TED Conversations

Isaac Wells

This conversation is closed. Start a new conversation
or join one »

What knowledge changes your perception of whether or not something is beautiful?

In Richard Seymour's video, 'How beauty feels', he discusses the idea of beauty. One of the particular aspects he talks about is how generally our view of something's beauty is based not on the intrinsic appearance of something, but on extrinsic interpretations or processing of it. One example he gives is a drawing that looks to be made by a small child. He asks whether or not the audience finds it beautiful. Then he proceeds to inform us that the drawing was by a little girl, just prior to her death by cancer. This drastically alters are perceptions, because it is not simply a drawing, but one layered with much more emotional meaning. My question here is what knowledge, or what kinds of knowledge, change our emotional perceptions, and thus our view of whether or not something is beautiful?

Added to this could also be questions of what is beauty (I would, at this moment, say a particular kind of emotional response to or interpretation or a thing), and what different kinds of beauty there are (because I might find the above mentioned drawing beautiful in a poignant sense, or I might find a picture of an explosion awesome, or perhaps a statue aesthetically pleasing). These questions become relevant because I would guess that different kinds of knowledge about an object or thing, evoke different kinds of beauty.

Lastly, how universal are these responses? Does everyone find the little girl's drawing beautiful after hearing that she died right afterwards? If they do, is it all in a poignant sense? I would guess that there is some universality, but also some that isn't, so what distinguishes between whether or not it would be a universal interpretation?

Related Talks:
+6
Share:
progress indicator
  • thumb

    brian herring

    • 0
    Nov 12 2011: when I see a reflection of myself in something the symmetry then becomes beautiful

  • Julian V

    • 0
    Nov 11 2011: Beauty, like everything else that evokes emotion in an individual, is dependent on the meaning which one attaches to something. Without meaning, beauty cannot exist.
    Personally, I believe that to call something beautiful doesn't tell you anything inherent about the artwork but, rather, tells you something about the individual to whom the artwork is beautiful.
    Given that beauty is dependent on meaning, and meaning exists in both similar and variable ways to different people, there are many different things that could make something beautiful to one person and not to another.
    However, I believe that generally, people attach meaning to some very elemental aspects of life. These include life itself, effort/perseverance/time, skill/mastery, novelty/originality, happiness/sadness etc. (the emotion of others and themselves), and I'm sure there are many more that I can't think of at this time.
  • thumb

    Capt. T. C. Randall

    • 0
    Nov 11 2011: Beauty is Truth and Truth Works! All else is subjective.
  • thumb

    Don Wesley 50+

    • 0
    Nov 11 2011: Hi Isaac,

    Turn the page, withdraw your hand, blink, move the mouse, sneeze,
    Walk away, close the lid and the
    Glimpses of beauty have passed on!

    We seek beauty but cannot hoard it!
    We can accept or ignore it!
    We can create it
    And destroy it!
    It seems spiritually present in our view!

    I hand you my love

    Don

  • Mandip Kaur Sandher

    • 0
    Nov 11 2011: Beauty in everday signs and symbols. Finally realizing that the true beauty of life and creativity has been mysteriously "working through us" and leaving subtle cryptic clues along the way of a multilingual puzzle to be discovered by humanity i.e. ... AMER ICA ... Immortal ONE or Adi Das - Primordial Servant, Terra Nova - Your Star in phonetics Punjabi mother tongue! Rock on Creator of the Universe.
  • thumb

    Jun Wangxin

    • 0
    Nov 10 2011: I'd say the intention and impact.
  • thumb

    Craig Patterson 10+

    • +1
    Nov 6 2011: Whether it is life affirming, or not?

    You can't hug your child with nuclear arms.
  • thumb

    Thomas Jones 100+

    • 0
    Nov 6 2011: Things we like are beautiful. (That is essentially the definition of beauty - if we like it, it is beautiful; if we do not, it is not.)

    We are "programmed" to experience certain things as more beautiful than others: balance, symmetry, certain colours, smells and so on.

    One thing that changes our perception of beauty is comparison. When we see something "very beautiful" we are more likely to see something that is merely beautiful as less beautiful than we would otherwise. It works the other way too. If we see something that is not beautiful we will judge the next beautiful thing we see as more beautiful than we would if we had not seen the less beautiful thing.

    Other "associations" will also have an effect: have we seen something like it before; under positive or negative circumstances; do others we know "like" it? And so on.

    Platform shoes looked beautiful for a time - not because they are - but because "beautiful" people wore them.

    The art we grow up surrounded by (music, painting, literature, cinema, dance, etc.) is more likely to be seen as beautiful than art we have never experienced before.
  • thumb

    Jennifer Brocato

    • +2
    Nov 6 2011: Hi Isaac,
    Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder.
    To me, Beauty is seen through actions, it allows the soul to be seen. Beauty is kindness, love and pure goodness, postive intent.
    Simple as that.
    :) ~ Jeni
    • thumb

      Juliette Zahn 50+

      • 0
      Nov 11 2011: Truth and Intention.

