Posted by Steve Price on January 25, 1999 at 16:42:03:
In Reply to: Re: A comment posted by Nikos Salingaros on January 25, 1999 at 11:25:02:
Dear Friends,
I believe the hypothesis being presented is more or less sound, but not unflawed. There is no question in my mind that each of us uses some set of internal rules in judging aesthetics. How else could I account for reasonable levels of day to day consistency in my judgments (although they certainly do change dramatically over longer time periods). Those rules may be complicated, but they should be applicable by a machine.
Here's a wrinkle, though. My rules and yours are probably not the saem. In fact, my rules today and the rules I had 20 years ago aren't the same.
What can this mean? It must mean that our experiences modify our rules. This shouldn't be too surprising. The sight of a perfect beefsteak elicits different reactions from vegetarians than it does from me, after all, and that surprises nobody.
So, I believe, the aesthetic judgment paradigms that dwell in my brain probably are partly innate, and surely are partly (if not wholly) the result of my experiences.
Is that a bothersome notion to either side of this debate? If so, why?
Steve Price