Why Is The Modern World So Ugly? - The Cultural Tutor
Vložit
- čas přidán 4. 07. 2024
- To support me on Patreon (thank you): / cosmicskeptic
To donate to my PayPal (thank you): www.paypal.me/cosmicskeptic
- VIDEO NOTES
Sheehan Quirke is known online as the Cultural Tutor. With over 1.6 million followers on X, he writes daily threads about art, architecture, and history.
- LINKS
The Cultural Tutor on X: / culturaltutor
Sign up for Sheehan's email list: www.culturaltutor.com/areopagus
- TIMESTAMPS
0:00 A beautiful education
5:40 The internet
20:52 Why is the modern world so ugly?
1:01:21 In defence of boring buildings
1:16:06 Cigarette break: how to do history
1:28:57 Why Sheehan doesn't read books from the last 50 years
1:32:37 Is lying always wrong?
1:36:08 Sheehan’s royal gift to Alex
1:44:49 Where do you go for wisdom?
- SPECIAL THANKS
As always, I would like to direct extra gratitude to my top-tier patrons:
John Early
Dmitry C.
Mouthy Buddha
Solaf
- CONNECT
My Website/Blog: www.cosmicskeptic.com
SOCIAL LINKS:
Twitter: / cosmicskeptic
Facebook: / cosmicskeptic
Instagram: / cosmicskeptic
Snapchat: cosmicskeptic
The Within Reason Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...
- CONTACT
Business email: contact@cosmicskeptic.com
Or send me something:
Alex O'Connor
Po Box 1610
OXFORD
OX4 9LL
ENGLAND
------------------------------------------
Get early access to episodes, and get them ad-free, by supporting the channel at www.Patreon.com/AlexOC
This interview is so British I got colonised.
Good. The next step is a colonoscopy. It hurts a whole lot more and is where most converts bail out. Hold your ground.
@@greghamilton6681 hurts?! a colonoscopy?! What kind of crazy docs are there in the UK?
The first 13min are just terrible elementary arguments already refuted so many times. Someone who is all about education arguing about something he seems to know nothing about.
@@alb0zfinest it really is sort of pathetic seeing Alex going down this road, circlejerking nonsense about how horrid modernity is and all that it creates
lol facts
A conversation between two young old men.
Brilliant observation...
Two self righteous simps posing as adults. When they are older they will look back at this trite tripe and squirm. That twat with the tash is like the living representation of an itchy hole.
Quite the paradigm; astute observation
With only amused appreciation in my intent, I am minded of the History Today sketches by Newman and Baddiel.
It’s basically a fraud congratulating himself while an intellectual with bills to pay listens
«it's like Tetris. You can't win»
Guys, you haven't been keeping up on Tetris.
Tetris just crashes at a fix point. That is not winning it has just been declared as such because you can't get past that
@@attilatormasi1733 How appropriate for this channel that we need to ask ourselves the age old question: "what is winning?"
@@attilatormasi1733 I consider that a win. Tetris' main goal is to make you fail. If you can be so stubborn that you crash the game, you've stopped it, and therefore, won
"I don't like to put books behind me for my videos because it looks pretentious." Alex O'Connor
That was clearly sarcasm.
Did Alex hurt your feelings, mate?
@@brotherben4357 I think the books did. He might be allergic to them
@@brotherben4357
Over supporting your hero leads to………….
@@DavidSmith-vr1nb lol
1:17:40 The bits where you cut back and forth between the empty chairs depending on who's talking made me laugh so much
alex lowkey funny ash
I should really watch these videos instead of just listening to them. I could have missed this.
My favorite part 😂😂😂
PRICELESS:DD
in 10 years people will think this isnt a joke but just an artifact of the A.I that cut the video.
This is the most British podcast ever.
Tell me the definition of "british" uncultured yank
People say that about everything Alex has ever done
As a German, that's the most British podcast I have ever heard and I totally love it.
@@Gurkenklemme Ditto.
So? Is it plus or minus?
