Key Moments
The four-letter code to selling anything | Derek Thompson | TEDxBinghamtonUniversity
TEDKey Moments
We crave novelty but prefer the familiar. The "Most Advanced Yet Acceptable" (MAYA) principle balances these, explaining hits from product design to baby names.
Key Insights
The word "new" was found to be the most common in advertisements, highlighting a societal cult of novelty.
The mere-exposure effect suggests that familiarity breeds liking; people prefer the reflection of their face in a mirror over a photograph.
Raymond Loewy's MAYA principle states that successful designs must be "most advanced yet acceptable," balancing familiarity with novelty.
Spotify's 'Discover Weekly' saw engagement plummet when the algorithm accidentally removed familiar songs, proving the need for a balance.
Academic research indicates that papers perceived as "optimally familiar yet advanced" were preferred by evaluators, mirroring the MAYA principle.
Baby names and fashion trends follow a predictable cycle of rising and falling popularity, often driven by the MAYA principle of familiar surprises.
The human paradox: Drawn to novelty, loyal to familiarity
For millennia, thinkers have pondered what drives human preference. Ancient Greeks pointed to the golden ratio, Enlightenment philosophers to aesthetics. Today, with data from Google and Facebook, advertisers focus on novelty, employing words like "new" as a primary variable. However, research consistently shows humans are, in fact, deeply averse to true novelty. The mere-exposure effect, a robust psychological theory, demonstrates that repeated exposure to a stimulus biases us toward liking it. This explains why we seek out new songs but ultimately enjoy familiar chord structures, and why many top films are sequels or reboots. Even our own faces are preferred as seen in a mirror—slightly different from a photograph—because the mirrored version is more familiar. This deep-seated preference for the familiar likely stems from evolutionary survival instincts, where recognizing known entities meant safety from unknown dangers.
Raymond Loewy and the birth of MAYA
Industrial designer Raymond Loewy, a hero of the 20th century, embodied the principles needed to reconcile our love for the familiar with our desire for the new. Having immigrated to the U.S. post-WWI, Loewy was struck by the industrial, un-beautiful landscape of New York. He vowed to beautify America, and he did. His design portfolio is legendary, encompassing the iconic Studebaker car, the Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 locomotive, the Greyhound bus, the Coca-Cola fountain, and even the interior for NASA's first spaceship. He designed logos for Exxon and USPS, and famously collaborated with President Kennedy to redesign Air Force One. Loewy's underlying philosophy, which he termed MAYA—'Most Advanced Yet Acceptable'—posited that human preference lies at the intersection of two opposing forces: neophilia (love of new things) and neophobia (fear of the too-new). Success, he believed, came from making the familiar surprising and the surprising familiar.
MAYA in action: Technology and the Spotify experiment
Loewy's MAYA principle, though not derived from scientific study, has been retrospectively validated by numerous fields. In technology, creating truly novel products that resonate with a broad audience is a constant challenge. Spotify faced this when developing its "Discover Weekly" playlist. Initially, they aimed for entirely new songs and artists to surprise users. However, a bug allowed some familiar tracks to slip through. When this bug was fixed, and playlists returned to being completely novel, user engagement plummeted. This experiment powerfully demonstrated that even in a discovery-oriented platform, a degree of familiarity was crucial for user acceptance and enjoyment, directly supporting the MAYA principle.
Academic hits and the preference for optimal familiarity
The MAYA principle also extends to academic success. A 2014 study by researchers from Harvard University and Northwestern aimed to discover the formula for a "hit" academic paper. They created a dummy list of 150 papers, coded for novelty, and had other researchers score their favorites. The results revealed a "U"-shaped curve: papers that were either too familiar or too novel were less preferred. The sweet spot, the highest scores, belonged to papers that were "optimally familiar yet advanced"—a direct echo of Loewy's MAYA concept. This suggests that even in the pursuit of groundbreaking research, making it accessible and relatable through familiar frameworks enhances its reception.
Fashion, baby names, and the cycles of popular appeal
The cyclical nature of fashion and the trends in baby names can also be explained by MAYA. For most of human history, fashions were static. However, in modern times, trends like guitar solos or skinny jeans rise and fall. Sociologist Stanley Levison applied MAYA to baby names, finding that parents prefer names that are familiar yet surprising. The name Samantha, for instance, wasn't popular in the 1980s but surged in the 90s as it hit the "optimally familiar" point for many parents. Conversely, names with a "la" or "le" prefix that became distinct markers for Black American names (e.g., Latonya, Latasha) demonstrate a systematic evolution where familiar phonetic structures are tweaked into new, popular forms. This orderly rise and fall in naming trends illustrates the MAYA principle in social preference.
