tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2293319073550947163.post2129105949953948863..comments2024-03-16T17:43:25.784-04:00Comments on DanielMaidman: Thoughts on Beauty V: Beauty in ArtDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15597234920324948705noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2293319073550947163.post-63040153150247373182011-03-03T20:14:25.894-05:002011-03-03T20:14:25.894-05:00He is, and not only perspicacious, but also often ...He is, and not only perspicacious, but also often grandiloquent.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15597234920324948705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2293319073550947163.post-11351862469208803802011-03-03T13:36:15.868-05:002011-03-03T13:36:15.868-05:00This RC Speck seems quite the perspicacious chap i...This RC Speck seems quite the perspicacious chap indeed.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05849861360366054701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2293319073550947163.post-47341451015361394672011-02-27T10:28:34.185-05:002011-02-27T10:28:34.185-05:00Hmm. I guess I could live with that. I'm glad ...Hmm. I guess I could live with that. I'm glad it was worthwhile for you, anyway. I know I certainly clarified a few things for myself, probably mostly how little clarity I have about something I thought was fairly straightforward...Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15597234920324948705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2293319073550947163.post-61189806172826832832011-02-27T10:09:56.572-05:002011-02-27T10:09:56.572-05:00It's been a worthwhile muddle, Daniel, and I m...It's been a worthwhile muddle, Daniel, and I much prefer food for thought to "This is the answer" when it comes to philosophical topics.Fredhttp://fredhatt.com/blognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2293319073550947163.post-79667442628596854142011-02-27T09:55:34.406-05:002011-02-27T09:55:34.406-05:00Both of you have turned up a nagging problem with ...Both of you have turned up a nagging problem with this already overlong series of posts: virtually every applicable term is a fundamental term that needs rigorous defining of its own, which we don't have (or at least which I haven't bothered with). Ideally, the argument would be written in C++, I suppose, English being a little soft for the purpose. Anyhow, defining perfect and imperfect in this context is not only difficult, but I've been using it inconsistently. I'm rather dismayed with the entire series of posts - the topic turned out to be much more difficult to nail down than I had thought at the beginning, and really, I like to write "here it is - this is the answer" rather than "here's some food for thought." But that's all I got in the end...<br /><br />By the way, there's a passage in Neal Stephenson's "Baroque Cycle," I think volume I, which both of you would enjoy. If I'm remembering correctly, it's Hooke making some of the first microscopic observations, and pondering in wonder that the more you magnify human things that look perfectly shaped, like pins, the more irregular and crappy they look, and the more you magnify natural things that look like a mess, like the leg of a beetle, the more they reveal flawless forms.<br /><br />So ha!<br /><br />Anyhow, thanks for sticking with me through this muddle.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15597234920324948705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2293319073550947163.post-48274013484191922022011-02-27T00:15:30.447-05:002011-02-27T00:15:30.447-05:00Well, there you go. Well played!Well, there you go. Well played!Fredhttp://fredhatt.com/blognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2293319073550947163.post-10115159392885298052011-02-26T19:38:24.220-05:002011-02-26T19:38:24.220-05:00I'm sorry, Fred, for totally plagiarizing you,...I'm sorry, Fred, for totally plagiarizing you, but I would offer, also, this:<br /><br />Imperfection is a shallow veneer. Look into anything in depth and you will find its perfection. Even the irrational numbers and Godelian uncertainty principles of mathematics will lead you to magnificent symmetries.<br /><br />Ain't life cool?synamorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03736889745671893040noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2293319073550947163.post-5466730515534419912011-02-25T23:53:58.185-05:002011-02-25T23:53:58.185-05:00I love this line: "Where art nouveau has per...I love this line: "Where art nouveau has perfected nature to match artfulness, Rembrandt has made art imperfect to match nature." <br /><br />Perfection is a shallow veneer. Look into anything in depth and you will find its imperfection. Even the magnificent symmetries of mathematics will lead you to irrational numbers and Gödelian uncertainty principles.<br /><br />That does have something to do with "Speck's Koan" (which I've heard before but also don't know where it originates). The world is paradoxical in its deepest nature.Fredhttp://fredhatt.com/blognoreply@blogger.com