The empty seats was a fine comedic bit for a pretty interesting conversation
Wow, the audio quality is marvellous in this one! It's basically ASMR
Don’t get hot now!
Chris Evans is really committed to nailing this English role
I selfishly loved this conversation because I’m an architect and it was interesting to hear two lay people talk for an hour about it. In response to why the modern state of architecture is “uglier” than the buildings of the past, I think that it’s an incredibly complex set of reasons, many of which were touched on. The impact of the automobile can’t be underestimated on how it has changed the scale and quantity of the built environment. The massive increase in the population, thereby requiring so many more buildings, has made buildings more industrialized and mass produced, making them less about design and craftsmanship and more about quantity over quality. The cost of construction and materials has vastly changed what we use to make buildings from. And technology has shifted the priorities of buildings and space. And I think we don’t educate the public on architecture nearly enough for them to understand what makes for good/beautiful architecture. We prioritize having lots of space over higher quality space. The houses we live in are 2-3x the size of what we used to live in. We care more about size of beauty.
modern buildings are nothing but repulsive trash
Also we have building codes now. Many people in ye olde times would have lived in shacks and hovels because that’s all they could afford. Those shacks and hovels were so badly built, they wouldn’t have come down to us.
So that means we’re also dealing with some survivor bias - meaning we look at the houses that survived and conclude that all ye olde houses were well built and aesthetically pleasing, forgetting that those houses were built by those with enough money.
Nowadays we have building codes that mean no one can build ramshackle hovels. (And rental laws that mean you can’t rent out ramshackle houses.) This means that people are obliged to live in better quality houses, but because lacking money is still a thing, people scrimp on the details that make a house aesthetically pleasing because… they literally can’t afford it.
See: 90% of NZ’s housing stock.
I couldn’t agree more…today I think nothing shapes building’s form more than the automobile and mostly for worse.
Thanks for the inside insight😊! When you say the automobile changed architecture do you mean that we now have to fit buildings into smaller spaces?
I love the opening to this episode - random conversation 😅
As a German, that's the most British podcast I have ever heard and I totally love it.
Exactly, stop the great replacement of Europe or we won't get shows like this anymore
@@Native_Man123bro go somewhere else with that garbage
@@Native_Man123ewww, fuck off disgusting nazi.
@@Native_Man123Europeans could support local parties and politicians that are in favour of limitibg immigration
Great discussion!!!
Hilarious to keep changing the camera while you smoke!!!
No worries, I had a smoke break with y'all!
Rarely I listen to a podcast from start to end in one sitting but this here is an exception. You ought to invite this guest again
Your best podcast to date. The banter between you two brings out the best of what you already do so well.
Met both in Durham when Alex came to debate for the Durham Union. We had a pre debate dinner. Had no idea Sheehan was an influencer of sorts. Both the most down to earth lads! Love to see them do a podcast together. This will be a train journey treat.
This conversation is awesome, it truly feels like a conversation between two close friends. And the bit when you two are missing is HILARIOUS
been waiting for this since you mentioned it in the Pageau pod. good work mr cosmic
Honestly if you took someone from ancient Egypt to the modern day and showed them the pyramids they would be aghast. Since the pyramids would originally have been smooth gleaming white with a gold cap.
Source?
@@cat_and_cabbage4662 the history channel
@@cat_and_cabbage4662it is known
@@cat_and_cabbage4662history
@@cat_and_cabbage4662trust me bruv
As much as I hate smoking, the break format was great
You two are wonderful. Great chemistry great conversation. I hope this is the start of a beautiful collaboration. ❤❤❤❤❤
1:18 That long pause... Priceless!
Also there are 2 cuts during it lol. Its kind of annoying that he said "what do you think it means" when really he just didnt have an answer.
@@Godzilla010_ I did wonder if it is longer IRL, but given the informal start (lazy editing?) I'm willing to believe nothing was left on the cutting room floor 🤣
@@Godzilla010_ and yes it would have been annoying if Alex didn't clarify the question. @CosmicSkeptic is truly sharpening those interview skills it's been a pleasure to watch his progression over the past few years!
