Aesthetics bow tie
[Frederica Mathewes-Green  03/04 06:09 PM]

I think we've got a red herring on the aesthetics question; the name is just a bow tie put on a basic human impulse, to value beauty and to want to have it around. When scanning thriftshop shelves I've often been touched by the efforts ordinary people put in to beautifying (or attempting to beautify) simple household objects, sometimes in ways that made them as useless as a furlined teacup. Not everyone would agree that these improved objects are actually beautiful. But the underlying impulse is undeniable, irrepressible.

And if you look at old stuff, even simple functional old stuff, you see how frequently the original owners went to some trouble to add beauty; to carve vines on on a kitchen stool, for example. In earlier communities, people didn't just settle for crummy beer, clothing, bread, furniture, housing, and so forth. The Duff era was a bad dream. Beer is easy enough to make at home, and some guys would be known for having a good touch. Every mom might be making the family's clothes, but there would always one who stood out as creative and talented. Nobody *wants* to settle for ugly.

People just like to have beauty around, and there's nothing effete about it. A dandelion in a jelly jar qualifies.