beauty changes everything
How aesthetics impacts our decision-making is often ignored or overlooked. Some researchers, for example, have claimed that our feelings (i.e., aesthetic responses) account for 85 percent of our decision-making for retail purchases. Another example from clothing helps to illustrate this point further. In Everyday Aesthetics, Yuriko Saito describes how natural fibers, such as wool and … Continue reading Ugliness and Climate Solutions
In his book, Aesthetics: A Very Short Introduction, Bence Nanay writes, "What all things aesthetic have in common is something very simple: the way you're exercising your attention" (p.22). To illustrate what he means, Nanay uses as an example the painting The Fall of Icarus by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Landscape with the Fall of … Continue reading Attention to Beauty
Theories of aesthetic taste have been developed in the fields of philosophy, psychology, and sociology. But market and consumer research has not spent as much time developing theories of aesthetics taste to put into their different practices. Wayne D. Hoyer and Nicola E. Stokburger-Sauer opened this discussion in their article, "The Role of Aesthetic Taste … Continue reading Consumer Taste
Beauty is likely not one of the most important considerations people think about when planning in an urban environment. Probably transportation and housing, along with other amenities associated with tourism, would be higher on most people's list. But in a CityLab article from May 15, 2019, Richard Florida explains some new research that shows a … Continue reading Urban Planning and the Beautiful
I have long-believed that aesthetics should be part of our everyday lives, and then philosophers started publishing books and articles about this idea I took for granted. However, I see that the literature in aesthetics did not always warrant such a conclusion, especially with an overwhelming focus on the arts. The "Everyday Aesthetics" movement in … Continue reading Quotidian Aesthetics: The Design Paradigm
Recently I took a trip with my wife to Budapest. On our way back to the States, we had a stop in Germany. At the terminal, we sensed that we were in the presence of Americans. Did we see their blue and gold passports? No. Did we hear them speak and recognize their accents? No. … Continue reading Know Yourself! (… and your Body)