I figured he got emotional and just asked for it to be cut out in post. It’s hard to be emotional/teary eyed in front of millions of people you don’t know.
@@jjrodriguez6513 who wouldn't?! Gazing into Alex's grey eyes... 🤣
❤ What a soulful conversation! ❤
I must say that trees make up for any architectural disaster, there is something healing about them.
Life is like Tetris. It advances more quickly as you play longer, random pieces often misfit the base layer, the point of playing is not to reach an end point, and if you stop trying you will lose quickly. Accurate model of the environment
16:07 I love how casually you just went outside to continue the conversation, hilarious! And swapping the camera between the chairs is comedy gold!
That Ciggerate break and the Camera switching to the Speaker's empty chairs is the most Alex thing Alex can ever Alex.
I really enjoyed listening to this conversation ✨💎🫶🏾
Love this channel.
You’re OBSESSED with architecture. As someone who is interested in architecture I’ve found the recent discussions very intriguing, although you should’ve pushed him more on brutalism, maybe then we could’ve gotten him to toss a pillow in frustration.
I don't think the world is ugly any more so than before.
My hunch is that the media by which people "access" the past often lacks a truthful depiction of the horrid state of affairs. They forget that the ancient world wasn't one made in marble, for instance. Or even that the 19th century is not predominantly the coquetry of saloons and balls that we come across in the novels and films.
But look at the state of which less important construction is being carried out. We no longer have elegant boulevards, cozy alleys or majestic bridges. This is simple stuff like infrastructure. In the past they would always be embellished with character. Nowadays we don’t think beauty exists, or atleast we have kept the label and removed its content so who is to put any value in it. The world has definetly become more ugly. Not because of changing taste or style but simply by the fact that aesthetics arent viewed as important. Today we build dark parking garages full of concrete. Do you really believe that these structures would be as hideous if they were built 200 years ago?
@MrReedling seems like you're romanticizing a past that never happened. 200 years ago, the streets were filled with horse crap, the smell was unbearable, as depicted in many books from the time. I really don't see old buildings as beautiful in any way. Glass and steel are much more visually clean, as they make the spaces feel much more open.
@@MrReedling What do you mean by "the world"? it feels like you should travel more.
@@eolendes6432 architecture has adopted the ”global westernised culture”. Since it is a very academic profession, being very western in its organisation architecture is generally built on the same ideas globally if we’re talking about the last 80 years. Architecture is being treated similarly across the world because smaller countries naturally want to copy the culture of the hegemon. Of course there are differences, but I don’t get how that ties back to my comment. Things like highways and parking garages look pretty much universally the same wherever you go and traditional architecture is universally more beautiful wherever you go.
I'm 20 seconds in and good lord, that hair. Magnificent.
Fascinating discussion !
A singularly exceptional discussion 😊
Ah! Forgot to prompt the wisdom question beforehand… maybe next time! Another great episode
Bro, "So far, so good." I'm dying here, lovely interview.
Loved the conversation❤👌The guest is pretty erudite, especially for his age, Alex, you should definetely bring him back
His advice to read 1 primary source and ‘extrapolating’ from that to supposedly ‘really understand’ what it was like in a given time period is pretty questionable advice. Sure it’s interesting but you shouldn’t form anything beyond very small-scale historical conclusion from only 1 primary source, especially given most people do not have the expertise to fully analyse and take valuable information from a historical primary source.
You cannot just ‘become a historian’ by applying your mind to a primary source , if you don’t have the skills to do so. You can definitely get something valuable out of it but I would argue it’s only a method of ‘understanding’ maybe a small aspect of history
Preach.
As an architect from Latin America, I found this discussion fascinating!
What is your favorite architecture, or what kind of architecture do you like?