      Well said Jennifer !!
      "Beauty is seen through actions, it allows the soul to be seen. Beauty is kindness, love and pure goodness, postive intent. "
  • thumb

    Houry Artinian

    • 0
    Nov 4 2011: The true universal concepts of beauty are perhaps found only in nature. A waterfall, the flight of a bird, the setting of the sun-I would venture to think everyone, no matter what their environment would see in these inherent beauty.

    All man-made things of beauty need some frame of reference to be perceived as beautiful. A Pollock or Rothko or even a da Vinci become beautiful because of the knowledge we have about the artist or their circumstance, which may be of a personal nature or a wider sphere of knowledge such as cultural, economic or religious values.

    Nature and our interpretation of it is the secret to the perception of beauty Our interpretation is always flawed because we can never get it just right, we can never achieve that balance, so the ability to percieve beauty universally will always be flawed much the same way - depending on knowledge to evoke the senses.
  • thumb

    emm dubahew

    • 0
    Nov 4 2011: At the root of all emotions, there are only two: love and fear. Those things that evoke positive emotions are by way of love and in it, we find beauty.
  • thumb

    Don Wesley 50+

    • 0
    Nov 3 2011: If your awareness is focused away from yourself and your empathy is high, Then your attention will be grabbed by something that jumps out at you.You will be feeling different, ranging from horror to beauty, with a pause of wonderment! Attach a creator to what you see and emphasize with him or her.How long will you wonder?I think this might be a clue to experiencing beauty and more beauty and more!DjW.
  • thumb

    David Chitty

    • 0
    Nov 3 2011: essentially whether it is infected or not.

    to elaborate, its how much you look into something... If you view something romantically, its hard not to see the beauty of its light, dark or indifferent natures. looking at something from the classical perspective you learn to truly appreciate it and also learn of the true horror it may be concealing.
  • thumb

    Aneesah Bakker

    • 0
    Oct 30 2011: Our perception of beauty can be internally referenced or externally referenced. If we have a stronger inclination to reference our point of view by information that is mainly coming from outside ourselves, then our perception is dependent on that and shaped by any such information.

    When perception is primarily internally referenced, then it is unconditional... there are no strings attached and one will tend to perceive beauty more easily.

    Our natural, unsocialized, unconditioned self, tends to look with a child-like sense of wonder and appreciation.
  • thumb

    ASHOK JEYAPAUL

    • 0
    Oct 30 2011: Beauty is relative. Imperfection can be beautiful. Like you said human emotions, past experiences, the social environment and nurture mould what we perceive as beauty.

  • Karen Best

    • 0
    Oct 28 2011: I think in simple terms "beauty is in the feelings of the beholder."
    A simple, child like picture can become beautiful by poignant context, whether that context be provided by outside knowledge (the girls drawing of the flower from the video) or from an individual's personal history. If that picture reminds them of something special or is reminiscent of something evocative in one's past it promotes feelings and those feelings can help one perceive "beauty."
    On the flip side of course, beautiful bone structure and/or form in a human being can be wholly negated by a personality or character that evokes negative feelings.
  • thumb

    Sherrie von Sternberg

    • 0
    Oct 27 2011: Isaac;
    I can begin simply by saying that if I find a woman beautiful in the contemporary sense but then begin to realize that her personality is not kind and she is the type of person who will treat others poorly, she becomes ugly very quickly in my eyes. If a snake is colorful and has beautiful markings but is poisonous I am running too fast to care if the pattern is aesthetically pleasing. the outside could be classically beautiful but if the inside is deadly or hurtful, the beauty begins to lessen for me. Oddly, I still see the beauty and can admire it for what it is, cold and lifeless. My emotions do not change the fact that it may or may not fit the description of beautiful. The child's drawing was not beautiful, it was naive. There is a beauty in the naive and the emotional attachment that we have to the last expression of hope and life make that expression, no matter how small and naive, beautiful. The circumstances surrounding the work made the work beautiful.
    If I am walking on a path in the autumn and it has just rained and there is a scent in the air of crushed and fallen leaves and the trees are covered in brightly colored,slightly wet clusters of leaves and the sky has cleared to reveal a blue so intense that I have to shade my eyes to see..my heart will fill with joy and there could be nothing more beautiful. Even the drops of rain falling on my face and all over my clothes and the mud clinging to my shoes are all beautiful. I am reacting to the turn of the seasons, to the scents in the air, to the world that is larger, the seasons that are larger, a spiritual experience with nature and that is what makes it beautiful for me.
    I see beauty everywhere because I choose to seek it out. Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder but the beholder can chose to see it everywhere, in everything.

  • Ed Schulte 50+

    • 0
    Oct 26 2011: Beauty

    is that which manifests "Joy"

  • Patricia Larsen

    • 0
    Oct 25 2011: Beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder, what seems beautiful to you may not be to me. There is external influence to define what is beautiful or what not, but at the end we, individually, will either find something the beauty around us or not.
    • thumb

      Gerald O'brian 50+

      • 0
      Nov 3 2011: you don't believe in universal beauty?

