I am not a philosopher, I should not stick my neck out, but sticking my neck out has been my karma all my life. Today is not the day to stop that, so here are some thoughts on beauty to ponder, if you like.
It is not uncommon; you show a photograph to your friends, and their typical response is “It is beautiful.” You feel flattered, your friend is happy to have made you feel good, and both of you move on without giving any thought to what exactly is “beautiful.”
What is Beauty?
We take it to refer to something positive, something good, something flattering, but do we really know what it means? The photograph may be of a sunset, a waterfall, a baby, a woman, a landscape, etc., etc. Some take it to mean “pleasing to look at” but why do we not simply say “pleasing” or “pleasant?” There is something else implied in beautiful that is not apparent in pleasant. The latter sounds flatter, not flattering; whereas the former is taken as a big compliment.
The subject of beauty has kept philosophers thinking for ages, there are many works written and spoken on the matter of beauty. One aspect they refer to is aesthetics, the philosophy of art, the study of beauty and taste. Others refer to harmony, proportion, and symmetry, generally in the context of nature and the universe. The word is also used in sciences, physics, and mathematics to refer to the simplicity and elegance of an equation or a law that may explain important phenomena. Think about E = mc2, in such a simple equation explaining profound consequences. Beautiful! Talk about elusive!
Beauty Has Context
Beauty also has cultural and temporal contexts. What was considered beautiful decades or a century ago may not hold the same status today, or vice versa. What we consider beautiful in Western culture may not be so in Eastern cultures or the other way around. Is it in the eye of the beholder, or where the beholder is, or when the beholder passed a judgment?
Can you imagine The Count of So And So in sloppy pants and sagging T-shirts, wearing Converse sneakers in the 17th century? In one experiment, a journalist, Esther Honig, sent a simple photograph of herself to all parts of the world with a simple request: “Make me beautiful.” You can see the concept of a beautiful female expressed in different parts of the world in the article “What Beauty Looks Like, From Argentina to Vietnam.“
Beauty Is A Deep Well
I have not even scratched the surface of the idea which can be skin-deep, or in the eye of the beholder. There is an even stronger word than beautiful: sublime. We will not go there in this post. But, let us return to the original beautiful photograph. When your friend calls it beautiful, does the word refer to what is depicted, like a flower, sunset, etc.? Or are they commenting on what it is about, like the fleeting nature of beauty in flowers, beauty in unexpected places? Or is it the photograph as an object being beautiful?
In any case, the comment, the word remains as elusive as ever. If you care to learn more about how your friend feels about your work, ask what s/he means by beautiful; and order another coffee or drink as the discussion will be a long one. Let me kick-start it by offering a few quotations on beauty.
- “The best part of beauty is that which no picture can express.” — Francis Bacon
- “Beauty and folly are old companions.” — Benjamin Franklin
- “There is no exquisite beauty without some strangeness in the proportion.” — Edgar Allan Poe
- “Mathematics expresses values that reflect the cosmos, including orderliness, balance, harmony, logic, and abstract beauty.” — Deepak Chopra
- “Real mathematics must be justified as art if it can be justified at all.” — G. H. Hardy
(Opening image, a collage I’ve made of Esther Honig’s edited images, and equations from a Google search for “beautiful equations.”)
Haluk Atamal
A friend of mine had once given me three equations, sitting in deep linear algebra. They apparently simply expressed the Ohm laws, and was described on the whole as, “let there be light”. I was amazed by the beauty of the equations rather than their mathematical meaning. Your very fine article reminded me of those equations. (N.B. It might be an interesting step for you to open the way to share images here as well as text. Then I could have shown those equations here).
What Poe said is so true! One of the reasons, I guess, why nobody ever listens to midi synthesized Bach anymore. When everything is perfect, there is no art (or beauty if you like). The beauty of Bach music lies in the subtle “mistakes” the interpreter makes. Same for a computer drawn picture with perfect mathematical shapes (at least most of the time).
Thanks for your lovely article, Cemal.
A. Cemal Ekin
I’m glad you enjoyed the post Haluk. Empty use of meaningless words are often taken to mean something, beauty is one of them. I wrote a couple of more posts on language and meaning, this one continues on one specific path where the others left off.
You can post an image somewhere and add its link here, or add the image on one of the social media announcements of this post like facebook or Google+. There is no easy way to add them to the comments.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts,
Cemal
TUBA G
Cemal Hocam thank you for sticking your neck out :). Eloquently stated, I enjoyed reading it.
Tuba
A. Cemal Ekin
Thank you Tuba, glad you enjoyed the post. This word is often used without really realizing what is being said.
Take care,
Cemal
Binnaz Melin
Yazıyı ilgiyle ve ölçüp biçerek okudum; bir kez daha da okuyacağım; okutacağım. Şimdilik bu konuya değindiğin için teşekkür etmekle yetiniyorum Sağlıcakla kal ve aykırı, çok yönlü düşünmeni sürdür!
A. Cemal Ekin
Bu tur aykiri ve cok yonlu dusunme benim icin “karma,” durdurmam da olasi degil galiba.
Cemal
Suleyman
The fact that beautiful minds dare to stick their necks out makes our lives beautiful, anywhere and anytime, in my view :)
Suleyman
A. Cemal Ekin
Suleyman, thank you for your compliment but we need to sit down and talk about what you mean by “beautiful mind” ;-)
Cemal
Suleyman Gokoglu
Over a bottle of single malt scotch ;-)
Suleyman
Tuba G
Time to visit Cleveland, scotch is ready.
A. Cemal Ekin
Thank you both! We will make it happen sometime.
Cemal
James Turner
A stunning article, elegantly written.
A. Cemal Ekin
Thank you Jim,
Cemal