Seeing Beauty in things (Jesus, evolution, experience, God, verse)

[sparc872]

A recent post that I made caused me to question something. What is it that makes us see beauty in things? I understand that we see attractive people as beautiful because they are probably the most ideal mate. We might see things around us as beautiful because our culture dictates it. But why do we look at pictures taken of space and see beauty in them? What triggers that emotional response? Is it just the awe inspiringness of it? Would we see them as so beautiful if we did not know they were out there in the universe?

From what is the concept of beauty derived?

[bigvindaloo]

Originally Posted by sparc872

A recent post that I made caused me to question something. What is it that makes us see beauty in things? I understand that we see attractive people as beautiful because they are probably the most ideal mate. We might see things around us as beautiful because our culture dictates it. But why do we look at pictures taken of space and see beauty in them? What triggers that emotional response? Is it just the awe inspiringness of it? Would we see them as so beautiful if we did not know they were out there in the universe?

From what is the concept of beauty derived?

Commenting on the lack of response to your thread so far, I would have thought religion is beautiful. Apparently not, given the lack of response to your thread so far. Perhaps your OP is better suited to a philosophy of art forum.

Best

[sparc872]

Perhaps...I would have thought people would have jumped on this, it seems like a great debate topic between those who believe in the supernatural vs those who believe only in the natural. Apparantly I was wrong.

[BucephalusBB]

Well ok, I'll give a start:
Following evolution-thoughts:
Somewhere along the timeline we grew from being a mindless onecelled creature to a somewhat thinking creature. Somewhere along the line it became important to have preferences. beautifull products as we see them now are also the delicious products or the stable products to build shelter. In the timeline, neccesarry became emotional response..

The alternative is ofcourse that God just gave it too us.

[john313]

i believe there is beauty in everything. this makes me think of the tale of jesus walking along and coming across a rotting dog corpse that smelled terrible. jesus only commented on the beautifully white teeth it had. everyone sees beauty differently. i see great beauty in an ant, others only see something that needs killed because it eats their food or is annoying. considering all the little things that make up the ant and how they work together as a colony is amazing and most people do not even consider them important at all.
everything is beautiful when we look through the correct eyes. even the taste of unripened gooseberries.

peace

[sparc872]

i believe there is beauty in everything. this makes me think of the tale of jesus walking along and coming across a rotting dog corpse that smelled terrible. jesus only commented on the beautifully white teeth it had. everyone sees beauty differently. i see great beauty in an ant, others only see something that needs killed because it eats their food or is annoying. considering all the little things that make up the ant and how they work together as a colony is amazing and most people do not even consider them important at all.
everything is beautiful when we look through the correct eyes. even the taste of unripened gooseberries.

Yes, I understand this. But where does our recognition of something as beautiful stem from? What triggers that emotional response? Where do we obtain these 'eyes' from?

[evearael]

But where does our recognition of something as beautiful stem from? What triggers that emotional response? Where do we obtain these 'eyes' from?

I think it is the truth or the ideal behind what we are seeing that we are actually responding to.

[PureX]

Originally Posted by sparc872

Yes, I understand this. But where does our recognition of something as beautiful stem from? What triggers that emotional response? Where do we obtain these 'eyes' from?

Our brains are capable of experiencing more than one thought at a time. So we can and do automatically compare and contrast our thoughts, which create the experience of quality (some thoughts are "better" than others. Quality usually involves deciding which of several things is more desirable to us, but what dictates our desires is diverse and personal. So it's hard to say what and why one person is attracted to one thing and onother person isn't.

[Quiddity]

It is our innate ability to attach "meaning" to objects. Completely unrelated to patterns as some like to suggest. That is where the realm of subjectivity begins and where people see beyond the emperical plane.

[sparc872]

Alright everybody, thanks for the responses