Beauty or aesthetics haven't been quantified so they cannot be used as a metric to guide decisions in a world where all decisions are made via metrics. Looking

Beauty or aesthetics haven't been quantified so they cannot be used as a metric to guide decisions in a world where all decisions are made via metrics. Looking at modern architecture or urban design, everything is designed based on a few metrics - cost, time to build & energy efficiency primarily. How does a policymaker argue to spend $X more on a prettier building? That would just come off sounding too subjective to justify today. Now we will no doubt see psychological studies telling us obvious truths about humanity - that living in nice places feels good actually. The paper will say things like "pretty buildings improve quality of life by 23% and productivity by 6%". But unlike subjective opinion, a scientific paper is a defensible piece of evidence so we need the study to justify building a pretty neighborhood in a modern context. This clinical economic view of the world is pervasive today so nothing can be justified outside of a utilitarian lens.