The Truth About Beauty

painters paint pictures that other people buy because they see beauty in them.
i wish they saw the meaning instead kionkay art isnt always beautiful the way we like...
Is human equality truly possible?
what is totally beyond our controll isnt possible but human harmony i believe is achievable!

Ahmedmadani

Thanks for your hilarious comments about liberals.

It`s hard to say which of the two is the greater instrument of torture: the knife of a fanatic or the logic of an Indian liberal.

ahmedmadani

In my spare time I have been bouncing off basic math ideas with my 8 year old nephew. The sheer joy and sense of marvel on his face were unmistakeable when he grasped that -

- addition and substraction are essentially the same operation, with only the direction of change reversed (inverses)

- multiplication and division are similarly closely related operations

- 3**2 + 4 **2 = 5 **2 and the broader pythogorus theorem

- the value of a fraction does not change when the numerator and the denominator are multiplied by the same number

- percentages and fractions are two ways of stating the same thing.

- the numbering system need not be based on ten. We could base it on any number we like.

The joy I have seen on the kid`s face seems almost sacred - the working of pure natural beauty at its most elemental level.

But then this power of beauty is not unique to math or sciences. It belongs equally to any field of our artistic endeavors.

Ms. R.Gopal....... As I wrote earlier no comment about content as Its very personal emotional thing about beauty.
`` Look at the definitions of beauty in Kalidasa’s time: ‘moon-faced, elephant-hipped, serpent-necked, antelope-footed, swan-waisted, lotus-eyed.’ A very far cry from the young Amazons we see in today’s fashion magazines, who have dieted and exercised to achieve almost boyishly muscular figures! ``

I will like to know which of works Kalidas has this its interesting . I have all works of ``kalidas`` in english . I got free when I was student in college as they were discarding unsuitable authors. I enjoyed his works in following order KumarSambhava ( extraordinary) , but one should have good mind to appreciate- I gave it to my good friend to read he did not appreciate. Then always felt to understand culture one should be cultured.), Raghuvansha, Meghdoot , Shankuntal and one work I do not have is his Malikagimitra:, Unfortunately it was missing already junked). Unfortunately I can not read or understand Sanskrut`` still it is facinating to me in english especially at time when contempary world was in real dark ages he was composing dramas

now above is more physical attributes oriented but in Shankuntal he refers to Qualities of young bride as `` Homemaker,Home Minister, Priya ( loving), Mitra``


``There is beauty in Revolution, clearly seen by how many people are prepared to die for these ideas. America, Russia, China, the bloody revolts against class and caste and poverty have all been born from the purity of the ideal. And the intolerance that comes with the clash of ideas is how dictators are born. “I am the standard-bearer of the idea, and its truest proponent; I have the truest vision and all who oppose me must die…” Surely even monsters like Stalin or Mao or Pol Pot must have once been carried away by the beauty and simplicity of the revolutionary ideal.``

I am mild person by nature. So I abhor these revolutions as more bogus, violent, cruel, bloody and has not done much but extreme hardships on people. American revolution was more of taxes and representation. Russia millions perished, in china over 40 million people perished- in cultural revolution- Ultimate revolution. All resulted just change of players. Surely there is romanticism about revolutions but the people who are used as pigs for experiment do not have any thing to say good about it. Classes remain same players changed. All chinese leaders children end up in usa but peasants can not even enter `` Big Cities``. Why sweeping statements like caste/ class. There was no caste in all mentioned countries. Many times I feel Ideas of socialism have been destruvtive for last 2 centuries. This Utopian ideas of equality are used and being used by power grabbers and people are mercilessly tortured under doctorine of equality and uniformity.

I have always envied people who can escape to western countries as they can have hard work but honorable life. I have never understood why there is sympathy by indo/Paki left liberals educated people for dictetors, or oppressive regime not liked by usa. Please inform me why Liberal has some much sympathy third world oppressive dictectors. Most of ideal principals behind revolutions are simple and prime movers are moving with hunger to get power just like others. They always criticize democratic countries and leaders but never say ``too bad`` about despotic regimes not liked by usa.

I assume you are Hindu by birth. You have mentioned Christ,Muhammad,Buddha. You have not mentioned your religion in same context. I presume you have not found any worthwhile or good.
I have read Verbatium Old testament,new Testament, Koran (I am born muslim), Buddha including good book by Mr. Lala Hardayal ``Doctorines of Bodhisatva in Sanskrut Literature``.
I have read basic books of Hindus namely Vedas, Upnishad,Ramayan,Mahabharat and Geeta. All religion books I have read in English only. Can not follow Arabic or Sanskrut.
Did you not find any thing worth in your religion ? Just wonder.

