# The concept of quality Quality is an assembled value in our minds which combines a string of *other* [values](values.md) we perceive from [nature](reality.md). The more values pulled in through our [understanding](understanding.md) that are [harmonious](mind-feelings.md) and reliable, the more quality. For example, the quality of a sunset comes from the associations to familiarity, color, connections to [related experiences](stories.md), understanding of the [science](science.md) of color, and how we [feel](mind-feelings.md) about it. When we interpret a [value](values.md) as something higher than another value, we've assigned a type of comparative quality to it. When we say "quality work", we usually mean "*high*-quality work". We find qualities when we remove extra information. With all that information, it's simply [static or noise](unknown.md). Quality gives us tremendous insight into the world around us. By elegantly portraying [patterns](symbols.md) that exist in the universe, we have the means to implicitly [understand](understanding.md) many domains that we'd otherwise not be able to comprehend. APPLICATION: There is an inherent beauty within many things, to the degree they reference nature and reality. We can gain tremendous [happiness](mind-feelings-happiness.md) by finding it. One specific type of quality is beauty, which we *frequently* [communicate](people-conversation.md) through [forms of media](creations.md). Beauty is when the patterns allude to things that travel into [implication and allusion](stories.md) in a way that pleases us. Each combined [work](creations.md) is greater than its components. A car, ecosystem, or person is more than a list of its parts. It ends up having something greater in it through the constructed elements that make it what it is. ## Animal Beauty resonates with our animal essence, which is why this concept is a "lower" [layer](https://gainedin.site/layers/) than [values](values.md). However, beauty *requires* values for us to perceive it. Modern and post-modern movements have tried to divorce beauty from values, but all they're left with are [abstractions](symbols.md) and [feelings](mind-feelings.md). The only response that we can say when we witness beauty is a [feeling](mind-feelings.md) that, in a nutshell, says "wow". It draws many connections to many associations at once and usually showcases tremendous [skill](mind-creativity.md) if it was [created](creations.md). The feeling is, in my opinion, a short-circuit by the brain where we've [purposed](purpose.md) to [understand](understanding.md) the entire breadth of the experience but are overwhelmed by the quality of the thing, all within a few seconds. Beauty floats within the animal essence, so there's a limited scope of what we can classify as beauty, which is mostly patterned on how we [feel](mind-feelings.md) about [nature](reality.md) around us: - Most things, including [stories](stories.md), incorporate a type of symmetry (like with plants and animals). - Everything uses a rhythm, repetition, or recursion (like with the [life cycle](people-family.md), [habit](habits.md), or a heartbeat). - In music, songs only transition in one of 3 possible ways from one tonic to the next (like with the limited tones we use in our [language](language.md)). - Visual representations almost always honor geometric patterns and contrasting triad colors (like we see in naturally occurring landscapes). - Most man-made patterns employ variations of specific [numbers](math.md) like 3, 7, and 12. - Things often scale upward or downward with a similar form, which is the [symbolic](symbols.md) essence of [fractals](math.md). - Often, elements interconnect with other elements (like the way we [think and understand](understanding.md)). Some things are *never* beauty, and we have an easier time detecting them than beauty. Poop or a murder scene, for example, are universally interpreted as [disgusting](mind-feelings-disgust.md). But, with the right creator's [direction](mind-creativity.md), vulgar or wrong things become *connected* to a beautiful [idea](values.md) if they float back to a desirable [human universal](humanity-universals.md). ## Relative Most people like to imagine that beauty is relative, and a large portion is. [Cultures](people-culture.md) define beauty in vastly different ways, and people are frequently [influenced](influence.md) by others to [change their minds](people-changes.md) on their opinion of beauty. APPLICATION: Beauty is relative, but not entirely. Its staying power comes in how much *inherent* quality it has, which is mostly based on the creator's [raw skill](mind-creativity.md). All art references [nature](reality.md), so poorly made [media](creations.md) can *still* draw [feelings](mind-feelings.md) that remind people of experiencing the original thing. When people use media in that fashion, the [creation](creations.md) itself doesn't need any beauty of its own. But, if a person is valuing the beauty of the thing itself, irrespective of what