Here "pseudo" means those behaviors and attitude stiffening art and camouflaging oneself with unintelligent cynicism, ignoring, hiding and avoiding the true severe reality.
The Cathedral's modern aesthetics spring not from its relationship to the city but rather from its authentic relationship with our contemporary moment in time - the 21st century.
In fact, those who thought that the images higher up the attractiveness scale were real directly corresponded with those who showed other markers for having higher self-esteem.
Times have changed and they were embarrassed to give the true grounds for their objection and so they translated their arguments into utilitarian terms.