Hi. The one on the left (or top, depending on your browser, I think) is a pic I took whilst walking yesterday here in Akureyri, Iceland (during which I was enjoying the first sunshine in a few days) and the other one is a picture I took last October at Rough Ridge in the Appalachian mountains.
Neither picture depicts any human beings. The questions I want to ask are:
1) Which scene is prettier?
2) Which scene is lonelier? (keeping in mind neither one depicts any humans - or any animals at all, actually).
You can disagree, but my feeling is the one on the left is slightly prettier, just from a purely aesthetic point of view (there is more sky, the clouds are more interesting, there is less clutter, the proportions are better, the lighting is more interesting and pleasing to the eye, etc), but the one on the right is the least hostile, and the most friendly or inviting.
If you don't share that evaluation, you can pretty much skip this next part, but here are two things I have been semi-thinking about:
1) A (possible) paradox: Beauty, in theory, should be an indicator of the Good (that which is conducive to Life), but sometimes we evaluate the not-Good (that which is hostile or dangerous ... such as this icy hill) as beautiful.
2) Perhaps in our evaluation of environments, we include trees/other flora as 'friendly beings,' as part of the 'us' in an 'us-vs-them' / friend-or-foe assessment. (I am trying to think of why I have a 'clear and distinct feeling,' as Descartes would say, that the picture of Rough Ridge is much more inviting and friendly, though it doesn't show any humans ... or maybe it's the tiny path at the bottom that suggests a former presence of people, and a future possibility that people will be there? ...)
Thoughts?
Love,
graham
Posts
I just read this article recently about beauty and how it's perceived btwn men and women differently. It's very interesting. Apparently you're not using your whole brain (according to Cela Conde) when you think of beauty, but I am :-)
ReplyDeleteGo here: http://www.physorg.com/news154633432.html
But to answer your questions:
1. Picture on the right = more beautiful (flowers)
2. Picture on left = more lonely. When Me, Myself, and I think of lonliness, I think of spatial relations and lack of objects/clutter in general. It's kinda like there's a party of plants in the second picture, and that would make anyone happy.
Again, psycho-babble. Enjoy!
-DJ
DJ, awesome thoughts. I saw that article, too, and was totally bummed/jealous that women get to use both sides of their brain to see beauty and men don't!! Unfair!!
ReplyDeleteBtw - those aren't flowers - those are all just fall leaves ) But hmmm, so you think that picture is prettier? Interesting. Maybe I'm the one with a cognitive problem - I am attracted austerity or something. Or maybe you are using both sides of your brain to look at the pictures, and I'm not :)
"Party of plants" ... love it! I totally agree. It seems so happy and vibrant and friendly, like a big happy party of plants ... but there are no humans. Interesting, isn't it?
I agree with DJ that the picture on the bottom is prettier. I have (in the past) given a lot of thought to what is beauty. The old Roman definition is "multitude in unity" and there is multitude of colors and leaves and texture and I think that gives it a pleasing form.
ReplyDeleteThe top picture feels cold to me because the mountain is shaded. I agree that the clouds are interesting and it's sunny behind the mountain, but it gives a sense of loneliness.