In society, our perception of beauty has been constructed and molded by the world around us. In my youth, my opinion on beauty was heavily influenced by my environment. Though, not everyone is raised in the same environment and that is what makes us beautifully different. Today, scientists are researching the gray area of whether beauty is subjective or objective. Aesthetics was once a topic discussed amongst ancient philosophers such as Kant, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche, but now neuroscience has decided to tackle the conversation. Can beauty be different to everyone or can it be concrete and factual? Neuroaesthetics can be understood as the grouping point of biological mechanisms, psychological aesthetics, and human evolution. Understanding how aesthetics is subjective or objective can aid in learning how the brain processes art, music and each other.
In “Is Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder or an Objective Truth? A Neuroscientific Answer.” Dr. Norberto Grzywacz et al. examined if beauty is subjective or objective through the lens of neuroscience. The researchers conducted a series of various experiments to answer the question. When testing for objectivity in beauty, the researchers used the processing fluency theory which can be defined as the more perceivers can fluently process an object, then their level of positivity will increase in their aesthetic response. The researchers examined early Renaissance portraits to determine visual preference while accounting for cultural variability. Their results showed that a mixture of symmetry, balance, and complexity all have a part in the argument of beauty being a matter of objectivity. When Grzywacz and his colleagues analyzed subjectivity in beauty, they used a reinforcement-learning methods that took account of the participants’ aesthetic values. The test displayed that personality traits, external and internal influences play a part in subjectivity. In their conclusion, Dr. Grzywacz’s study reasoned that beauty originates from “utilitarian brain mechanisms” which gives insight for fluency and evolution in objectivity or motivation and learning in subjectivity (Aleem, 2019).
In “Toward Model Building for Visual Aesthetic Perception” Liu et al. examined how different strategies can be used to determine the missing piece between brain activity and aesthetic appreciation and judgement. The researchers posed two questions, the first was “Are there putative neural networks in our brain that are responsible for visual aesthetic appreciation and aesthetic judgement?”(Liu, 2017). The second questioned posed was “Where in the brain does neural activation associated with aesthetic responses to visual stimuli occur?”(Liu, 2017). The researchers examined participants’ brain activity from various imaging techniques such as fMRIs and EEGs. The researchers concluded in their results that, “Aesthetic responses to beauty are not independent of the neural systems involved in sensory, perceptual, and cognitive processes” (Liu, 2019). This article relates to Dr. Grzywacz’s findings regarding objectivity in beauty. Liu et al. wanted to see out how a mathematical model could be applied to neuroaesthetics, much like Dr. Grzywacz’s applications of the processing fluency theory.
Both articles point towards advances in the field of neuroaesthetics and proves the topic to be dynamic and adaptable. The individual is so complex that a blend between aesthetics and neuroscience can only help so much in searching for the answer to what humans define as beauty. Further exploration into the field can help with the progression towards the application of this information to create change in our society. It can give us insight on how the human race perceives beauty in the world around us. Beauty is found in nature, art, music, and each other.
Works Cited
Aleem, H, Pombo, M, Correa-Herran, I, and Grzywacz, N. M. (2019, November 16). Is Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder or an Objective Truth? A Neuroscientific Answer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030- 24326-5_11
Liu, Jianli et al. Toward Model Building for Visual Aesthetic Perception. Computational intelligence and neuroscience vol. 2017 (2017): 1292801. doi:10.1155/2017/1292801
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