar of soap (they don't have to), they could still at least paint the damn soap a different color. But, no. All you see coming out of the factory are white, silver, gray, black, the occasional red and the occasional blue. What's driving this? That's what the article is about. Is it actually pull from customers, or is it push from t…

I'm a digital nomad. I've lived in a lot of Airbnbs, and I love the Airbnb look. You know why? Because when landlords are trying to get creative, the result is usually horrible. Getting creative, if you're not a specialist in the field, would yield horrible results 95% of the time. Which is okay if you're doing it as a hobby, of course. But as a customer, I really don't want to be subjected to this. And Airbnbs where…

That is a good point as well, it's also a template that can be used. These people are financially motivated, it's cheaper to just use an existing and proven aesthetic to target a particular demographic than come up with something unique that may or may not work.

It's certainly not millennials that are renting out these airbnbs, but I'm sure are heck we're mostly the ones staying in them.

Re: The age of average

#464

Post by tomp »

My impression of the article is, that things do not look the same.

Apartments: wooden floors white walls straight roof light-shade chairs/sofas square tables pastel colors windows

Car brands - I can't even pick any similarity, except that they're all black and white, which the author literally made up (Toyota and BMW's brands are colorful).

Toothbrushes: white colorless buttons LEDs white brushes long has a brush

I really don't understand what the author is talking about.

Re: The age of average

#465

Post by account42 »

a4000 wrote: post #450
citizenpaul wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Safety is an under appreciated function of car color. I've had a number of same looking cars of different color. I noticed that driving a white version results in substantially less near miss/near accidents while driving. I will only buy white cars now because of this. I'm tired of dodging inattentive drivers that are sleepdriving through their commute or whatever they are doing besides driving.

Yellow cars actually have the lowest rate of accidents, although it's not that common to find in a standard range of most cars.

Is that excluding or including cabs, which are yellow in many countries with few other cars being yellow?

Re: The age of average

#466

Post by account42 »

TigeriusKirk wrote: post #335
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…

We've converged on the designs with the greatest acceptance. Not anyone's preference, just what they'll accept . The phrase "lowest common denominator" applies here.

Exactly. I like to use the term "inoffensive" as a pejorative these days.

Re: The age of average

#468

Post by account42 »

VancouverMan wrote: post #452
oh_sigh wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The effects of the rise of "political correctness", hypersensitivity, and "cancel culture" over the last three or so decades should be considered, too. There are countless books, movies, and songs from before the rise of these concepts that OP has almost certainly not consumed. Presumably OP wasn't just talking about new media, but rather all media, and therefore is probably a them issue and not a media issue.

About a month ago, there was discussion here about plans to edit Roald Dahl's works: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34849383 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35017120 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34925396 More recently, there was discussion here about editing Agatha Christie's works: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35315170 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35338085 Existing works, even thos…

Pretty ironic that your original comment got flagged to death - a great example of how only approved thoughts are let through the filter. It's really no surprise to me that things are getting blander when nothing is allowed to offend anyone anymore.

Re: The age of average

#470

Post by beckingz »

"The apartment-house tenant must have the freedom to lean out of his window and as far as his arms can reach transform the exterior of his dwelling space. And he must be allowed to take a long brush and as far as his arms can reach paint everything pink, so that from far away, from the street, everyone can see: there lives a man who distinguishes himself from his neighbours, the pent-up livestock! He must also be allowed to cut up the walls and make all kinds of changes, even if this disturbs the architectural harmony of a so-called masterwork, and he must be able to fill his room with mud or children's modelling clay.

But the lease prohibits this!" - Friedensreich Hundertwasser

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