39:00. One important difference between then and now, concerning the quaint villages, is that when they were built, many farm labourers, mill workers, miners, etc. were provided accommodation by their employers, for rent. When they lost their job, they often lost their homes. Also many village cottages nowadays are 2 or 3 dwellings knocked into one...and costing many hundreds of thousands. The current owners have plenty of money to spend on beautifying their properties, while the original occupants were often very poor, and had large families
It's the same in the cities. Tiny mews houses and red-brick Victorian factories, that survived the WW2 bombings, have been gentrified, and turned into expensive houses and flats for the owners of those village residences. As industry collapsed and rural work disappeared, the housing assets were appropriated by the wealthy, and the poor are increasingly forced into ugly, unsafe(Grenfell), living spaces. They are the slums and filthy tenements of the modern age
In a recent move I ran across a few old issues of Time, Newsweek, and various newspapers from the 80s that my mother had put aside for whatever reason. Reading the articles was a real eye-opener, as everything was written as if the audience was made of literate adults. The contrast between these grownup-oriented bits of prose and the grade-school level sorts of things you run into in news articles today was stark.
There are intelligent articles today, just like there was then. And there was plenty of propagandistic nonsense back then, as there is today.
I experienced the 80s, and it was a time of supreme arrogance, ignorance, hypocrisy and selfishness. You can't look at a few articles and make an accurate judgement about a historical period. Television was total garbage in the 80s. Newspapers were as bad then as they are now. The New York Times basically pushed hawkish, cold war propaganda not much more objective than Pravda. There is hundreds' of times more quality material on youtube alone than there was in all the media combined in the 80s.
And worst of all, the average citizen _had no way of authenticating anything._ Now, we can do our own research and check facts for ourselves with more effectiveness than at any time in history.
This is a very keen observation.
This two guys are amazing ❤❤
I loved the casual attitude of this podcast. Felt like two dudes just talking about stuff at the bar.
I like how he mentioned Tetris as an endless game, but it was beaten this year for the first time in history.
Ok but the cigarette break part is such a vibe
Alex, for what its worth I often put your videos on my second monitor while I play Baldur's Gate 3 or Cities Skylines. I appreciate the conversation as opposed to all the colorful pulled up socks you're guests wear.
So pretentious. Let's make sure everyone has α house before calling it ugly
The point they were making is that houses and buildings last longer than we do. Sure everyone should have a house, but wouldn’t it be great if all the houses had mandatory beauty standards. Everyone can have a house, AND there can be beautification practices.
@@unleashedbread6146so somehow recreate the building style of the past so they last long? The only objection I have to this is that a lot of them tend to have restoration work done to them to stop them from collapsing or sinking, could be wrong though.
Absolutely loved this
I actually love my relationship with social media. I’m pretty selfish with it. I post my own stuff, keep in contact with friends I’ve made from the armed forces, travelling and/or university and that’s about it. I don’t endlessly scroll very often. I turn off notifications from Facebook and Instagram. I don’t have e Twitter. I am more interested in CZcams as people like yourself, Bart Erham and various others post content I enjoy which most consider educational.
I am able to keep my toes dipped in philosophy and mythology which I did my degree and masters in. I learn about strength training, dead languages, guitar and singing (I’m an operatic tenor)
I think a lesson I have learned is to keep my mind too busy with things I want to learn than I can often endlessly scroll.
Fantastic... I kind of wish I was there to join in.
I find the shard not to be all too ugly, and it’s very very useful for navigating while cycling around
Have you been to marlin bahnhoff? Absolutely a marvel of modern architecture that expresses the same grandiosity you mentioned in the video. Absolutely stunning
That was without a doubt, and without hyperbole, the most enjoyable conversation I've listened to. I felt like I was one of your old friends right there with you. Please bring this man back for more
They are a really cool duo to listen to, I agree with bringing Sheehan back
Wonderful indeed!
Good stuff 👍
Regarding the efficacy of the internet, it appears that the issue lies less in the preoccupation with the inconsequential- provided a basis for measuring value can even be established- and more in the dependency on continuous stimulation: challenges that may have originated from the formative years of many individuals (growing up with the constant stimulation from screens). If the internet were used solely as a tool for education, it could arguably be the paramount mechanic of the modern age. However, its usage as an instrument has become a crux for many people, and that is where issues stem from.
