Beauty

Beauty is a core of human experience, one reason why AI will never be like us. There is, of course, a logical type of beauty which machines might appreciate, akin to the clear cold calculations of mathematics. But such logical and digital beauty is just a tiny fraction of the beauties available to any one of us any moment.

Beauty is truly sensed as a surprising rightness. A shaft of sunlight in a forest, a raindrop falling on still water. Anything at all. We are struck by the unexpected, magically formulate how everything seems to fit together, and are washed by a profound peace.

Any attempt to formulate the rules of beauty _ often done in the art world _ is futile. What we automatically accept as correct is better described as fashion. There is that lacking element of surprise. More fundamentally, fashion requires a severe restriction of our world, to consciously ignore most of it and only contemplate what fits into our preconceptions.

Beauty is the whole thing. The universe widely open. Feeling “out of the box.” And, I hate to admit, not really susceptible to formulation or description. Those who cultivate a sense of wonder and everything all the time are the most immersed in the beauty of existence. And often, unfortunately, those least able to succeed in a technological society.