Beauty in the Pause
Aug 5
/
Michelle Cross Smith
Soma, Vasiliki and I at the Center for Neuroaesthetics at UPenn.
Why is everyone so busy? If you’ve been part of the seventh gate of hell known as corporate America, you’ve experienced the persistent hum of stress and panic that accompanies a striving for profit. Throw in the expectations of modern American parenting and there is simply no time.
BUT. There’s an entire world, full of life, waiting for you and I to experience it. Small things bring me delight, from a bird hopping at my feet in a city park to the bubbling of a creek in the forest. A great cup of coffee fills my senses when I don’t just chug it down. Music buoys my emotions, and silence allows me to return to myself.
BUT. There’s an entire world, full of life, waiting for you and I to experience it. Small things bring me delight, from a bird hopping at my feet in a city park to the bubbling of a creek in the forest. A great cup of coffee fills my senses when I don’t just chug it down. Music buoys my emotions, and silence allows me to return to myself.
These are simple aesthetic experiences accessible to many of us. Aesthetic experiences are those moments when we notice and appreciate the beauty and/or striking qualities of a “thing.” Neuroaesthetics is the study of how our brains process aesthetic experiences.
This summer I had the opportunity to meet two researchers from the Center for Neuroaesthetics at the University of Pennsylvania and learn about their work. Soma Chaudhuri has been studying the different ways readers experience poetry, noting that those with expertise (writers, avid readers, critics) rate poems as more aesthetic if they are creative (original, novel). Her current work explores how sex, race and facial anomalies impact our first impressions of people. Vasiliki Meletaki studies the aesthetic experience of architecture and the natural environment, exploring how people’s physical and emotional states change when they can rest in a curated natural environment, such as a garden or specially designed room.
Speaking with Soma and Vasiliki expanded my understanding of aesthetic experiences and how a field like neuroaesthetics can be used to improve quality of life for all of us. Instead of powering through each minute of our day, zoning out on devices as a way of self-regulating, maybe we should literally take time to smell the roses. Not all tropes are meaningless.
This summer I had the opportunity to meet two researchers from the Center for Neuroaesthetics at the University of Pennsylvania and learn about their work. Soma Chaudhuri has been studying the different ways readers experience poetry, noting that those with expertise (writers, avid readers, critics) rate poems as more aesthetic if they are creative (original, novel). Her current work explores how sex, race and facial anomalies impact our first impressions of people. Vasiliki Meletaki studies the aesthetic experience of architecture and the natural environment, exploring how people’s physical and emotional states change when they can rest in a curated natural environment, such as a garden or specially designed room.
Speaking with Soma and Vasiliki expanded my understanding of aesthetic experiences and how a field like neuroaesthetics can be used to improve quality of life for all of us. Instead of powering through each minute of our day, zoning out on devices as a way of self-regulating, maybe we should literally take time to smell the roses. Not all tropes are meaningless.
Podcast Episode: Neuroaesthetics
To learn more about neuroaesthetics and how it can be applied in our daily lives, check out episode 3 of my Incredible Mind podcast. Please forgive the lower audio quality of this episode- it was my first in-person recording. For that reason, I recommend watching this episode on YouTube, where I have accurate closed captioning provided.
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