The smoke break was a wonderful sequence.
I love the cuts to the chairs as you guys were outside.😂😂
came to read the comments to see wtf is the video about. i forgot it's only been 4 minutes!
Absolutely sickening level of poshness on display here, I'm not going to lie.
its ghastly
Why do you think so?
"Indeed, indeed!"
LOL Do I detect a slight touch of misplaced Class-Conflict consciousness? Not all British people speak Thames-Esturese, or fink dat da chip on dar soldier - is a mark of correct/ necessary street credibility. Neither Alex O'Connor nor Sheehan Quirke speak like Kenneth Clark or Brian Sewell - they are not Port Side Out, Starboard Side Home; what you seem to mean is they are too intellectually attached, by education, like me - hem, hem - to be well proper Kool.
Ho! And Hum! I guess, is the answer. I appreciate their efforts to be clear .. it can be a little stuffy, in delivery .. but it is worthwhile (whether one likes it or not).
Yo! ;o)
@@TheLeonhammpretty cringey comment mate no offence
16:29 you say this as I am doing the washing up with my phone on the side 😂
Thank you for helping me not be alone with my thoughts while going about these daily mundane tasks
Wooow! I never expected to hear about Serbia or the Saint Sava's Temple/Church (not cathedral, as it's orthodox) on Alex's platform, and especially not with a positive tone considering the role the Serbian Orthodox Church plays in both Serbia and Balkans (and especially in the last 5-10 years). Awesome:D
Greetings from Serbia!
LMAO the bit with the chairs 😂
We all have different takes on the meaning of words, how each individual assesses them. That's why the famous phrase 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder' sums it all up. I think he was trying to reinvent that in his own clumsy way.
Man these podcasts just get better and better…I am UK chartered Architect. Alex you are ahead of the curve..the UK government recently smuggled into the planning law the need for “Beauty”. This podcast also provides me with 2 hours “continuing professional development” points. Kudos sir. I try to bring beauty into my small pocket of Yorkshire. (Wildblood Macdonald)
What Jacob Reese Mog an average bloke on the street and a professional artist and professional modern artist believe beauty is so vast it’s gonna be weird.
Might have never had Tudor, Gothic, Georgian or Victorian style if they were limited to their current views of beauty back then
Loved the conversation, hated the smoking! You're killing your lungs.
Love
Mum
Think the world is ugly now?
Try living the life that you are now but 500 years ago.
Back when life had purpose?
@@imperialloyalist4799 life has never had purpose, and man then had the same illusions available as man now. Choose your purpose or accept the lack of.
@@imperialloyalist4799Perhaps life had more compelling distractions, but it certainly didn't have any more "meaning."
you are conflating aesthetics and pragmatism
life being harder then does not change that buildings are ugly now
@@Senumunu 'ugly' as human behavior... not the way buildings look.
Alex, you should try talking to Thomas Heatherwick. Architect with a book (Humanise) on modernist architecture and solutions within the field.
Or me....me is an accomplished artichoke....
He seems to know a lot and says a lot but I dont find any meaning in his words beyond that.
I feel the exact same way when I hear Jordan Peterson talk
@@greenspring9437 I found him way more understandable than Peterson
I feel like that was mostly because of the immensely subjective nature of the topic, which was beauty in architecture.
He rambles a lot but it’s possible that this format just might not be his forte.
This man be dripped as fuck.
What do you mean by "dripped"?
@@liambishop9888 What do you mean by "coloquialiy used slang for: dressed very well or pleasing to the eye"?
@@loiiblank4699 thanks
@@loiiblank4699 thanks
저는 세상이 옛날부터 항상 추악했다고 믿습니다.그러기에 과거보다 지금이 더 추악하다는 성급한 오류를 범해서는 안된다고 생각합니다.