I you are Christian you do not need to answer as answer is obivious as Jews/Christian/Islam believe there is only one way and that is their special way.

Sorry for request.

One word for your article. Beautiful!
Sadia.

Re: # 20
Little things fascinate me from my childhood, some of things still I like to look at in my mind find beautiful in science. I can study and absorb things fast. I have gone for two years to college and people use to study at that time and students were interested in studies .It was different time, scholarship was respected and students use to read books and not guides. I have to admit a college degree was entrance to middleclass. Now things are ``killing`` competitive and brutal. Some of little things I always enjoyed

Adding of any numbers (large) in seconds provided they have consecutive order

Mental computations doing products like 23x 123 , the simple methods suggested ( I use to have little book some body took from me never returned) I can do still fast in mind. But surely it is fading as I do not do now days.

Decimal system

Binary System

Algebra : generalization of functions and symbolic representation of numbers and computation rules. ( Earlier times assumed /Decimal Numbers and Algebra developed by Indian Kuffers now claimed by Arabs and some gentle man from Arabstan Al Jabbara as Father of Algebra )


Binomial expansion . to calculate little increase in parameter and value of function

Idea of limits and idea of infinitecimal F (X) and F(X+delta X) and DeltaX tending to zero in limit.

Idea of derivative as rate of change

Slide Rule development and how logical way of putting scales can lead to great computation possibilities

Circular slide rule

Lahores Sir Ganga Rams observations regarding operation of canals.

Some tests to see if terms of series and sum of series is divergent of convergent and finding sums.

Test for finding maximun and minimum value of a function . Taking second derivative to atleast get sense / somewhat about min or max in near/ local range

How derivative is devised by “idea of very very small increse” and taking limits


Limit of sum can be taken as integral within proper limits.

I was able to understand very clearly about the efficiencies of Engine cycles like Otto. Carnot or any idealizeded Engine cycle..

One of most amazing ability of Integration to find area of revolution surface and volume of revolution , Also to Center of gravity and pressure application point in static pressure calculation.

Pythagorus Rule and related numbers 3,4,5 5, 12,13 and higher number series

Similar triangles and simple related properties

Parallel lines and intersecting lines and related angle properties

Amazing product invariant properties of intersecting chord parts

Angle relationship ( central angle- related to center point and any point on circle and joined to these points on circle , Central angle is double all time) for circle

Invariance of sum internal angles of regular polygons and their no of sides related to sum of Angles

Simple drawing of ellipse on ground by holding down string at two points by pegs and moving tight to make that cure and looking at movement so precise defined and so tight

Simple hormonic motion of sin or cosine curve and wave nature

Introducing phase angle in hormonic motion to control the difference in Peak of amplitude and time Y=sin (w.t+angle Theta) in as desired fashion

Idea in above of introducing time as varible and circular frequency as constant

Introducing Integrals which can take into account past history and convinently putting limits of integral from – ininity to +infinity. Function result will be dependant on present situation as well as what happened in past. Classical problems in Viscoelasticity , rubber like materials behaviour ( in simple terms stretched rubber remembers and returns back to unstretched condition.

Classical example of Pyramid benefit fraud scheme



Deriving formula for area of circle from simple integral calculus and how long time back they correcly found that 22/7.

Simple formula for finding possibilities nCr , nPr they are so powerful

Consecutive occurance probality of events=product probability for outcome of equal weight

Idea of functional and minimise and maximise them.

The famous 3 problems in mathematics/ physic which led to area of ``Calculus of Variations``

Some of above problems how famous people solved some problems and arrived at right answers

Idea of Graph and Scaling who things can be so visual to have overall state of things so concise and accurate . Beauty of visual understanding is amazing.

Compounding such as interest , population growth to calculate with simple formula. One can understand coming misery by population growth in our country. How this nation will more than double less than 30 years from now 300 million

thumb rule for compounding, 72/rate= No of years to double original ( formula works for reasonable growth rate)

The laws about distrbution Standard Binomial and Poission. The amazing way one can find probability of events just by looking at areas undercure. Insurance companie’s foundation are these little graphs and equations .

Interpolation is so easy and extrapolation is so difficult .

