I found our discussion on the topic of beauty to be interesting. I thought about what beauty means and there was one thing that Pollen said in the book that was not brought up in class. It is found on page 79 at the bottom: “Tulips, in other words, are mortal.” I don’t know if it was meant this way but it seems that he is saying is that part of what we find beauty in is mortality. The most beautiful things only last for a limited period of time. A person, not matter how beautiful, will eventually die; sunsets only last for a moment; greatest artwork will eventually decay with time; and the list goes on. It may also be an indication that maybe we find things beautiful because we as humans are mortal. We only have a shot time on earth and we see each day as something beautiful. That is part of the emotional pull that attracts us to objects and gives us our remembered experiences. If we were immortal then we would know that we could experience anything at anytime without end. Thus, making the importance and beauty of things decrease.
Over all, I don’t think that we can put a label or set of rules on beauty. It is almost impossible because everyone has different experiences, hopes, dreams, and values. The only thing that we can say is a universal theme to beauty is that it is often held to our own desires and beauty (as well as ourselves) will not last forever.
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This is a good find! Perhaps Pollan is also implying that humanity’s ideals of beauty are also mortal. As we discussed in class, when time passes, society’s views of beauty change. For example, medieval European cultures favored larger women because this implied that they were healthy enough for childbearing (in addition to being in a wealthy enough family to support this lifestyle). Pagan cultures viewed forests and mountains as beautiful, and only recently has this mindset begun to return to modern cultures. This is just an idea, but it seems to fit in with your views nicely.
ReplyDeleteThat was a really interesting thought, Meagan. The "beautiful" things we discussed in class and you listed in your post (a sunset, a flower, a person) are all temporary. Perhaps we are drawn to things that resemble our own mortality. I liked what you said about remembering our past experiences and memories and relating them to other things we term "beautiful." Maybe that's why elderly people find so much joy in spending time with the younger crowd... they are remembering what their own experiences were, and they find youth and the passage of time, and seeing life as a whole, to be beautiful.
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ReplyDeleteThese are really compelling thoughts and ideas. In class the other day I was thinking about what exactly makes people, particularly women "beautiful" in today's society as compared to medieval European cultures as Eric suggested. The difference would also support that beauty is temporary, as Meagan and Morgan pointed out. As for beauty vs. prettiness, I too think it has to do with a level of intensity not a separate matter. I am still set on beauty being in the eye of the beholder and certain memories, situations, people, sights, smells and sounds evoking beauty for each individual.
ReplyDeleteI was just looking over some of the past blogs and didn't realize there were that many comments on this subject. I am really perplexed on the issue of prettiness vs beauty. I honesty can't really draw a line between the two. I know Mari had mentioned this issue. If someone could define prettiness to me in a little better detail I would really like to hear it.
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