I think this is a good point. The complementary expression being: part of the ornamentation of the past was in reaction to the pervasive under stimulation of p

I think this is a good point. The complementary expression being: part of the ornamentation of the past was in reaction to the pervasive under stimulation of people in urban areas 150+ years ago. There was less going on - less connectedness — and discussing the design and position and prestige of the new street lamps might’ve been the most interesting development in a town all month. The gigantic population shift from rural to urban settings caused all sorts of strange effects, existential angsts, new art forms, massive complexification of everything… and much much more. And it’s a bi-directional event-horizon: We live in an era they could never imagine. And we, now, can never truly appreciate how they lived then.