Lord Kenneth
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Either what is aesthetically pleasing to the eye, or what they find (in terms of members of the same species) attractive.
ScottDYelich
Unregistered
S
words
can we ever define anything exactly... I think another thread stated...
words are arbitrary... their meanings are fluid.
but in the end, the meaning of beauty is wholly determined by the entity or entities using the term.
to say what beauty is, I would have to use other words... and those words would be up to the same question regarding their definition.
I would say beauty is "effortlessness (harmony)"... but you didn't ask me, so I won't answer.
Scott
can we ever define anything exactly... I think another thread stated...
words are arbitrary... their meanings are fluid.
but in the end, the meaning of beauty is wholly determined by the entity or entities using the term.
to say what beauty is, I would have to use other words... and those words would be up to the same question regarding their definition.
I would say beauty is "effortlessness (harmony)"... but you didn't ask me, so I won't answer.
Scott
Roadtoad
Bufo Caminus Inedibilis
This boy's a PIG!!!!!!
A nice starting point is a 36DD...
A nice starting point is a 36DD...
Re: Re: What is beauty?
To define beauty means heading straight for the dictionary to some people. I just wanted to avoid that situation, because then it's just semantics. Clear definition isn't the same as meaning. To clearly define beauty is really just to say something precise about it that is true when applied to its meaning.
Beleth said:
To define beauty means heading straight for the dictionary to some people. I just wanted to avoid that situation, because then it's just semantics. Clear definition isn't the same as meaning. To clearly define beauty is really just to say something precise about it that is true when applied to its meaning.
Shroud of Akron
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the answer is 42.
Beleth
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Re: Re: Re: What is beauty?
Beauty can change with the times. Big Reubenesque women were considered beautiful when Reubens painted them; now smaller, more athletic women are considered more beautiful.
Beauty can be man-made (artwork) or be natural and be destroyed by man's modifications (the side of a snow-covered mountain with ski tracks all over it).
The best definition I can come up with for beauty is "that which is difficult to achieve." Large women were considered beautiful in Reubens' time because there weren't that many of them; these days, having a well-toned, athletic body is more difficult to achieve, so bodies like that are considered beautiful.
A pristine snow-covered mountain is more beautiful than one with ski tracks all over it because it's easier to put ski tracks on a mountainside than it is to take them off.
Pictures from the Hubble telescobe are beautiful because they were difficult to obtain. While moonlight is considered beautiful, the Moon itself isn't considered very beautiful because it's not difficult to observe.
That's my definition. I welcome the chance to refine it.
That's what I was hoping you would say! Here, then, are my thoughts on and my definition of beauty:c4ts said:
Beauty can change with the times. Big Reubenesque women were considered beautiful when Reubens painted them; now smaller, more athletic women are considered more beautiful.
Beauty can be man-made (artwork) or be natural and be destroyed by man's modifications (the side of a snow-covered mountain with ski tracks all over it).
The best definition I can come up with for beauty is "that which is difficult to achieve." Large women were considered beautiful in Reubens' time because there weren't that many of them; these days, having a well-toned, athletic body is more difficult to achieve, so bodies like that are considered beautiful.
A pristine snow-covered mountain is more beautiful than one with ski tracks all over it because it's easier to put ski tracks on a mountainside than it is to take them off.
Pictures from the Hubble telescobe are beautiful because they were difficult to obtain. While moonlight is considered beautiful, the Moon itself isn't considered very beautiful because it's not difficult to observe.
That's my definition. I welcome the chance to refine it.
This is so much like the question, "What is Quality?" posed in the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainence.
I haven't read that book in a really long time, but I remember that it really messed with my head. Seems like the only answer I ever came up with is: "Ain't no such thing". (Which is not a nice place to be.) I'm afraid your question may lead to the same place.
What I meant by my earlier comment is that beauty can have no objective meaning, yet you specified that subjective meanings for it were not allowed.
I haven't read that book in a really long time, but I remember that it really messed with my head. Seems like the only answer I ever came up with is: "Ain't no such thing". (Which is not a nice place to be.) I'm afraid your question may lead to the same place.
What I meant by my earlier comment is that beauty can have no objective meaning, yet you specified that subjective meanings for it were not allowed.
Guest
Unregistered
G
BB slushy side
Beauty is making somebody else happy and feel good about themselves when you really feel like a pile of dung yourself but you still make them feel they are the most wonderful person alive.
Beauty is seeing the person for who they are and not what the packaging shows.
Beauty is seeing there is some good in some bad people and encouraging them to bring it out.
Beauty is making somebody smile or laugh.
There see you are all beautiful to me
Beauty is making somebody else happy and feel good about themselves when you really feel like a pile of dung yourself but you still make them feel they are the most wonderful person alive.
Beauty is seeing the person for who they are and not what the packaging shows.
Beauty is seeing there is some good in some bad people and encouraging them to bring it out.
Beauty is making somebody smile or laugh.
There see you are all beautiful to me
Guest
Unregistered
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Obviously in the eye of the beholder. I get people shaking their heads when I explain what I consider beautiful. In a physical sense, beauty rarely stands alone. A pretty face with a cigarette in it is no longer pretty.
The most beautiful of women that I have met seem less so when they open their mouths and their brains or lack there of show through. Those who give me an instant chub would be deemed far from beautiful in the generic sense.
I know people that are shallow. They refuse to see the qualities that are packaged inside and only look at the wrappings. Hence the meaning of the word 'shallow'.
The most beautiful of women that I have met seem less so when they open their mouths and their brains or lack there of show through. Those who give me an instant chub would be deemed far from beautiful in the generic sense.
I know people that are shallow. They refuse to see the qualities that are packaged inside and only look at the wrappings. Hence the meaning of the word 'shallow'.
Skeptical Greg
Agave Wine Connoisseur
If you are a hot, young wart hog chick, this is beautiful...
J3K
Unregistered
J
I think of beauty as something more of personal preference(relating to looks of the opposite/same sex.) For me, it is a combination of looks and the kind of person someone is overall. When I am just going after looks, i go with things like pretty, hott, gourgous(spelling?) or something like that. If I say someone is beautiful, it has A LOT more meaning behind it because it's based off of the person as a whole, rather than just physical appearance. My girlfriend does this same thing, only difference is she uses the word sexy instead of beautiful.
Guest
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Beauty is truth, truth beauty. Life itself is at fault for failing to be either beautiful or true.
SpaceLord
Unregistered
S
sundog said:
The complete quote is:
Beauty is truth, truth beauty. That is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
Ode on a Grecian Urn by Keats
neutrino_cannon
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How does this work:
Beauty is what appeals to the organs of sight, or more acuratley, that big fatty mass behind them.
Beauty is what appeals to the organs of sight, or more acuratley, that big fatty mass behind them.