October 18, 2022

"We take a human-centered approach to design a future massively better for everyone."

I love this phrase, painted on the window of a design firm in Munich, Germany:

 

Massively better.

The photo was taken by my son Chris, who also made this video walking around the Marienplatz ("Mary's Square"):


 

The putti at the base of the column are not human-centered. They are struggling with animals, and we're told the animals represent the enemies the city has fought off: "war represented by the lion, pestilence by the cockatrice, hunger or famine by the dragon and heresy by the serpent."

64 comments:

Leland said...

By whose standard is it better?

tim maguire said...

Why is it in English? Wouldn't German be massively better?

Perhaps the Germans will do it better, but it is rare indeed to come across a humanist who isn't anti-humans.

Ambrose said...

Why English in Munich?

BIII Zhang said...

Meanwhile, the Democrats at the Boston University have created a Covid variant that is 80% lethal.

That should end our little global warming problem once they unleash that virus, which they will.

Too late to stop them now.

Kevin said...

Definieren Sie Ihre Bedingungen.

rcocean said...

How lucky to be in Munich during October fest. IRC, the Germans rebuilt many of their old buildings that were destroyed in WWII, in the original (or close to the original) style.

Lurker21 said...

We take a human-centered approach to design a future massively better for everyone.

Every day is opposite day when it comes to institutional credos, manifestos, and purpose statements.

You can take it to the bank that they aren't "human centered" and don't care about anyone else's future.

Humperdink said...

Human-centered? PETA not impressed. A laughable attempt at virtue signaling.

madAsHell said...

What an embarrassment!! It's almost as if the language was selected because of the adjective.

Dollars to doughnuts. The author of that statement is legally blonde.

Rabel said...

Why's it in English?

madAsHell said...

.....and I wonder what they design??

madAsHell said...

.....and I wonder what they design??

Roger Sweeny said...

Anyone who thinks the future can be "massively better for everyone" because of things a design firm does is ... crazy? deluded? imprecise in their use of language?

Narr said...

When Krauts start talking about designing a future for everyone, even a massively better one, I say check your ammo.

The world suffered heavily in the 20th C from German Idealist Futurism in its purest active forms; more recently of course that tendency has taken passive form, such as Merkel's welcome mat for unassimilable minorities that nobody else wants, which will lead to blood before long, as intended.



Clyde said...

Warum ist es nicht auf Deutsch geschrieben?

Elliott A said...

The German language only has 25% of the individual words that English does, so translations can be inexact.

Mark said...

"We take a human-centered approach to design a future massively better for everyone."

Every progressive and utopian claims to be working for a "future massively better for everyone" and it ends up being much worse, if not hellish.

And I would question that "human-centered" claim. I would guess they say they are pro-green, which actually means that they are not human-centered, but environment-centered, where humans are deemed to be part of the problem.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

No fair making me want to go back to Berlin. I've had more than one beer in that plaza.

Earnest Prole said...

I read “design a future massively better for everyone” and instantly think “Nuremberg Rally.”

Clyde said...

I was stationed in Augsburg, which is about 30 miles from Munich, for a couple of years. Visited Munich a few times, enjoyed the Oktoberfests, drank some excellent beer.

Paddy O said...

They were moving a good direction there, but I feel like they lapsed into overpromising, like they're giving me modern farmhouse and suddenly add a huge baroque window treatment across the sliding doors.

Can we start with moderately better? I think that's more human these days, less Trumpian.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Sounds to me like something Musk would say.

Wince said...

"Massively better."

Very Trumpian.

tommyesq said...

Odd that it is in English rather than German.

Didn't they try a "massive" future before?

gilbar said...

and heresy by the serpent

THIS is the one, America is struggling with! Once we can eradicate ALL heresy
(in thought, in form, in action)
And make ALL people comply with The Truth, Only THEN will we achieve Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity
DIE! AMERICA!! DIE!!!

Readering said...

No travel tag?

Ann Althouse said...

Travel tag is only for the topic of traveling not just where someone is somewhere they’ve traveled to.

Chris is in Munich and the post isn’t about how or why he went or whether it’s a good idea to travel there. It just showing a sign and some art and architecture.

Ice Nine said...

Looks like a passage in that sappy "We are The World" song.

robother said...

Tips on English idiom for our German friends. Never use "massively" when "bigly" will do.

Narr said...

