Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id FAA20640 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Thu, 29 Nov 2001 05:17:16 GMT Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2001 21:12:16 -0800 Message-Id: <200111290512.fAT5CGg25477@mail1.bigmailbox.com> Content-Type: text/plain Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary X-Mailer: MIME-tools 4.104 (Entity 4.116) X-Originating-Ip: [216.76.250.64] From: "Joe Dees" <joedees@addall.com> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: Re: A Question for Wade Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk('binary' encoding is not supported, stored as-is)
> Re: A Question for WadeDate: Tue, 27 Nov 2001 08:50:01 -0500
> "Wade T.Smith" <wade_smith@harvard.edu> "memetics list" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>
>On 11/26/01 22:46, Joe Dees said this-
>
>>To paraphrase, beauty is internal to the mind of the beholder. utility,
>>however, is an empirical, external thing.
>
>Is there no utility to beauty?
>
>I stand in disagreement with everything you've said above.
>
>There are some pretty solid evidential claims that beauty is
>quantifiable, and therefore an aspect, not just a thing of mind. And
>there is no utility unless someone decides to use something.
>
>But, while I think there are memetic connections to all of this, the
>discussion of beauty is what aesthetics is all about.
>
>E=mc^2 is both utilitarian and beautiful, scientific and artistic, in
>form and function.
>
>The golden rectangle looks 'balanced' to anyone who sees it.
>
>The spiral appears in almost all cultures as an image of interest.
>
>If I were a more avid student of aesthetics, I'm sure I could rattle off
>countless examples to show the utility of beauty, and the commoness of
>its appreciation.
>
While there are indeed substantial commonalities, nevertheless some people find beauty in symmetry and some in a poignant asymmetry; some find it in bright colors and bold lines, others in muted shades washing over amorphous masses; some find it in jazz, some in classical, some in rock, some in syncopation, some in cacaphonous atonality, some in smooth melodies and harmonies; some in tight poetic construction, some in blank verse.
>
>- Wade
>
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>This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
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This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
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