it references, that's a universal beauty that likely could exist in the essence of the thing itself. For those things, they are worth [consuming](image.md) over and over, especially across different [stages of life](maturity.md). APPLICATION: Beautiful art always has a [purpose](purpose.md) for its existence, and that purpose will be obvious because it'll tie to [human universals](humanity-universals.md). For that reason, if the created work's *title* has more [meaning](meaning.md) than the work itself (e.g., post-modern art, crayon drawings), it's a badly made work. Not all attributes of a thing are inherently beautiful. Often, something can be beautiful in part but not in its whole. For example, a film with dubious [moral](morality.md) qualities and a disturbingly [evil](morality-evil.md) source reference may have artistry that expertly captures the intrinsic art of acting, videography, lighting, and so on. Its parts are beautiful by themselves as strictly a reference to the respective [crafts](results.md) that made it, even if it's a bad creation in its entirety. The realm of [understanding](understanding.md) various varieties of beauty is known as "taste". Our tastes are flavored by [moral disposition](morality.md), [personality](humanity.md), and [prior experience](understanding.md), so each person's taste will differentiate wildly. We have a constant need for [novelty](image.md), so we find tremendous value in "remixes". A remix is [creatively](mind-creativity.md) combining existing elements into a new form: - A [story](stories.md) that ends differently than we were [expecting](imagination.md). - [Media](creations.md) in a genre we've explored, but crosses into other genres. - A new [friendship](people-friends.md) with someone who has a [personality](personality.md) similar to someone else we knew. - A climate like the one we know, but with a different [atmosphere](jobs-specialization.md) or ecosystem. Because of their [inexperience](maturity.md), less [skillful](mind-creativity.md) creators will have an easier time [targeting](purpose.md) young people, which is how most [media](creations.md) for mass appeal is [marketed](marketing.md). The simple reason for this is that [older people](maturity.md) are harder to [please](meaning.md): - They usually [understand](understanding.md) more than younger people. - They have experienced more [cultures](people-culture.md) by virtue of having lived in a time with less [technology](technology.md). - Older people can often [analyze](logic.md) better and detect more [symbols](symbols.md) in [stories](stories.md). As we gain awareness of what we're consuming, we discover more of the interwoven [patterns](values.md) placed in [created things](creations.md). By understanding a creator's historical context, perceptions, and what that creator was [unaware](awareness.md) of while thinking of those things, we can understand into *far* more than just that [media](creations.md) and what it alludes to: - We learn about [the human condition](humanity.md) and [its universals](humanity-universals.md) as it proceeded to build that thing. - We [con](people-friends.md)[n](people-conversation.md)[ect](people-friends.md) with others' perspectives, most notably the creator's, to derive *further* understanding of the world around us. - When other people observe it, our [conversations](people-conversation.md) with them add even *more* meaning to the experience. APPLICATION: When someone [desires](purpose.md) to explore a media, they can unveil a remarkable amount of potential [truth](reality.md) through consuming the commentary of another creator. They're essentially receiving a second perspective on the same subject, but arranged into a meticulously crafted [story](stories.md). The insights can both be of the subject *and* the creator! ## Hubris We see connoisseurs of beauty arise in every form of [media](creations.md), from wine-tasting to *Star Trek*. They form a [group](groups-member.md) around the subject, with its own unique [culture](people-culture.md) that includes [specific terminology](language.md) and required [recreational activities](purpose.md). However, the [leaders](groups-small.md) of that group are typically [addicts](addiction.md) of the subject, with their [identity](identity.md) closely intertwined with whatever they advance. They frequently demarcate their interest as a sign of [social status](power-types.md), usually with some implication of "only a *true* [lover of the interest] can understand the [positive attribute] of [[marginally](trends.md) popular [media](creations.md)]". APPLICATION: The culture surrounding a creation is not the creation itself, and often builds a [story](stories.md) around the thing to give it a false [reputation](image.md). Don't condemn or venerate a creation just because [everyone else](trends.md) seems to be. They're often skillful in maintaining their [reputation](image.md) in their clan, though, so [conflicts](people-conflicts.md) with them are rarely worth the exchange.