What would you do if everything in life was beautiful?
To clarify: If something was so exquisite and perfect, would you ever want it to end? I think I would, because if it never ended then I would never have anything to look forward to.
Would you accept the mortality of our situation? If you found everything in life to be painfully beautiful, what would you do?
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
Well, beauty should be relative. So even if everything was beautiful, unless everything was equally beautiful*, there shouldn't be a problem, everyone's standards would merely just bump up.
* In the case that everything was equally beautiful, there shouldn't be much difference from if everything was equally ugly (from our POV).
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
This is why its hard for me to pick up new books to read, if they are good I don't want them to end, and when they end I die a little inside.
Posted by RivalOfTheRose (Member # 11535) on :
I think beauty lies in between the perfections and imperfections of all facets of life.... it all depends on what your looking for.
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
If everything in life was perfect and beautiful, how would I know? What would I have to compare it to?
Posted by MightyCow (Member # 9253) on :
I'm not sure I buy the idea that we can't appreciate something without its opposite to compare it to.
If someone had only heard beautiful music their entire life, would they be unable to enjoy it?
Do you occassinally eat garbage, to better appreciate fine food?
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:If someone had only heard beautiful music their entire life, would they be unable to enjoy it?
Enjoying != appreciating.
quote:Do you occassinally eat garbage, to better appreciate fine food?
I occasionally do things like fasting or eating food cooked over a campfire. They do help me appreciate the good stuff when I return to it.
Posted by sinflower (Member # 12228) on :
quote:Enjoying != appreciating.
I don't know. I think enjoyment is definitely enhanced by appreciation of the rarity/value of what you're enjoying. Being conscious of something tends to increase its effect on me.
Posted by sinflower (Member # 12228) on :
quote:If everything in life was perfect and beautiful, how would I know? What would I have to compare it to?
Yes, this. We perceive everything in life as relative to everything else in our lives. That may explain why rich people, who have more material goods, aren't happier. People who are successful aren't necessarily happier (there was a Ted video on this, let me see if I can find it). We build or own scales of happiness and satisfaction, with "worst things in my life" at one end and "best things in my life" on the other end. But everyone's scales are different.
Privileged people who don't appreciate it, or get worked up over matters that we consider "insigificant," get a lot of flak. But if we consider *why* it is that they react differently on an emotional level to the *same things*, it makes a lot of sense. "Getting a full dinner to eat" is a lot lower on my scale than it is on the scale of a poor farmer in India. And so I do enjoy it less. I have less emotional reaction to it. It is the *same thing,* but my enjoyment is affected by my appreciation of it, and my appreciation of it is defined by how rare it is--or as it happens, it isn't--in my life.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:Originally posted by sinflower:
quote:Enjoying != appreciating.
I don't know. I think enjoyment is definitely enhanced by appreciation of the rarity/value of what you're enjoying. Being conscious of something tends to increase its effect on me.
Exactly -- it increases your enjoyment. But without that, you can still derive enjoyment from it. They're related, but they're not the same thing.
Posted by Launchywiggin (Member # 9116) on :
Everything in life IS beautiful.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
I'll have whatever he's having.
Posted by MightyCow (Member # 9253) on :
If you experience bad things, do you really appreciate the good things more, or do you just lower he bar, so the things you appreciate seem more good.
In other words, if you turn the music up to 11, is it really any louder?
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:If you experience bad things, do you really appreciate the good things more, or do you just lower he bar, so the things you appreciate seem more good.
Is there any meaningful distinction between the two?
Posted by T:man (Member # 11614) on :
What are you talking about?
Everything is beautiful.
Posted by Raymond Arnold (Member # 11712) on :
quote:If you experience bad things, do you really appreciate the good things more, or do you just lower he bar, so the things you appreciate seem more good.
Yes.
Posted by MightyCow (Member # 9253) on :
Let me put it this way: does anyone seek out really bad situations in an attempt to better enjoy the good ones? I don't know anyone who drinks spoiled milk so fresh milk tastes better, or listens to a Limp Bizcut album so they can really get the most out of Beethoven.
If that's the case, then we'd be better off in the Only Beauty world, because the difference in appreciation that comes from experiencing bad things doesn't outweigh the discomfort of actually experiencing the bad.
Posted by T:man (Member # 11614) on :
quote:Originally posted by MightyCow: Let me put it this way: does anyone seek out really bad situations in an attempt to better enjoy the good ones? I don't know anyone who drinks spoiled milk so fresh milk tastes better, or listens to a Limp Bizcut album so they can really get the most out of Beethoven.
If that's the case, then we'd be better off in the Only Beauty world, because the difference in appreciation that comes from experiencing bad things doesn't outweigh the discomfort of actually experiencing the bad.
Actually, drinking sour milk makes good milk so much better tasting.
Posted by Launchywiggin (Member # 9116) on :
I think the exercise is nonsensical. Good and Bad are two sides of the same coin of experience. We label that experience as good or bad, but they are inseparable to the point of being the same.