JAMIE K WILSON: The Shape of Joy: How Beauty Once Defined Us and Can Define Us Again. “Beneath the practicality lies something cultural. The old exuberance came from confidence, a belief that life was good and getting better, that the future belonged to the brave and the inventive. Today’s restraint comes from anxiety. We design for safety, not splendor; for approval, not expression. The boldness that once marked prosperity has been replaced by a kind of managerial caution. Our world looks the way it feels: competent, optimized, and joyless.”