More on Aesthetics and Humanity

This is actually a bit of an update and amplification of my post on What Should We Fight to Save in which I argue that much of our humanity is defined by our aesthetic values — our ability to appreciate the arts, music, poetry, literature, and all of the various artifacts that move us emotionally. That post was inspired by attending A Prairie Home Companion live show and especially hearing the young artist, Brandi Carlile, perform her extraordinary piece, "Dreams" (she appeared on the show a week later - she was that good! And if you want to hear samples of her music, including Dreams just go to the web site).

The melody, lyrics, and her voice (along with excellent guitar accompaniment) have been stuck in my mind ever since. No common 'ear worm' this piece of music. It is genuinely haunting. I can't, and don't want to, explain it. It is just a part of being part of the world I live in. It is appreciation of beauty which needs no explanation in order to experience that appreciation. I have all kinds of understanding about what is going on in the brain to 'process' such appreciation. But it really doesn't matter so much as the experience itself.

I confess I have visited Brandi's web site several times since hearing her perform live. She very graciously provides several tracks (including Dreams) from her albums (CDs) on the site. And I have shamelessly listened and enjoyed. I promise I will be ordering the actual CDs soon. I haven't got an iPod! So I need the CDs for when I travel and need to listen in the car. Anyway, visit the site. It will change your life! At least that is how I feel.

The arts are so important to our psyches. They should not be discounted as being unimportant to being human. That is why I am insistent that creating a life style in the post-peak oil era that preserves artistic impulses is an essential element. What good is it to preserve human societies that cannot devote some time to reveling in artistic production? It is painful to read the news stories about schools that are cutting the humanities in these tough budget times. Instead they think it is essential to force everyone to become mathematicians, scientists, and engineers. So we'll go that route and make humanity miserable. That is far from wise.

Another artist that is changing the world for the better is Tiité Baquero. Tiité has started a movement to raise consciousness via works of art. Specifically, he is encouraging other artists to communicate with humanity about the condition of the human species via works of visual art. Please visit Tiité's web site to see the activities he is promoting. I can't help but believe that his efforts will help amplify the eusapience that exists in this world.

I am not particularly artistic. I've had my time trying to play guitar and singing. I've tried to paint and draw. The results were, shall we say, less than artistic! But even so, I love artistic endeavors. Even though I have no talent I am deeply moved by works of those who do.

I have developed this conviction. Wisdom isn't just great logic and knowledge in the ordinary, and very common, sense. It includes the emotions. We have to, first and foremost, love. And love starts with appreciation of beauty in all its forms. I love understanding how the world works. But I also love Brandi's songs and Tiité's pieces (thank you Tiité). I love Queen and Wagner. I love Michael Angelo. I love Shakespeare. I will fight to preserve what can be saved. I will fight to assure the place of humanities in our humanity.

---

"Dreams", by Brandi Carlile:

Dreams, I have dreams, when I'm awake, when I'm asleep
And you, you are in my dreams
You're underneath my skin, how am I so weak?

And now in my dreams,

I can feel the weight, I can just come clean
I keep it to myself, I know what it means
I can't have you, but I have dreams

How long, can you hold your breath?
Can you count to ten, can you let it pass?
Keep, can you keep it in?
Keep it behind latches, can you make it last?

And now in my dreams, I can feel the weight
I can just come clean

I keep it to myself, I know what it means
I can't have you, but I have dreams
Oh, I have dreams, I have dreams

Mind, can you read my mind?
Has it come undone, am I showin' signs?

And now, in my dreams
I can feel the weight, I can just come clean
I keep it to myself, I know what it means
I can't have you, but I have dreams
I have dreams, I have, I have, I have Dreams

---

Thank you Brandi. You remind me that I am human and conscious of being so.

Comments

[Derik Andreoli]

This is a great post. I can't agree more about the role that arts *should* play in society. We are one of the only great societies to not emphasize the visual-performing-audio arts.

This post made me search back through sent emails to find this:

"We are a wasteful society. Hugely wasteful. And we work too much, and expect too much from work. Even for those of us lucky enough to enjoy our work, this enjoyment should only be a small piece of our happiness pie. Every hour at work is an hour taken from family, friends, and community. It is an hour not made available for pursuing self expression throught the arts or an hour taken from the enjoyment of the arts. It's an hour not donated to improving the general wellbeing of one's community. It leads to separation of people from interactions with neighbors and critical engagement with important local, national, and world events. It is an hour taken from personal intellectual development and physical exercise. We can certainly as a society do MUCH better. We can work less, bike/walk more, eat less processed industrialized food, relax and reconnect with family, take more time reading and teaching our kids and executing our civic duties. We can start giving a sh*t about huge and growing inequities. We can want less and love more. For that matter, we can make love more. We can lower healthcare costs by changing our diets and lifestyles. And we can start substituting experiences - especially the enjoyment of art (even when it makes you feel uncomfortable) - for material consumption. This would do wonders for the world, and for our psyches."

Thanks for a great post. And, BTW, my wife listened to the Prairie Home Companion show that you apparently attended. She, like you, was enamored by Brandi Carlile. Thanks for reminding us of her name... Nicole was so disappointed that she had not written it down!

[Robin Datta]

In a longer perspective, say five or ten millennia the languages derived from English may be as different from today's English as is today's language from the Old English of two to three millennia ago. Their recent music may be as different from today's as tofay's is from that of fifty or a hundred years ago.

And the lyrics of today, in a sapient future society might be comparable to the musings of their children.

If we are to consider what might survive many millinnia, we could start by looking at what has survived a few centuries.

[Tiité Baquero]

Thank you George for your kind acknowledgment. Your insight into the dynamics that art and science can harness in order to shed light into the confusion and noise associated with our current state of the species is also extremely valuable. I'm persuaded to think that the eusapience that you have outlined will emerge first as a filter through which the conscious noice can be separated from the effective signal. I think that the first thing humanity is going to have to admit is that there are answers regarding the future of the world with us in it that are elegant in their aesthetic and accessible by science in a common discourse with Nature or the Ecos as you prefer.
Our job is to make consciousness available to the senses through beauty and balance as we strive to translate those qualities from science and the world.
Cheers

[George Mobus]

Derik,

"She, like you, was enamored by Brandi Carlile."

To tell the truth, I'm not merely enamored by her, I am now addicted to her voice and music!!!! I've ordered a couple of her albums and I have lately been listening to her on her web site whilst I write (for inspiration). If I were in charge of things I would have given her the Grammy awards for best female singles for any number of songs!

But, yes, the world could be a whole lot more pleasant if we remembered our humanity.

George

[George Mobus]

Robin,

"If we are to consider what might survive many millinnia, we could start by looking at what has survived a few centuries."

Wonderful insight. Many hard choices are probably going to have to be made. Noah had it easy by comparison!

But much of what has survived did so because someone loved it. Someone fought to preserve it.

George

[George Mobus]

Tiité,

Believe me. It is I who thank you.

Humble regards

George