The easy way of theoretical possibility of passing smooth curve through any odd spread points. ( extrapolation is speculation)

Idea of imaginary numbers ( involving square of –1 and its amazing applications in electrical engg and inphase out of phase ideas)

Mathematical ways music is written , symbols explaining all so precisely, the order of notes , take out some notes to make different music, precise way of ascending ( aaroh) descending (Avroh) .

Ideas of Markov chains in probability.

Identical nature of fluid and heat flow mathematics and how both can be understood and constants which have different names in heat engg and fluid engg.

Intelligent ways of solving Simul. Equations with variables of extremely different values.
Example X1=10000 , X2=2 X3= 05 X4= -60000
You will have 4 equations and its hard to solve numerically even with computers.( It must be, I can not say ( no computer experience), but difficult job for sure)
Most practical problems will Involve atleast 30 to 40 varibles. People found way to help computers.

Matrices and their computations and amazing way of keeping numbers very beautiful.

Matrices used to solve large equations and storage of two dimensional entities in one row.

Exponential functions which can accurately represent very difficult processes like Decreasing of emissions of radiation with time, Idea of ½ life (In this problem can be evaluated only due to formation of exponential functions.

Just mentioned few which I find beautiful.
Its all subjective.

Thanks for asking it gave some good feeling in my depression moode.

Beauty is simply the quality whose mere co-existence with us (independent from any practical use we may or may not have for it) pleases our sensibilities. Naturally it`s an asset to those who possess it.

ahmed madani

u wrote ``There is no more beauty in poetry, writing etc compred to beauty in simple mathematics. But I will have to stop ( At least 35 to 40 are in my mind). ``

could u please write some of these examples u have in mind?

Cayenne

you are hilarious. keep posting

Re: # 16

You betcha.I like the attention.I`m vain too and i have no qualms about it.

Re: # 15
After reading your comments I felt another English poet said about beauty very aptly. If I remember correct Wordsworth said looking at ( I can be wrong as am not mentally well due to depression) Daffodill flowers ``Thing of beauty is joy for ever`` is very good statement. There are things we can quantify but beauty etc are abstract and are subjective view of objective world. I have feeling its not good go into asethetics parts or theory of these things as its subjects appealing to heart and not brain to large extent.

There are things which are beautiful to brain also. The idea of tensor , such as stress tensor is so beautiful it beholds breath when you realiaze its inplications. It is function of only its spatial position such as x, y ,z, temperature, time, electric charge etc. And the viewer sees different pictures as he changes its location . The vectors we seek for practical purposes change as we look at picture of properties depending on normals and tangents but like north star tensor remains same it does not change. Another beauty one sees when one studies first time a classical string problem and ideas of eigen values and eigen vectors and how they lead to logical conclusions of differnt modes. Or series developed by people to add to find ``Pi`` they still facinate me. In many classical potential field problems in mathematics analysis and engineering problems one needs to add one additional equation as constraint leading ( some mathematics books refer as langragian constrainrt) to additional equation with its additional problems.The beauty of writing differential equations, simultinously in such short notations ( Do engineers call tensor notation? some engineers can clarify) - Einstein developed which now used commonly in continuum mechanics is one of very beautiful and astonishingly simple beautiful thing one can see in Mechanical and fluid study engineering books. One of my daughter took study in management and she brought book on linear programming. ( other subjects were garbage like industrial relationships , labour laws etc all , Industrial psylogy etc). I like reading stuff to help. The simple idea of graphing and moving parallel to Maximising or minimising needed parameters like cost is so simple but beautiful its beauty. Once you appreciate that beauty that concept can be easily translated with more varibles and surface of many variable and maximining function as plane surface and logically at more complex level curved surface. When I went to college and learnt little calculus a simple way of force balanceDynamic equilibrium equation beased on Newton`s law gave solution to what should be the speed of projectile at start to escape gravity was so amazing. There is no more beauty in poetry, writing etc compred to beauty in simple mathematics. But I will have to stop ( At least 35 to 40 are in my mind).
It is unfortunate I have to spend time to help retards , semiretards and plain retards students now a days . I like MSc, BSc students. Engineering students are most retards many times I felt. I was helping a ``smart`` engg students he was going to top most school in Karach with famous college ( the its has some of following letters D,N,E etc not in that order ). I told him you teacher must be idiot when he says you can solve Navier Stroke equation. He said it is solved in USA by computers etc. I said damn he is idiot and and you are super idiot. I told him there are test about existance of solutions and problems of uniqueness etc. Solution is not possible . I told him idiot USA Chhap professor does not understand to get approximate solution ( reasonable speculations) about pressure, velocity etc is no problem it has been done for last few centuries but so called solution does not exist. This was called ``USA going material``. He said Madani Sahib this is engg not mathematics. Then I asked him tell me smart boy what are units of pressure said Newtons per Square meter. Then I asked him I helped you yesterday to find pressure for your homework, look what are units. The said meters of water. Then how you measure pressure in meters ?. Idiot donkey could not answer and said it does not matter. I remember idiot Indian engineer told Mr. Harimau Iyer the the equation of Caternary is Parabola. (That bit difficult question for engineer as most Engineering idiots forget about Cosh and Sinh , I will never ask such difficult question). This also intelluctual beauty of our engg colleges. And the most beautiful thing is he is now ``WAPADA`` engineer. This shows beauty of our education colleges and idiot professors. He stopped tution as he felt I can not understand engg. This engineer drinks and smokes and involved in Zina sex, I am strictly against all above still he told me he is better Muslim than me. This is also beauty idiot professor and Idiot student now Wapada Engineers both foren returned. ( The student is not really foreign returned , he went to thiland or philipine type nation college). 50% Engg students are Idiots and 50% are not idiotsis my correct opinion.
I met few idiots but one was most beautiful. I can not control need to tell for my mental well being. He was parroting actions and reactions are equal and opposite. I told him ten times look following things and think about it. You are revolving stone attached to string. There is centrifugal force= massx velocityxvelocity/ radius and reaction is developed as tenson in string to balance. If you move very fast then centrifugal force will be more than capacity of stupid strng , it will break and stupid stone will fly tangentially and radially and then action and reactions are not equal. Gave example of pushing of donkey. Till you are not able to push action= Reaction but if 5 people push donkey will be pushed. Idiot never Understood only when the things are in static or dynamic equilibrium. I told him to tell to this his teacher and boy was asked to shut up.

