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Off-topic, but I want to ask because you seem like someone who might have heard a theory: Why do we appreciate beauty? As in natural beauty. A sunset, a rollin

by mod 5y ago

Off-topic, but I want to ask because you seem like someone who might have heard a theory: Why do we appreciate beauty? As in natural beauty. A sunset, a rolling field, the stars, a colorful flower, etc.

neilv 5y ago
I'm sorry I don't recall at the moment (4am break from work :) what Minsky said about that. His last book was: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emotion_Machine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emotion_Machine (Incidentally, it's a huge loss that Minsky is no longer with us, but I'm glad I got a chance to at least take his class before he passed. Each session, he'd just talk about what he had been working on earlier that day, for The Emotion Machine. One of his PhD students, Push Singh (a great person, who tragically passed way too soon, after an injury), once told me a significant part of his studies was simply talking with Minsky, and Push thought that was pretty great. He also once mentioned that Minsky wanted 10-year grad students, when the norm in the lab was maybe 4-5. I suppose we can still be inspired by some of Minsky's scholarly practices and endless curiosity, as we can find and make the time.) Also, I'm sure others on HN know much more of the science and philosophy of natural beauty than the tidbits I do, and this seems like it could be a good "Ask HN". Maybe not just look at natural beauty, but also human beauty, and music? (An evolutionary basis for a sense of beauty of the human face and form seems too obvious. But maybe there are related simple evolutionary explanations for some of natural beauty, like attraction to advantageous settings and resources? Or maybe it's less obvious, like music?)
gradschool 5y ago
An unsentimental and slightly creepy theory if you like that kind of thing is that both humor and aesthetic sensibilities evolved as a group defense against psychopathy. Some species including ours gain an advantage among competing species through co-operation among themselves. A species using this strategy is vulnerable to freeloaders within its ranks who optimize their own survival at the expense of the group. The theory goes that an empathy deficit in individuals correlates with other deficits (e.g., in a sense of humor) that might be harder for the individual to hide and therefore easier for the group to detect. By ostracizing the psychopath on that basis, the group increases its overall fitness.

by mod 5y ago

neilv 5y ago

I'm sorry I don't recall at the moment (4am break from work :) what Minsky said about that. His last book was: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emotion_Machine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emotion_Machine (Incidentally, it's a huge loss that Minsky is no longer with us, but I'm glad I got a chance to at least take his class before he passed. Each session, he'd just talk about what he had been working on earlier that day, for The Emotion Machine. One of his PhD students, Push Singh (a great person, who tragically passed way too soon, after an injury), once told me a significant part of his studies was simply talking with Minsky, and Push thought that was pretty great. He also once mentioned that Minsky wanted 10-year grad students, when the norm in the lab was maybe 4-5. I suppose we can still be inspired by some of Minsky's scholarly practices and endless curiosity, as we can find and make the time.) Also, I'm sure others on HN know much more of the science and philosophy of natural beauty than the tidbits I do, and this seems like it could be a good "Ask HN". Maybe not just look at natural beauty, but also human beauty, and music? (An evolutionary basis for a sense of beauty of the human face and form seems too obvious. But maybe there are related simple evolutionary explanations for some of natural beauty, like attraction to advantageous settings and resources? Or maybe it's less obvious, like music?)

gradschool 5y ago

An unsentimental and slightly creepy theory if you like that kind of thing is that both humor and aesthetic sensibilities evolved as a group defense against psychopathy. Some species including ours gain an advantage among competing species through co-operation among themselves. A species using this strategy is vulnerable to freeloaders within its ranks who optimize their own survival at the expense of the group. The theory goes that an empathy deficit in individuals correlates with other deficits (e.g., in a sense of humor) that might be harder for the individual to hide and therefore easier for the group to detect. By ostracizing the psychopath on that basis, the group increases its overall fitness.