DEA 1500 Lecture Notes - Lecture 29: Information Theory
27 Apr 2018
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Restoration was last HER process discussing how environment affects us → now….
How does our behavior affect the environment??
HER PROCESS: AESTHETICS
1. Background
a. Theory of beauty, or: is beauty in the eye of the beholder?
i. Would have no principles of beauty if in eye of beholder
ii. Or, can you mathematically map out what is beautiful?
iii. People who make art for other people already contradict the idea that
beauty is in the eye of the beholder
b. What would art look like if it were to please the greatest number of people?
i. Komar and Melamid: can we construct prototypic, archetypal art that
people in culture would love or hate?
1. Looked at people’s preferences for paintings, digitized results, and
used computer to create composites
2. “Created art by public opinion” (also historically done by ancient
Greeks)
ii. Results of the composite images
c. If you can at some level recognize what makes something beautiful as an artist, it
will probably be useful → there are principles in creation (ex: music composition)
d. We have some legal reasons in USA to care about how to predict beauty
i. Natural Environmental Policy Act
1. Anything that has federal money or state money requires an
environmental impact report
a. What is the potential environmental impact if you, for
example, add another wing of a building?
2. Scenic quality assessment
a. For example, what will happen if you build a road?
i. Beauty, pollution, etc.
2. Landscape Assessment
a. Characteristics that will make road prettier or less pretty
i. People like presence of water → take out waterfall, the quality will go
down
1. Moving water adds to scenic quality even more than still water
ii. Human-made influence actually boosts scenic quality
1. Only a LITTLE BIT of human influence, like one house in a field
2. Comfort in thinking of humans being part of nature
iii. Views: superior view (you are up high and looking down) vs. inferior view
(down low and looking up)
1. Superior views inflate scenic value
2. Prospect and Refuge--if I can see what’s out there/what’s in front
of me, and behind me isn’t a problem, then it is more comforting
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Restoration was last her process discussing how environment affects us now . Beauty, pollution, etc: landscape assessment, characteristics that will make road prettier or less pretty. Land use compatibility: more compatible use of land higher scenic value. Topography: people like landscapes with a lot of elevation change or variability increase in scenic assessment: complexity: we like things that are moderately complex, theory of moderation--don"t want things to be too simple or too complex. Preference highest in middle: arousal (how much energy you are experience--boring to exciting) vs. well-being. Look at preference after this for new complex scenes, simple scenes, or no preference: results, really low arousal 100% preference for complex stimuli, repeated med. Tends toward complex stimuli: novel closer to 50/50 complex vs. simple, information theory, prediction is possible but not trivial, goal is a balance people like to figure things out themselves. If you want to predict preference, must find balance between making sense (understanding) and involvement (exploration)