It has always been ugly, and it has always been beautiful. 👍
Ugly stuff gets destroyed
1:16:27 I had indeed left my laptop to the side and was doing the washing up 😆
We started our evolution journey with a "beautiful" relationship with nature. I know that when I'm not near trees and birds I feel a bit empty. Right now architects are getting together to develop housing communities based on this new concept of "Trauma informed design" which includes lots of nature and also the design is in a way that encourages socializing. If this will help the poorest people among us, those whom have been homeless, those whom have lost everything then why can't this design be integrated in more city buildings? The design itself increases quality of life. We need beauty and bird feeders and binoculars and huge trees that welcome owls and other wildlife. Native vines growing about. Running water streams that encourages fishing. We need community and design can encourage that. So many ideas! I'm really enjoying this conversation! The internet brought this to me and for that I'm very grateful. Even if I at the age of 45 will never have the chance to work in this area I will sill have the opportunity to talk to youngsters with hopes of inspiring
This guy keeps asking very non-specific questions and then says "it's not a trick question". He seems to be wanting to project some sort of higher understanding, without actually giving any meaningful context or examples. So weird.
Nah he just explains things
He's asking questions where the whole point is to demonstrate that what you think of from the top of your head is more what is taught / recorded / popular than what mundane day to day would be.
11:00 the Tetris analogy didn't age well
I believe that changing the stance on a concept/theorie/etc. is a good thing. I was a strong believer that 1 of the biggest threats to society misinformation was. @13:20 gave me an insight which made me reevaluate my stance. I still think it is a threat but in context I now think that with the internet we have far better resources to counter the misinformation
Well if it starts of with mentioning musicals i guess this will be a good episode xD
With misinformation, i think its most accurate to say that whats changed is the scope at which its viewed, or its accessibility. Just like information, it was always there, but it was confined to pockets, bubbles of tribes and communities, and as time progressed, countries and so on. I think that access to information goes hand in hand with access to misinformation, and ultimately, as we gain greater access to information we are bestowed with greater responsibility to ensure its quality.
the only responsibility you should be thinkin about is gettin educated because your dum!
Watched the entire video. Where's my Achievement Award?
continuing to edit the video after they leave for a cig is the best possible gag that shit is so funny
A better comparison to the Vegas Sphere is probably Time Square.
I think another point that hasnt been made (to this point in the show) is how the first big new projects look the most out of place and therefore garish because the surrounding skyline hasnt been updated and aesthetically filled in around big new projects like this. One of the reason things that have been around for at least several decades look less out of place is because of the even just slightly gravitational pull of new project around it to adopt its style a bit even if not completely.
The giant centerpiece TV in time square would look like an affront to the eyes if all the buidling around it were also still old red brick.
The first brutalist structures were almost certainly these just completely out of place cubes when everything around it was still brick with metal roofing with chimneys and what not. But as the city continues to update it all blends together.
this is a good perspective i hadn’t thought of
"Within reason". Where is the reasoning here? I dont like it so it's wrong? Maybe this whole thing is disingenuous along with the previous discussion about religious art.?
Here even the "expert" sidesteps that capital a Architecture is design not art. Most of what seems to be disliked here is aesthetic yet the outward shape of a building or the decoration upon it, is a tiny portion of architectural design.
Real architects make buildings work for people, sympathetic to the social, domestic or other activity requirements. More "modern" architecture archieves this better than most "old" archtecture where the decoration or outward form were the only considerations.
One could argue objectively that gothic churches were terribly designed for their purpose, however were decorated beautifully, and over time humans learned to live with them out of necessity.
To encourage the decoration of modern buildings that "work" in a gothic church style would be ludicrous. And if we just build more gothic churches because they looked pretty then the majority would complain that they didn't "work" as a building.
So...as for complaining that modern art doesn't move you emotionally as old religeous or classical art does, and modern architecture is ugly....within reason I think this must be clickbait....and I bit.
Interesting conversation. 48:48 Maybe Alex could give us a rendition?