      • Patricia Larsen

        • 0
        Nov 3 2011: It is not whether I believe or not in universal beauty, I could just say that I do, but it will still be MY point of view. I just believe that our perception of beauty is individual, it is based on the knowledge we have of what we qualify as beautiful; for example one may totally dislike snow, because of the associated cold temperature, or because it aggravates their health issues, so they don't necessarily find it beautiful anymore; I may find it absolutely beautiful simply because it looks clean when it falls or because I know that I will be hearing cheers from children.
        So, again, I think that beauty is perceived based on one's knowledge of the subject matter, no matter what it is, it can be anything, art, books, reading, moments in time, food, religion, technology, etc... it is all about individual perception, experience and knowledge.

  • David Knight

    • 0
    Oct 25 2011: There are reasons behind some beauty, and some beauty there is no reason for. Any knowledge would change the view of beauty of an object; an abundant of knowledge that strikes you are unimportant or boring would mean you wouldn't see the beauty. The limit of knowledge about the object might attract you to the object more, because of the mystery it provides, which lets imagination have free reign. It's down to personal history; how the things you perceive affect you, what emotions you draw from what you see and don't see, and the entirety of your memories that sum up who you are.
  • thumb

    Jessica Figueroa

    • +1
    Oct 25 2011: Social learning is very influencial about what is beautiful. But We have our own perception of things, so at the end the things that society try to influence on us has no effect. Our feelings, instincs, mind, and experience take the ultimate decision of whether or not something is beautiful, it doesnt matter if someone else think you are wrong about what true beauty is, if is real to you, i think thats enough. It would be strange if every human agree to one idea about beauty.
  • thumb

    Jaime Lubin 10+

    • 0
    Oct 23 2011: The real knowledge is for transformation, not to change anything. Changes are superficial, transformations are from interior.
    Trascendental knowledge.
    Knowledge to be, not to stay.

    Beauty is for being.
  • thumb

    heather Zhao

    • 0
    TED Translator
    Oct 20 2011: I think the reason is that beauty is kind of value system to judge or evaluate things around you. People have various standards to evaluate beauty, and generally speaking the standards are from subjective mood. I do agree with that there are indeed some universal standards to judge beauty, while as to specific things, such as the painting in the speech from the girl suffering cancer, people's subjective emotions actually are in the dominant positions.
    That's why the recognition of beauty will be changed by the extrinsic interpretation. People will change their minds, their emotions, and their reflections toward certain events when the circumstance of those events are changed. So that's why children find beauty is colorful paintings, boys in 20s find beauty is those tall, slim and sexy ladies, and environmentalist may find beauty is the purity of nature. They have different subjective emotions!
    As to what kind of knowledge changes the perception of beauty. I think every possible kind of knowledge which may change people's subjective value system will achieve that. If I learn architecture, I may perceive the beauty of symmetry; If I learn legal knowledge, I may perceive the beauty of strict logic in words; If I learn photography, I may perceive the beauty in the contrast of light and shadow.
    All in all, if one kind of knowledge can change our subjective minds or emotions toward the world, it does change the perception of beauty.
  • thumb

    Nick Belt

    • +1
    Oct 20 2011: I believe we determine value by rarity...The little girl's drawing becomes her last act.
    Which becomes finite and the loss of any young girl is a very fragile thing.

    But, if you were to show a group of drawings that she had drawn to the audience
    I doubt any one drawing would have more value than the group of drawings.

    For beauty to exists something must in turn take its place. Because, nothing is beautiful in itself it just is.....
  • thumb

    Scott Armstrong 50+

    • 0
    Oct 20 2011: It's in the eye of the beholder. That has not changed.
  • thumb

    Helen Hupe 30+

    • +1
    Oct 17 2011: Beauty is without......................There is beauty in everything...............You either see it or you don't
  • thumb

    vinay kallat

    • 0
    Oct 17 2011: According to me Beauty is purely internal to a person and nothing to do with outside information.For what example you have givenHe gives a drawing that looks to be made by a small child. He asks whether or not the audience finds it beautiful.If the answer at that point is not then it is not at any point after that for you.whatever information given does not alter whether the drawing is beautiful or not beautifu to you.It just alters your preception as you said and answer that comes from emotional interpretation of it.Two different thinks for me.If you are capable of forgetting that information and answer it purely as a form of art ,it would make you a good judge of art.As it is same for music,thats why I liked the show "The Voice",which purely rated singers on their voice rather than how they looked ,are they a begger or handicaped they were choosen on the basis of their voice.Beauty is the same for me, soemthin that comes from deep inside and any information cannot alter that.We can act blind or say are emotionally forced to be blind to overlook the true beauty.

  • Evaristo Rivera

    • 0
    Oct 16 2011: two nights ago (it wasn't until today that i noted the ted comment forum doesn't allow links to be posted,it is now on my profile)i had written a slightly longer than allowed response to this on my tumblr page which can be found on my profile as i state in my response (especially toward adriaan braam as i see he is a leader in this discussion) i welcome any new knowledge no matter how it is acquired.
Load more comments…