Imagine a world in which beauty was everywhere, and everyone was thoughtful and wise. Sounds pretty good doesn't it? Then ask yourself why we do not have such a world right now.

What if I told you there was a tiny little idea out there that was singlehandedly preventing it from existing? Have you ever heard the poetic little blurb by Keats that goes "Beauty is truth; and truth beauty. This is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know"? With this single innocent sounding sentiment he manages to destroy two of the most important concepts known to man: beauty and truth.

Truth is the group of concepts we hold that accurately correspond to reality. And beauty, ah beauty, as alluring as it is, is simply the representation of our values, changing completely whenever we change our minds, often a vessel holding no reality at all.

Yet both are absolutely essential to human happiness. Without truth, we have no way to find or create the food we eat, the homes we occupy, or the ideals we hold. Without beauty, we have no motivation to identify, pursue and protect those things in life that matter most to us.

Can you imagine a world where there is no beauty at all? And where no one knows anything for sure? Sounds like a nightmare doesn't it? But it's precisely the kind of world that would exist if everyone thought any truth was beautiful, and that beauty was merely truth.

SAMPLE | JOIN | MEMBERS | MORE GALLERIES | LINK

© 2004 by Body in Mind