Comment by parpfish

Comment by parpfish 4 days ago

> I don't want constant "riotous color", as the article puts it, in my home, or my workplace, or while I'm driving. It's visually exhausting.

could a factor driving current monotone style be less about aesthetics and taste and more that we're all just cognitively exhausted?

everything is fighting for our attention because our attention has been monetized. so when something bland shows up, it simultaneously provides a bit of respite and can seem more 'trustworthy' because it isn't clamoring for your attention.

if i were buying some kitchen appliances and i had a choice between a brightly colored models or a stark, utilitarian models, i have to admit that the stark ones have appeal because they "look professional" (even though it may not actually be pro quality) and "the color is just a sales gimmick" (even though boring industrial grey is also a sales gimmick)

euroderf 4 days ago

> we're all just cognitively exhausted?

If you include electronic media as a source of this cognitive exhaustion, then I'm with you. If greyscale dominates the physical environment, then it's a reaction to something equally pervasive.

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9rx 4 days ago

> If greyscale dominates the physical environment, then it's a reaction to something equally pervasive.
My impression from the data is not that greyscale now dominates the physical environment, but that browns once dominated. Presumably because things like wood, copper, etc. once dominated the materials we engrossed ourselves in. As we've expanded the paints and other materials we live with, we've found much more balance.

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- bluGill 4 days ago
  
  Is that really true or isiit just that blues and greens biodegrade and so the only evidence of the past's colors we have is the mineral colors. We have evidence that paint has been used on wood furniture - but not what color was used.
  
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  9rx 4 days ago
  
  It is true that it is my impression of the data. A different dataset could possibly give me a different impression, but without that dataset...
  
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nine_k 4 days ago

I think the sensory load idea is productive, but I'd add a related idea of drawing attention to key things only.

I don't care if my kettle looks "professional"; one is pink, another is orange.

But I prefer walls around me to be white or very lightly colored, not, say, intensively red. That would constantly distract me.

Code in my editor is colorful like a Christmas tree, bur most of the interface is muted beige and green. This is about certain things requiring my attention, and others sparing it.

When everything is loud, nothing is, nothing stands out. Bold colors often work better as accents.

(Sometimes it's about non-aesthetic considerations. I prefer my car to be approximately white to soak in less of the hot summer summer sun.)

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XorNot 4 days ago

I have a different take on interior wall colors: any shade too far off from white actually darkens the room no matter the color.
Paint colors subtractively from light: you never get more light into a room when you're knocking out wavelengths rather then reflecting them. Whereas with whiter walls you always have the option of manipulating color by using colored lighting.

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dinkblam 4 days ago

> cognitively exhausted?

i find it cognitively exhausting to watch movies that are so dark that most times i cannot even see the eye color of the cast

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