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Quote by Paul Watzlawick

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Paul Watzlawick
Paul Watzlawick

Paul Watzlawick was a renowned psychologist, born on July 25, 1921, and passed away on March 31, 2007. He made significant contributions to the fields of communication theory and systems theory, particularly in the areas of psychotherapy and interpersonal communication. more

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“An old essay by John Updike begins, 'We live in an era of gratuitous inventions and negative improvements.' That language is general and abstract, near the top of the ladder. It provokes our thinking, but what concrete evidence leads Updike to his conclusion ? The answer is in his second sentence : 'Consider the beer can.' To be even more specific, Updike was complaining that the invention of the pop-top ruined the aesthetic experience of drinking beer. 'Pop-top' and 'beer' are at the bottom of the ladder, 'aesthetic experience' at the top.”

ThinkingLanguageAnswersDesignEvidenceNegativeDrinkingBottomPopsSentencesComplainingImprovementInventionConclusionErasBeerAbstractAestheticConcreteProvokingRuinedEssaysLaddersGraphicGraphic DesignDrinking Beer
Author:John Updike
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“It is important to notice that these badly functioning designs were praised for 'elegance.' But elegance as theoretical scientists apply it is quite different. The elegance of a mathematical formula is that it explains a phenomenon beautifully, with no parts left over. In design, elegance is more readily perceived as a property of product than of process. If we had more elegant theories, we might look to design for more than elegance.”

IfsLooksImportantDifferentMightLeftProcessDesignProductsTheoryScientistPropertyMathematicalPhenomenonFormulasElegantEleganceTheoreticalGraphicGraphic Design
Book:Cracking the Whip: Essays on Design and Its Side Effects
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