I spotted clear suggestions at 3:41 (Pepe the Frog) and 4:30 (sinister-looking balcony stonework) . . .

I should say I enjoyed the segment; I've been to Germany several times since 1978 but that was the last time I saw Munich.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

www.kreatives.co

n.n said...

Progress for some, progress for others. The floraphiles, faunaphiles, Gaiasts, and carbonphobes will be unhappy.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

I had a day to kill in Bavaria so hopped a train to Munich to see some sights. No particular destination other than the old city. I followed the flow of people and ended up in Marionplatz. Beautiful architecture, way too many tourists. I spent most of the rest of the day looking down side streets or up at the skyline, seeing some interesting architecture, and heading that way. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I kept trying to practice my German, but every time I started to speak the person I was talking to immediately switched to English.

Coconuss Network said...

„Sie wollen mit die Touristen Geschäfte machen.“ or “They want to sell to others besides locals,” says my husband. Husband thinks the company might be a start-up given the exaggerated adjective. Likely not Trumponian, as the Germans far favored Obama to Trump.

walter said...

..so stocx up on firewood.

Mason G said...

Does that "future massively better for everyone" include burning your furniture to keep warm in the winter because there's not enough green energy to go around and fossil fuels are just so icky?

Asking for a friend...

Quaestor said...

What a shameless lie. A future massively better for everyone includes (eeew!) white people!

ALP said...

Considering humans are animals with large brains with an increasing tendency to throw feces, not sure the future is going to be what these dreamers intend. I mean, has urban planning been 'alien from outer space centered' up until now?

Also assumes said humans have the same values as the slogan's author.

JK Brown said...

Hey, you know a proven human-centered approach to a better future for everyone is? Expansion of individual liberty, enforceable private property rights, pulling back economic interventionism, suppressing socialistic tendencies and smaller government with orders of magnitude fewer government bureaucrats.

But anyone who had taken time to stop and think would know that. Which is why it is virtually unknown on the modern college campus, especially amongst the professoriate.

BG said...

The art hubby and I discovered in Germany 20 years ago was in a little town in which we ambled down a back street and saw a Bart Simpson sticker on the window of a private residence (showing him urinating). One time we got lost wandering around on some paths and ended up in someone's vineyard and discovered a shrine to some saint. Great vacation. Hubby hates big cities, so we did the "small town" Germany self-tour. Did not see many signs in English but I'm of German descent so knew some very basic words to get us by.

Brian McKim and/or Traci Skene said...

Oktoberfest beginnt und endet in September.

Pet peeve of my old man (1916 - 1996) was use of "massive" to refer to things which had no mass.

Tomcc said...

I immediately thought of the Steve Jobs phrase: "Insanely great!".
And, yeah, why in English?

Lawnerd said...

I hope your son had a chance to eat some Schweinshaxe and wash it down with some Hefeweissen while in town.

That's my favorite treat when I'm in Munchen for a European Patent Appeal hearing.

My Dad made a similar movie, but on super 8 film in the early 70s. If he were still here it would warm his heart to see the Ukrainian colors of his homeland flying there!

Fred Drinkwater said...

Massive...mass

Ages ago I worked at ROLM, which mil-spec'd Data General computers. After the German trade show announcing their latest (MV8000 Eagle, built in Massachusetts) we got a huge poster. Torso shot of a woman, wearing a slightly open dress jacket, showing hints of generous breast.
This was captioned in German (my grammar is probably a bit off):
"Das Masse Alles Dinge"

Those who claim the tech industry is degrading because of an influx of "Bro" types don't know any history.

Will Cate said...

"Massively better"

Dare I say, that is almost Trump-esque. Talk about world-wide influence.

madAsHell said...

No fair making me want to go back to Berlin

Kinda gives beer googles a whole new definition.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Does comfort make us dissatisfied?

Copy pasta to your browser 👉🏽 https://youtu.be/02QX7CYwXsM

Watch what you wish for… it could be our doomed

Nice said...

Hardly surprising to see advertising and slogans in English. They're pandering to the English-speaking money.

Where I was shocked to see English language proliferation was Quebec----as they always vowed to preserve their French and, especially on signage. Entire villages in Montreal now where the store-windows and labels have been made over in English. Tourist dollars more important than history and heritage, it seems.

Kate said...

