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Abstruse Goose: World View (CC by-nc 3.0)

I have a friend who’s an artist and he’s some times taken a view which I don’t agree with very well. He’ll hold up a flower and say, “look how beautiful it is,” and I’ll agree, I think. And he says, “you see, I as an artist can see how beautiful this is, but you as a scientist, oh, take this all apart and it becomes a dull thing.” And I think he’s kind of nutty.

First of all, the beauty that he sees is available to other people and to me, too, I believe, although I might not be quite as refined aesthetically as he is. But I can appreciate the beauty of a flower.

At the same time, I see much more about the flower that he sees. I could imagine the cells in there, the complicated actions inside which also have a beauty. I mean, it’s not just beauty at this dimension of one centimeter: there is also beauty at a smaller dimension, the inner structure…also the processes.

The fact that the colors in the flower are evolved in order to attract insects to pollinate it is interesting – it means that insects can see the color.

It adds a question – does this aesthetic sense also exist in the lower forms that are…why is it aesthetic, all kinds of interesting questions which a science knowledge only adds to the excitement and mystery and the awe of a flower.

It only adds. I don’t understand how it subtracts.

Richard Feynman

Kommentare (4)

  1. #1 nihil jie
    Juni 12, 2010

    *hrhrhr 🙂

    bei mir wären da eher lauter nullen und einsen 😉

  2. #2 Timmorn
    Juni 12, 2010

    Und immer werden Links vergessen, die das Original dabeistehen hat:
    https://nikkigraziano.com/foundfunctions.html (ja, auf das Bild klicken, führt zum nächsten Bild)

  3. #3 Alexander
    Juni 13, 2010

    @nihil jie: So in grün, die von oben runterrieseln? Huch, ich glaube eben hatte ich ein deja-vu… 😉

    @Timmorn: Den Link hab ich nicht wirklich vergessen, mir ging es um das Gegenüberstellen des Comics und des Feynman-Zitats, das mir sofort im Kopf war, als ich den Comic sah.

  4. #4 Schnappi
    August 30, 2010

    @ nihil jie
    “Wahrscheinlich mehr Nullen” (Jamiri/Beate)