Persuading through politics: Grounding arguments in shared values
In the realm of politics and persuasion, the MAYA principle offers a vital strategy. Typically, individuals begin debates by stating their own code of ethics, which often alienates those with opposing views. For example, a liberal might criticize Trump's policies as cruel to Hispanics, while a conservative might argue against Sanders for aiming to become "Denmark." These arguments fail because they start from points of disagreement. A more effective approach, rooted in Moral Foundations Theory and mirroring MAYA, is to begin by acknowledging and validating the opponent's familiar values. A liberal, for instance, might say to a Trump supporter, "I respect the Republican emphasis on patriotism and service. Let's explore how Donald Trump's business career has exemplified these values." By building on shared familiarities, one can gradually bridge ideological divides and foster genuine persuasion, making the argument "most advanced (your point) yet acceptable (their values)."
MAYA's final frontier: Designing for deep space
Raymond Loewy's final design challenge was to create a habitat for NASA's first orbital space station—an environment more unfamiliar and exotic than any on Earth. After conducting habitability studies and making numerous adjustments, Loewy's most iconic contribution was deceptively simple: he cut a viewing portal into the side of the station. This innovation, the very window seen in countless space movies, perfectly illustrates the MAYA principle. It acknowledged the profound human need not just for advanced exploration into the unknown, but for a connection to the familiar. As Loewy's design for Air Force One adorned a groundbreaking American icon, his window for astronauts offered a view of both a new world and, crucially, home, encapsulating the essence of making the advanced acceptable through a touch of the familiar.
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The MAYA Principle for Success
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Common Questions
According to Raymond Loewy's MAYA principle, the key is to balance novelty with familiarity. Products or ideas should be 'Most Advanced Yet Acceptable,' meaning they offer something new but are presented in a way that resonates with existing understanding and preferences.
Topics
Mentioned in this video
An ancient Greek concept representing beauty and proportion, approximately 1.618, contrasted with modern approaches to understanding preference.
A psychological theory stating that prolonged exposure to a stimulus increases liking for it, explaining preferences for familiar things.
A psychological theory suggesting that effective persuasion involves appealing to the target's core ethical principles and values.
Used as a prime example of a baby name that followed the MAYA principle, rising to extreme popularity and then declining.
Mentioned as a modern source of information, contrasting with ancient philosophers in understanding human preferences.
Mentioned as a modern source of information and a platform where photo preferences are discussed in relation to self-perception and familiarity.
The car brand whose 1953 model was designed by Raymond Loewy, cited as a famous example of his work.
The railroad company for which Raymond Loewy designed the GG1 locomotive, a significant 20th-century train design.
Mentioned as a company whose modern bus design was influenced by Raymond Loewy.
Cited for its modern fountain design, an example of Raymond Loewy's broad influence on consumer products.
Mentioned as one of the companies whose logos were designed by Raymond Loewy.
The streaming music company whose 'Discover Weekly' feature illustrated the MAYA principle when a bug introduced familiar songs, boosting engagement.
Used as an example to illustrate that direct marketing doesn't influence naming trends, unlike product sales.
A pioneering industrial designer credited with shaping 20th-century American aesthetics through iconic designs across various products and logos.
President Kennedy invited Raymond Loewy to redesign Air Force One, showcasing the application of design principles to national symbols.
An example of a notable figure whose first name features the 'La' prefix, which became a marker for names popular among Black Americans.
Mentioned in the context of political persuasion, illustrating how to appeal to supporters by framing arguments within their existing values.
Used as a contrasting political figure in an example of how political persuasion can sometimes fail when starting with opposing first principles.
A sociologist whose research on baby names and fashion trends supported the MAYA principle and explored predictable name popularity cycles.
Mentioned alongside LeBron James as an example of a prominent name with the 'La' prefix, illustrating naming trends.
The United States Postal Service, whose logo was designed by Raymond Loewy.
One of the institutions whose researchers studied the formula for hit academic papers, finding a preference for 'optimally familiar' concepts.
Collaborated with Harvard researchers on a study to identify the characteristics of highly cited academic papers.
Abbreviated as NIH, mentioned in the context of academic research and the likelihood of papers being accepted.
The space agency for which Raymond Loewy designed the viewing portal for the first space orbital, a key example of applying MAYA to extreme environments.
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