4 ms·

You are absolutely right there. But personally, instead of lamenting it, I see it as a sign of our march towards the “Earth” culture. We are watching the devel

You are absolutely right there. But personally, instead of lamenting it, I see it as a sign of our march towards the “Earth” culture. We are watching the development of the first global civilisation unfold. It’s exciting, even if it has none of the charm of older architectural styles.

Mordisquitos 3y ago
But is it exciting? Why? Personally I find the idea of a uniform “Earth” culture with no local identities as exciting as the idea of never being able to travel away my own local culture to experience a different one, that is, not exciting at all.
- c22 3y ago
  It might be kind of exciting if it stopped people from traveling around so damn much. But of course everyone will still take 2-4 weeks every year to fly to one of the same generic vacation destinations and double or quadruple their lifetime energy footprint.
  - ahonhn 3y ago
    I'm reminded of the last page of "Orbitsville" (Bob Shaw, 1975). "In time even the flickering ships ceased to ply the trade lanes between the entrance portals, because there can be no reward for the traveller when departure point cannot be distinguished from destination."
troupo 3y ago
It's not "the development of the first global civilisation". It's the death of imagination and creativity. You'd think that for a place as varied and interesting as Earth, you'd emerge with something that is as varied and interesting.
- kipchak 3y ago
  It also seems like you would expect the practical considerations from environment and material availability to result in different looking buildings. For example pitched roofs and large windows in climates with lots of snow, or windcatchers, flat roofs, white paint and small windows in warmer places.
  - CrimsonCape 3y ago
    Much like the original post, the construction industry has an intimate understanding of the pricing of the plain box as a 'standard' and the non-plain box as a 'premium / luxury'. The resulting environment expresses bland uniformity as a standard cost and unqiueness as high-specialty luxury.
rsynnott 3y ago
We can have a global civilisation without the buildings being so bloody boring.
philwelch 3y ago
The “global civilization” spent 20 years trying to assimilate Afghanistan before just giving up and allowing a rebuilt Kabul and all of its bland contemporary architecture get overrun by a gang of medieval goat herders. I suspect the world has already reached peak homogenization and will increasingly splinter on cultural lines in the future.

Mordisquitos 3y ago

But is it exciting? Why? Personally I find the idea of a uniform “Earth” culture with no local identities as exciting as the idea of never being able to travel away my own local culture to experience a different one, that is, not exciting at all.

c22 3y ago
It might be kind of exciting if it stopped people from traveling around so damn much. But of course everyone will still take 2-4 weeks every year to fly to one of the same generic vacation destinations and double or quadruple their lifetime energy footprint.
- ahonhn 3y ago
  I'm reminded of the last page of "Orbitsville" (Bob Shaw, 1975). "In time even the flickering ships ceased to ply the trade lanes between the entrance portals, because there can be no reward for the traveller when departure point cannot be distinguished from destination."

troupo 3y ago

It's not "the development of the first global civilisation". It's the death of imagination and creativity. You'd think that for a place as varied and interesting as Earth, you'd emerge with something that is as varied and interesting.

kipchak 3y ago
It also seems like you would expect the practical considerations from environment and material availability to result in different looking buildings. For example pitched roofs and large windows in climates with lots of snow, or windcatchers, flat roofs, white paint and small windows in warmer places.
- CrimsonCape 3y ago
  Much like the original post, the construction industry has an intimate understanding of the pricing of the plain box as a 'standard' and the non-plain box as a 'premium / luxury'. The resulting environment expresses bland uniformity as a standard cost and unqiueness as high-specialty luxury.

rsynnott 3y ago

We can have a global civilisation without the buildings being so bloody boring.

philwelch 3y ago

The “global civilization” spent 20 years trying to assimilate Afghanistan before just giving up and allowing a rebuilt Kabul and all of its bland contemporary architecture get overrun by a gang of medieval goat herders. I suspect the world has already reached peak homogenization and will increasingly splinter on cultural lines in the future.