Beauty: beyond definitions
Beauty is a wonderful word — except when you try to define it. When anyone can call anything “beautiful,” the word quickly loses meaning, and it becomes unfit for clear communication. Communicating as clearly as possible matters. It’s the top priority in the famous 1948 Shannon & Weaver model of communication. When the sender’s intended […]
Let op de sporen
Een oud spreekwoord luidt: zeg mij wie uw vrienden zijn, en ik zeg u wie u bent. De idee achter dit gezegde: je toont wie je bent, door te laten zien met wie je ontspant en met wie je plezier hebt. Maar ontdekken wie iemand is, kan zelfs nog veel eenvoudiger en directer, stel iemand […]
Beauty & Inner Development
How we perceive beauty corresponds not only with our level of well-being but also with that of others and, on an even larger scale, with a thriving planet. Irrespective of how we define it, our inner need for beauty is a powerful motivating force, which to a serious extent can drive our actions. At first […]
De schoonheid van krakend ijs
Het was werkelijk schitterend: de eerste keer dit jaar op natuurijs schaatsen. Het ijs op de sloten en petgaten bij Kortenhoef was eigenlijk nog veel te dun. De KNSB had zelfs een officiële waarschuwing gegeven: “Blijf weg van natuurijs”. Maar ja, het schaatsbloed kruipt waar het niet gaan kan, dus toch even proberen natuurlijk. De […]
Beauty and the SDG’s
There is a lot going on in the world that might frighten you: war, poverty, injustice, cultural and political polarization, and then there is the climate crisis, and then there are some more. Some say we are in a poly-crisis, some even talk about a permacrisis, stressing these problems won’t go away soon. Moreover, the […]
On war and beauty
Beauty is a confusing concept. I would love to have the comforting feeling that beauty some probably naïve mixture of peace, harmony, aesthetically beautiful things, and, not to forget, great music. But sadly it isn’t. A war started. And it made me wonder – isn´t the kind of beauty I thought was important rather silly […]
Collateral Beauty
A lot of intentions, plans and dreams have fallen apart over the course of the pandemic–and many are still shattering. Intentions to see old relatives, plans to expand a business or dreams to go on new journeys. Instead, all over the world, quarantines and lockdowns limited our outlooks and sometimes even scarred our lives. The […]
Time-out to wonder …
Since a number of weeks an ‘organism at the edge of life’ is spreading: COVID-19. To minimize contamination we are advised to practice ‘social distancing’ which means as much as: avoid working at the office, don’t go to conferences or meetings but try to work from home as much as possible. On top of this […]
Driven by beauty
Being around beauty causes all sorts of emotions: most often happiness or joy, but a euphoric feeling or even sadness and greediness are also common. But how do these beauty connected feelings guide our actions? What are their behavioral consequences? What does it mean to be motivated by beauty? Motivation is an emotion that sits […]
Elon’s error?
Occasionally I do share new developments and findings about Project Beauty on social media like LinkedIn and Facebook, so when Twitter started many years ago I also created an account and tried it out. But soon I made a choice: this was a bridge too far. Given how much I appreciate my offline time, this […]