Why does the opening feel like between the ferns 😂
Many years ago me and my freinds got an unabridged version of "scouting for boys" (with all the unique bits which were later removed). I think reading it gave me a glimpse into the mindset of Lord BP and some of the thinking of the times it was written and its funny how people think the young have it easy and there parents are feckless and lack drive or direction etc.
similly I had a teacher who talked of the importance of samuel pepys diaries.
“So far so good”
Glad i wasnt the only one to pick up on that😂
This guy is getting an early start on being a wise old man
His body will not dissentigrate differently than a fool
It's interesting viewing the world as if you're from the far past or the far future. And looking at everything as if it's almost alien or archaic. Just a way of viewing your world with a sense of awe and amazement and appreciation for being able to experience it. It's difficult to do that, and certainly difficult to do it all the time. But for me, it's at least an interesting exercise, and I can achieve that feeling to some extent for a brief while.
Why does this whole thing seem so pretentious?
What do you think they pretend to be? Maybe we can get to the answer. I wouldn't care what we conclude, merely interested as it did not for me.
I just feel they are talking about nothing? Using complex language to say things that appear deep but in fact aren't saying much at all@@maaikevreugdemaker9210
Ask yourself the question, meditate ….
Why the need for “something”? You may discover some interesting things about yourself.
you have to introspect on that yourself, pretentiousness is an emotion felt
I got the impression this guy ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-talked a whole lot, but said very little: Beauty is subjective, people don't like new things, people like old things not because they are beautiful but because they are old, it has always been like that, Read primary sources instead of history books. That a a lot of rhetorical questions out of nowhere than didn't really seem to go anywhere and that lacked context or real relevance.
I'm not sure that the aesthetics of buildings is a "big big problem" considering all the other real problems we haven't figured out yet...
It is though, they somewhat directly discuss the reasons why in this discussion.
Could anyone add a list of books discussed in these episodes to the description?
Literally was washing up listening on earphones when it was suggested people were doing that
Sometimes the beauty comes from the hands that created. Hands that with a subtle touch can feel quality. Take a bit more time to find the philosophy of that whose make or you will miss how what is tangible is part of ourselves.
Feel that a lot of Cultural Tutors most vocal followers on X won’t be siding with him in this conversation
How come?
Because they are pessimists
Beautiful last statement
I think you can stop asking that question at the end now, that was the best answer 😊
William Morris was talking about the streets of London, not the train station.
When was the world not ugly? The better question is *when and where.*
When and where sufficient time and resources are spent on facades and interior, visual environments are pleasing.
Optimists, for whom the system seems to work, will often bob and weave to avoid facing the reality that modern capitalism and the collective/individual quest of greed has caused most of our modern issues, especially the ugliness that is despised today. Sheehan Quirke doesn't strike me as the type to spend his days peddling on ugly train tracks, through ugly vistas and torn down stations, from ugly industrial job sites with dripping rust, to ugly mass constructed workers ghettos with dripping rust.
For Petes sake, most town streets are littered with ugly stores and megamarts. Everywhere you look it's glowing plastic and crying concrete.
At the end of the previous century, depending on where you live, the pricing laws for common housing ensured that apt resources went into building projects. The profit you could earn and the price you could charge where tied to the cost of construction and upkeep. Today you can charge "market price and rent" which basically means tough cheese for consumers. It also means that there is no incentive to make nice things. Why make an expensive facade? It will only subtract from the bottom line.
This is why the old part of town looks nicer.
Inb4 "complaining about capitalism from a smartphone" arguments:
Nope, sorry, your dad is wrong about everything. Your smartphone and computer, while bearing capitalist markings, overpricing and the shame of child labour, where researched and developed in the state sector, and the internet was called DARPAnet before the US STATE military shared it with the reprobate. Basically, everything that works was RnD'd in the state. Capitalism piggy back rides on industrialism and the commisar class can't and won't aknowledge facts. Look up Mariana Mazzucato for more.
What is Brian David Gilbert doing on your podcast Alex?
Does a skyrim book report count as books written in the last 50 years ?
I remember having to learn the soliloquy from Macbeth in school, too...