Recently with age my hearing is not best . I had doctor friend who wanted to give me audio test. He asked some 30 words to repeat after he says I did some 28 correct. Then he put stuff connected to ears and one after another ears were tested. They were ok but at some range I was not hearing ( particular frequency range). I realiazed what notes I may not hear when I hear classical music, I know notes of some ``ragas``. I asked question how I hear those notes. He said bring music and tell you why I listen though i can not listen. So after few days I went to doctor. He attached hearing machine and I listened and felt same notes. The doctor said you can not really listen but you brain manipulates as you have listened to notes and its manipulated by brain and I listen. But he warned me to use ear machine some times so both high notes ( over 4 black Pattis or very low patties of hormonium) so my brain does not forget. I was amazed by Beauty of brain.

This I wrote as mostly people think of beauty in terms of women , men, color complexion, eyes color, figure , weight, folds on skin, etc but there is mental beauty thing also.

I generally like liberal Ideas but do not like liberal people as they push ideas of equality even though there are many stupid and retard and criminal drug addicts people. Liberals just want take care of criminals, retards, semiretards and poor and justify any crime under explanation of oppression, bad looks , poverty, racism , women oppression, sex,Iraq , handicap ,America, western civilization, arm race, nuclear explosion etc deprivation. Other thing I do not like of liberal are they are self hating, they criticize their father and mother for telling them to be nice and responsible, they use Zina sex to have sex with protection and mother father who do not approve have to pay for bad protection stuff. and they consider the parents as backward and living in cave edges. They do not understand language and mostly pick up stupid husbands who are lafangas and burden on earh, mean and pompous too much talk, no hard work.
Some times we see things and things appear good ( like realistic painters or picture taking machine- camera)) while some people see things and then they give impression of what they felt ( like impressionist painting) and it gives more joy and happiness( Similar to impressionist painters). Some others see same and express what they saw ( like expressionist painters or great cameramen like Raghuveer of india) and its so beautiful of normal things.
For me most beautiful animals are not human but Cat family. I get lost in appreciation of cats young, old they have such graceful body , pose the way they walk , when they stalk is epitomy of beauty , strenghth vigor, the way they move at that time without any noise the measured control and foot movement, the concentration and that final run to get hold of something. They are so content at same time demand gracefully , the eyes and gracefulness.

I need to ask for giveness from engineers. Most engineers getting tution are not very good subset. A good student does not need tution. I must say 75% are good and 25% idiots .

My doctor incresedCitalopram to 40 MG ang Aripiprazole to 20MG when I discussed with him used the points given by Dr Shanker, god bless him.. It appears doctors in Pakistan are under useing medication compared to usa ( may be due to cost these are killing costly, if any indian knows what they cost in India and how much smugglers loot when they land via Dubai in our country I can understand economics of smuggling). I hope Dr Shanker will write to me. Tomorrow I will make ID.

