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The disagreement between you and the parent commenter illustrates something that I think is fascinating about NIMBYism with respect to windmills. NIMBYism depen

The disagreement between you and the parent commenter illustrates something that I think is fascinating about NIMBYism with respect to windmills. NIMBYism depends on the idea that the aesthetic judgments of windmills are objective, shared across people. Windmills really do look bad, objectively. Normally talking about aesthetic experiences as if they are universal is frowned upon, because the judgment of beauty is taken by many people to have an intrinsic quality of subjectivity to it. But that appears not to be a problem in the community of people that oppose wind turbines.

lqdc13 10y ago
There is some subjectivity to beauty, but there is also some objectivity. For example, things that incorporate golden ratio tend too look good. If you look at parent's comment: "They are. Like living sculptures. There's just something extremely dignified about them. Like finally growing up after the childishness of strip-mining. The adults are here. " You can see that the judgement of beauty here is tainted by social implications, energy concerns, and possibly political environment. This is only my reading of it though so maybe the parent meant something else. I personally find them attractive but I haven't spent much time around them at all.
vacri 10y ago
> Windmills really do look bad, objectively. And yet if you were to make the same argument about a coal or even nuclear plant, you'd be considered a loon. Coal plants don't just look awful, they also stink up the surrounding areas. And while I've heard plenty of people say they like the look of windmills (I'm one myself), I've never heard anyone say they like the smell of coal plants.
- Broken_Hippo 10y ago
  Most folks don't know what a coal plant looks like. For example, I can put a few wind turbines or the classic towers from a nuclear plant into artwork and folks get the reference. I paint in a coal plant, and folks just think factory. Nuclear plants, the Simpson-esque version I picture, are beautiful in their own right, btw, as are nearly all factories. It just depends on framing.
- ghaff 10y ago
  >Coal plants don't just look awful, And yet a number of old coal plants are being preserved and repurposed given that industrial chic is rather in vogue these days. See the Tate Modern for example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tate_Modern https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tate_Modern (These are admittedly not working plants but still.)

lqdc13 10y ago

There is some subjectivity to beauty, but there is also some objectivity. For example, things that incorporate golden ratio tend too look good. If you look at parent's comment: "They are. Like living sculptures. There's just something extremely dignified about them. Like finally growing up after the childishness of strip-mining. The adults are here. " You can see that the judgement of beauty here is tainted by social implications, energy concerns, and possibly political environment. This is only my reading of it though so maybe the parent meant something else. I personally find them attractive but I haven't spent much time around them at all.

vacri 10y ago

> Windmills really do look bad, objectively. And yet if you were to make the same argument about a coal or even nuclear plant, you'd be considered a loon. Coal plants don't just look awful, they also stink up the surrounding areas. And while I've heard plenty of people say they like the look of windmills (I'm one myself), I've never heard anyone say they like the smell of coal plants.

Broken_Hippo 10y ago
Most folks don't know what a coal plant looks like. For example, I can put a few wind turbines or the classic towers from a nuclear plant into artwork and folks get the reference. I paint in a coal plant, and folks just think factory. Nuclear plants, the Simpson-esque version I picture, are beautiful in their own right, btw, as are nearly all factories. It just depends on framing.
ghaff 10y ago
>Coal plants don't just look awful, And yet a number of old coal plants are being preserved and repurposed given that industrial chic is rather in vogue these days. See the Tate Modern for example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tate_Modern https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tate_Modern (These are admittedly not working plants but still.)