Posted by Yon Bard on January 30, 1999 at 08:13:32:
In Reply to: Re: Rules in the arts posted by R. John Howe on January 30, 1999 at 04:39:02:
John, you said
"Alexander and Salingaros seem to claim that the rules they have discovered are necessary conditions of aesthetic quality but do not, I think, claim that they are sufficient."
It is either arrogant or naive to think that you can capture something as subtle and complex in a few simple rules. It ignores the possibility of innovation. That's precisely the Meistersingers' error.
You said:
"And the fact that a given set of rules may be ejected from time to time is not an indicator that rules are inadequate for the distinctions we want to make and the qualities we want to recognize"
It mostcertainly is!!!
You said:
"I would be interested to hear Yon or Marvin or anyone else describe what they think the recognition of genius is if it is not rule-governed. On what alternative basis do we do this?"
I simply don't know! Perhaps (even probably) there are rules, but let's face it, we don't really understand how the mind performs even the simplest of tasks; how can we expect to understand something as subtle and complex as recognizing genius? 'Expert systems' for even the simplest, best understood, and least controversial diagnostic procedures run into hundreds of rules and require extensive analysis and much iteration to create. How can I take seriously a set of ten rules as summarizing as complex and ill-understood an area as esthetics?
Regards, Yon