Good luck to everybody. And hope engineers will forgive me for mental deliquiencies.

cayenne #11

You have experienced what has been studied by Psychologists.. Namely that the ``Beautiful is Good`` fallacy.. Normal and ugly folks get treated worse, plain and simple, by both sexes.
You can and should take advantage of your looks.

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The bias in favor of physically attractive people is robust, with attractive
people being perceived as more sociable, happier and more successful than unattractive
people (Dion, Berscheid & Walster, 1972; Eagly, Ashmore,
Makhijani & Longo, 1991; Hatfield & Sprecher, 1986; Watkins & Johnston,
2000). Attractiveness biases have been demonstrated in such different areas as
teacher judgments of students (Clifford & Walster, 1973), voter preferences for
political candidates (Efran & Patterson, 1974) and jury judgments in simulated
trials (Efran, 1974). Recently, Smith, McIntosh and Bazzini (1999) investigated
the “beauty is goodness” stereotype in U.S. films and found that attractive
characters were portrayed more favorably than unattractive characters on
multiple dimensions across a random sample drawn from five decades of topgrossing
films. The authors also found that participants watching a biased film
(level of beauty and gender stereotyping) subsequently showed greater
favoritism toward an attractive graduate school candidate than participants
watching a less biased film. In the area of employment decision making, attractiveness
also influences interviewers’ judgments of job applicants (Watkins &
Johnston, 2000).

---

Revathy Gopal,

You ought to be honored by the board of the Essential Questions of Life Counsel, if there be such as organization, for asking one of the most objectively perplexing and subjectively interpretive questions of all times, to mention: what is beauty?

We know that there is no one standard that exists for the definition of the concept of beauty. In india, for example, a slim fair-complexioned girl with a sharp nose is, generally speaking, considered beautiful. In Ghana, on the other hand, to be defined as beautiful, a girl must be Black, wide-nosed, and plump.

Juxtaposing within the sanctum of `me` these diametrically bi-polar phenomena, I am much tempted to call for the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) to start work on the justification of one univeral standard for beauty.

But still we have some confused people who purport to know the answer to the question pertaining to beauty so-much-so that they decide to judge more or less nude girls parading before their eyes.

Oh and excuse me for it is not all about physical appearances per se as `they` ask the constestants a question somewhere in between parading them. But it would be safe to conclude that it is mostly about physical apppearances, the judgement, the jist, for them, the answer to: what is beauty?

However, what is beauty? I once read some English poet named Keats saying something to the effect: beauty is truth. Distilling from this statement of Keats`, it can then be said that beauty is also the sight of a wailing woman at the sight of the machete-chopped head of her beloved husband.

Beauty can not be cornered secularly as secularism is a theoritical term that is naively amusing as conceptually it is, in semblance, to the appearance of a man standing with no ground under his feet to support him. For secularity is nothing more than a series of universally acknowledged congenialities.

I believe that for the cosmos to function the way it does, there must be some absolute standards or axioms which nature abides by in colossal forms and means. This very absoluteness of essence and substance, both, is the pillar of reality which physical or metaphysical.

What is beauty, then? In one way: God grants to a soul, however much measuredly, inspiration to think good and the drive to manifest this thought into action. Beauty, to me, is the appearance of the composure of this person who cherishes this God-given inspiration and practices it while holding it dear and sacred.

The eyes, above all, reflect this truth of a person and hence the beauty within him/herself. Al Pacino seconds my point when, as Tony Montana, in the movie Scarface he says, ``The eyes, chico, they never lie.``

Peace!

A very good article; away from the usual strongly emotive and perceptive backchattng on chowk.

Yea you take a poetic and emotive view of beauty and hence your many examples from poetry and metaphysics.

I recently saw a program on BBC Prime as well as Discovery. The subject was the declaration by some magazine (I don`t remeber which) of an Irish Indian girl as the most beautiful face in the world.

So the beauticians, plastic surgeons, genetic engineers and others agreed with the hypothesis that, ``Beauty is a Mutation of the human body and therefore an imperfection``
This explanation stunned many including me but look at it. Though generalised, most believe that mixed races are more intelligent and beautiful. Marriages within the family tree lead to genetic imperfections.

Cheerios

Revathy:

Thank you for thinking of writing on a ``beautiful`` subject :)

Re: # 2

Sajal:

The 1st one is an interesting quote :)