Haha, Ignorance is Bliss, same experience. Everyone in Germany speaks English and would prefer that you, heathen, not try German.

Somewhere off the Marienplatz is a Ratskeller with massively better steins, lederhosen, and first rate Bavarian Christmas music. May Chris enjoy the beauty of Germany while he's there.

Howard said...

The Brits use massive all the time since forever. Love the Germans. Glad we're friends now that they got the fascist out of their system.

Narayanan said...

human [= mensch auf Deutch] would invoke historical memories

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

Sounds like someone had too much time on his hands. He (she?) used buzzword bingo to come up with that slogan.

Narr said...

One of the things I recall about our Munich visit in '78 was the May Day Parade. Lots of earnest idealistic German idiots with stale and stupid slogans and posters about AmeriKKKa.

In other words, just like the campus at home! I kid, there weren't many Germans on our campus.

I kid. But we hadn't been too different too many years before--with the excuse that there was an unwinnable-by-design war going on in us young 'Merkins case.

I swear I saw the same people (or their offspring) in Berlin in November '19. A small claque near what remains of the Wall, with big crudely-drawn posters protesting the "American Blockade of Cuba" and like myths.

The Germans are a stupendously talented and intelligent people, but they careen. There's truth in Churchill's quip that they are either at your feet or at your throat.



walter said...

Howard said...Glad we're friends now that they got the fascist out of their system.
--
Still got a bit of facist in their system. Putting them in a helluva bind this winter.
Sehr gut!

Lurker21 said...

For a lot of people around the world English is cool and modern and global. Foreigners feel proud of having mastered the language, even if they really hate America and its government.

Plus with the EU, there are probably an awful lot of foreign business people passing through Munich. There was talk that with Brexit, English would be demoted in the EU, but it's still the most widely spoken language in the EU, given all the people who learned it as a second language. German is next. French, Italian and Spanish are further back.

Nancy Reyes said...

Who are "we"?
Just wondering.
And why do they think they have the right (and the knowledge) to force people to make the world better?
Sounds like neocolonialism to me.

hawkeyedjb said...

After reunification, Germans held a vote to decide on their new capitol.

They chose Paris.

veni vidi vici said...

human-centered is nicely contrasted with the brutalist prison-looking structure reflected in the glass.

Estoy_Listo said...

I have to laugh. The misuse of the word "massive" used to drive Edwin Newman nuts. Mind you,this was before "awesome" became the go-to work for satisfactory.

rhhardin said...

Hmm power out 04:45. Alerted by UPS beeps, generator out of garage to back porch, retrieve awg10 power cord from basement, hook up refrigerator and sump pump, apply power to computers. When it's done recharging the laptop batteries and UPS batteries, I can hook up the 600w microwave and have some coffee. 1600 watts max.

rhhardin said...

I remember the Deutsche Museum from Munich visit in 1960, nice airplane displays.

Jefferson's Revenge said...

Germany. There was an article in the WSJ yesterday that I found interesting. One of their columnists went over there for a series of interviews with business and government leaders. He expected to find them concerned and depressed about their future. After all, war, lack of energy, etc.

Instead they were remarkably upbeat. It seems they think things are finally falling into place for them. We will hobble Russia for them and Ukraine will be destroyed. They will get trillions in contracts to rebuild a country they allowed to be destroyed. Russian energy will be cheap again because Russia won’t really exist. None if this will cost them anything. We will pay in $ and the Ukrainians will pay in lives. They will come out of it de facto ruler of Europe.

There is something truly sick about Germany. Their foreign policy is basically just do everything you can to keep the money coming in for large business. Pretend you are allied with whoever provides the most money at the particular time but do no more than necessary to maintain the fiction of alliance.

I really wish we would start ignoring Europe. Smug, condescending people who haven’t done a thing to make the world better in over 150 years and who have demonstrably done significant harm. Can we break up with them please? They are not our allies.

Lori said...

It depends on what they design, website, furniture, houses, marketing campaign, but human centered design is a well known phrase in the design world.

It comes from human factors analysis where it became important to account for people using machines. Human centered design is used for websites to allow for the fact that developers and engineers can make things work, but not as easy to use as they might be without designers to find out how well people can use them and design for people.

Making things massively better? Your mileage may vary.

Icepilot said...

How about you just design something that works.
I would avoid this designer like the plague - they seem to be more interested in cosmic solutions than what I want or need.