Essay 3 Final

Jodie Crutchley

November 2, 2014

English Writing Skills Workshop

Professor Rasheda Young

Draft of Essay 3

Timeless Beauty

            We have found things in our history that we define as beautiful. But what makes something beautiful? Landforms, works of art, and simple human actions are just a few things that we may find beautiful. Philosopher, Denis Dutton, hosted the show Ted Talks where he talked about "A Darwinian theory of beauty.” He mentions an abundance of things that people find beautiful with an explanation of why that is. Dutton believes that beauty is not "in the eye of the beholder…. It is deep in our minds it's a gift,” says Dutton. This more simply means that beauty is timeless. What we see in natural landforms, works of art, and simple human action creates a sensation feeling of beauty that continues without end.

TED is a non-profit organization that features powerful talks and spreading ideas. Ted Talk topics range anywhere from business to global sciences. TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics. The talks are even featured in over 100 languages! Denis Dutton's Ted Talk was particularly interesting to me because it didn't talk about beauty involving just human appearance. Dutton described art, landforms, and actions being beautiful as well. 

Beauty is all around us. It can be found anywhere you look. It is commonly found in nature. Many people are drawn to the landscapes of the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, and Mt. Everest. “Consider briefly an important source of aesthetic pleasure, the magnetic pull of beautiful landscapes.” The Grand Canyon is a site that people still find beautiful today that has rocks dated back 1.8 billion years lying at the bottom of the canyon according to Rene Smith, the creator of Science Kids. “This landscape shows up today on calendars, on postcards, in the design of golf courses and public parks and in gold-framed pictures that hang in living rooms from New York to New Zealand” Dutton says about landscapes that people find beautiful. But why do we continue to find these landscapes attractive? Dutton believes it is do to our culturally conditioned mind that we continue to marvel over landscapes.

Niagara Falls landscape is similar to one that Dutton feels is a landscape everyone finds beautiful, complements of our ancestors. “People in very different cultures all over the world tend to like a particular kind of landscape, a landscape that just happens to be similar to the Pleistocene savannas where we evolved.” The view of water, large trees, and animal life is a place Dutton feels is desirable to people around the world. Regardless of the fact Niagara Falls dates back 5,500 years people still view the landscape with emotional intensity and pleasure that you would feel by viewing something or someone that is beautiful. Our ancestors found landscapes similar to this beautiful because this meant water to drink, potential food source. Our culturally condition eyes’ perception of beauty is timeless, so are the sites it views.

These Landscapes are timeless because of the way they made our ancestors feel years ago. “The trees, by the way, are often preferred if they fork near the ground, that is to say, if they're trees you could scramble up if you were in a tight fix.” Mt. Everest which stands 29,035 feet above see level has large trees surrounding its lowest part. This extravagant mountain is said to be over 60 million years old. Dutton’s perception of the perfect landscape, leads to the suggestion that we find this mountain beautiful because of the trees. Trees large enough to climb to get your self out of a particularly unwanted situation. The beauty of all of these marveled landscapes is timeless. Year’s later people are drooling over the amazing view of a regularly visited landscape. Other then natural landscapes, people also view constructed art to be beautiful. 

       Where there is natural beauty, there is also constructed beauty. Works of art can be characterized as constructed beauty and also natural beauty. “People agree that paintings or movies or music are beautiful because their cultures determine a uniformity of aesthetic taste” says Dutton. King Tut's sarcophagus is considered to be an amazing form of art that we find beautiful because of the history and detail put into someone’s’ tombstone. People even find that the works of Pablo Picasso are beautiful, even though his work features very odd shapes and figures that do not make much sense to the naked eye. Some of the oldest forms of art, cave paintings, are considered to be the most beautiful of all. Of course you would think that a couple of stick figures on wall of a cave doesn't take too much talent to construct, but you have to look deeper into the art the to find the true beauty of it. Most of the time, it isn't what makes a piece of art look beautiful, but it’s the meaning and history behind the artwork that makes it apart of timeless beauty. Human action is another form of timeless beauty.  

        "Beauty of style, and harmony, and grace, and good rhythm depends on simplicity" a quote by Plato. Human actions can be considered beautiful and timeless. The actions in sports from catching an uncatchable throw in the Super Bowl to winning the a gold medal in the Olympics for rowing or skating are timeless and reflected upon and viewed as beautiful moments in history. “A stunning match winning goal in a world cup soccer match” Dutton describes as something people see as beautiful. Human actions can also be seen beauty in the way of creating and being able to play music. Works by Beethoven who lived into early 1800's are still listened to and admired today by people all over the world. “Beethoven is adored in Japan,” says Dutton. The simple fact that we still watch and marvel over certain human actions proves that they can also be seen as beautiful.

       The sight of natural landforms, works of art, and simple human actions give a sensation of beauty that lives throughout time. “This brief list includes human beings, natural landforms, works of art and skilled human actions,” Dutton lists. Dutton believes beauty is not just inside of people but also inside of our culture, our art, even our lands. Beauty is timeless. This is evident through the landforms we see and admire today that developed thousands to billions of years ago. This is also evident through art that was constructed at the beginning of our existence that is praised in museums to this day. As time goes on, art through action becomes a part of history. Art through action can be seen through Babe Ruth's baseball legacy, and Beethoven's musical genius. “Taste for both natural beauty and for the arts travel across cultures with great ease. Beethoven is adored in Japan. Peruvians love Japanese woodblock prints. Inca sculptures are regarded as treasures in British museums, while Shakespeare is translated into every major language of the Earth. Or just think about American jazz or American movies -- they go everywhere. There are many differences among the arts, but there are also universal, cross-cultural aesthetic pleasures and values,” says Dutton. Everywhere people are finding certain things beautiful, and the beauty of them has never vanished, despite the fact that many of the examples of beauty are traveling many years into the past. People will strive to create and beat people with esteemed legacies to develop a legacy of their own. Time can put no restriction on beauty. 

Works Cited

"Denis Dutton." TED: A Darwinian Theory of Beauty. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2014.

Smith, Rene. “Earth Facts, Mount Everest Facts.” Science Kids. 24 July 2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2014

Smith, Rene. “Niagara Falls Facts.” Science Kids. 24 July 2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2014

Smith, Rene. "Grand Canyon Facts." Science Kids. 24 July 2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.