Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!rutgers!lll-lcc!pyramid!thirdi!sarge From: sarge@thirdi.UUCP (Sarge Gerbode) Newsgroups: sci.philosophy.tech Subject: Science and Aesthetics Message-ID: <86@thirdi.UUCP> Date: Mon, 10-Aug-87 02:35:28 EDT Article-I.D.: thirdi.86 Posted: Mon Aug 10 02:35:28 1987 Date-Received: Tue, 11-Aug-87 00:49:00 EDT References: <120@snark.UUCP> Reply-To: sarge@thirdi.UUCP (Sarge Gerbode) Distribution: world Organization: Institute for Research in Metapsychology Lines: 36 Keywords: beauty truth Summary: Beauty isn't truth but has something to do with it. In article <120@snark.UUCP> eric@snark.UUCP (Eric S. Raymond) writes: >Beauty tends to be a good heuristic for what's *interesting* in >pure mathematics, but it doesn't tell you what's true. In other fields the >connection is even more tenuous. I think what you say in your submission is correct, so far as it goes -- that we tend to see things as beautiful when we understand them (like F = ma). However, I think beauty *is*, in fact, used as a criterion of truth. Given two theories that equally well explain the facts, I think anyone would pick the one that was the most "elegant", i.e. that had the most aesthetic appeal. I wouldn't go so far as to *define* beauty as truth, as Keats did. But I think it *is* an important criterion for choosing between rival theories. I think part of the reason for this is that, as Aristotle says, "pleasure is a sign of the good". Likewise, aesthetics might be regarded as a "sign of the true". We tend to feel good when we discover truth. From past experience, we have learned that discovery of truth (as in your dx/dt example) is accompanied by an aesthetic sensation. So now, when we have an aesthetic sensation, we tend to regard that as a sign of being on the right track. So I don't think it's a "typical-for-philosophically-naive=westerners misprojection. It could be regarded as "true by induction". At least I get a good aesthetic feeling about it. But then, there's no accounting for tastes. Or is there? :-) -- "Absolute knowledge means never having to change your mind." Sarge Gerbode Institute for Research in Metapsychology 950 Guinda St. Palo Alto, CA 94301 UUCP: pyramid!thirdi!sarge