From 69a39773c604284752a07d172cf8583a43199064 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Duncan Wilkie Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2024 19:49:59 -0600 Subject: Patterson BTFO post --- staging/reverent/reverent.org | 63 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 63 insertions(+) create mode 100644 staging/reverent/reverent.org (limited to 'staging/reverent') diff --git a/staging/reverent/reverent.org b/staging/reverent/reverent.org new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6fb3001 --- /dev/null +++ b/staging/reverent/reverent.org @@ -0,0 +1,63 @@ +#+TITLE: Reverent Constructions +#+DATE: <2023-12-02 Sat 04:23> +#+TAGS: Aesthetics, Art, Construction, Philosophy + +It seems like everyone hates the way things are. + +Material things, that is (though Lord knows it's otherwise true); common attitudes identify a chronic decline in their quality, both for function and form. Things are, the story goes, not designed to be /durable/ or /fixable/ anymore, but designed to break and need authorized dealer service, just to milk every last cent from you. They're designed to lock you in and lock you out, to prevent interoperability and ecosystem exit, to drive mindless consumption and enrich their unscrupulous inventors. They're also not designed to be /beautiful/ or /interesting/. All art, so it goes, is headed the way of (post)modernist absurdist brutalist pragmatism (choose your least favorite couple adjectives). Everything that wasn't made /back then/ is derivative, overly academic, or downright offensive. + +Regardless of the truth of this narrative, from the things it despises we may extract an interesting question: what unites the things they /value?/ + +As in, what are the features in a material object that would satisfy its believers? It's certainly /not/ a mere revivalist impulse: at least some of its supporters will point to historical objects /across/ historical cultures and movements, and its supporters are certainly culturally diverse. Nor is it nostalgia: most champion objects were made centuries before those doing the championing. + +I believe they want reverent constructions. + +* The Basic Idea + +Reverent constructed objects are designed to draw attention to the divine. What the divine is, of course, varies across cultures and individuals. I argue for my own perspective, left open-ended enough that I hope it becomes fairly general. I believe the divine is expressed: + +- in mathematics, through classifications, uniqueness results, canonical forms, universal properties, the infinite(simal), and the idea of zero; +- in science, through universal structure as derived from modern cosmology, fundamental nondeterminism, complex emergent dynamic phenomena, emergent order, remarkable material properties, the anticipatory nature of living systems, and the ubiquitous unseen; +- in history and anthropology, through ancient orthography, scripts, symbolism, and iconography; +- in philosophy, through consistency, subsidiarity and hierarchy, adherance to principle, voluntary exchange, and private property; +- in aesthetic principles themselves, through fitness for purpose (with particularly general functional properties valorized), the nature of things (in the medieval sense of the processes and principles that sustain existence), the heavens (i.e. upward directions), and coherence. + +Parts of objects are classified as /instrumental/ and /final/ according to how sensitive the function of the object is to their modification. + +* Deduced Principles +** Function +These functional properties are prized: + +- modularity, +- repairability, +- auditability and ease of access to functional components, +- durability, +- configurability, +- efficient use of space, +- resiliance to disaster, +- bootstrappability, +- safety. + +In each case, an object is monotonically better improved by improving each variable, /ceteris paribus/. + +** Shape +While there's no specific prejudice against straight lines, they're best used to emphasize symmetries of more interesting objects. Generally, shapes that are of interest will be accompanied by some mathematical characterization of interest, e.g. an algebraic variety, a catenary, or a transcendental function. Excellence in craft can be judged by the degree of coherence between the physical curve and the abstract curve. Constructions should draw the eye upwards to an apex or beyond, emphasizing the heavens. +** Color +Mirroring cosmology, the instrumental parts that support and background the object's function should be muted, dark, and cool. The final parts that are of primary interest and see the most activity can be more lively, lighter, and warmer. To accomplish coherence among means, colors should generally be solid, with patterns only in light contrast and geometrically interesting. However, objects that are materially distinct and are near or touching by accident or for practical concerns are better in different colors than otherwise. +** Texture and Finish +For natural materials, +** Material +Coherence of means implies that, ideally, only analogous materials are mixed. Wood should go with wood, stone with stone, metal with metal, plastic with plastic, etc. All else equal, materials of more similar relevent aesthetic qualities should be used together than otherwise. Using more natural materials for objects that help sustain existence most directly creates a pleasing analogy. +** Mode of Assembly +** Embellishment +Can be extremely intricate, just not distracting. +** Scripts +** Fonts +* Some Concrete Ideas +- Windows that are cloud chambers, making the unseen cosmic rays that surround us visible. +- Dark-colored bookshelves with brightly-colored, mismatched book bindings. +- Senary numerals +- Woods like cherry and walnut for structural purposes; white oak for highlights +- Equally well, things can have a predefined place or the order can be emergent. +- +* External Criticism -- cgit v1.2.3