Beauty is as much of a necessity as Truth, and Goodness. The documentary is titled "Why Beauty Matters" by Roger Scruton.
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So this is part one of a two-part video request where I'm going to be responding to the documentary Why Beauty Matters by Roger Scruton.
And I strongly recommend that you watch this for yourself, the documentary.
There's apparently some issues with the image rights in it, but if you look around online, you will be able to find it.
Now the subject matter of the documentary is the philosophy of beauty and the importance of beauty.
And I think the best way that I can review the film is simply to respond to it in my own way.
And so this video, The Imperative of Beauty, is about one aspect that really stood out to me in this film.
So Professor Scruton, early on in the film, he says, if you'd asked anybody before the 17th century, what is the point of beauty, they would have looked at you and said, what's the point of truth, of goodness?
They don't have points.
They just are.
And I thought that was a very interesting breakdown.
Because for a lot of us, certainly for myself at least, the reason I got into the alternative media, into alternative politics, the reason I've been so passionate about the things I've been passionate about for so many years now is truth.
It became evident to me at a very young age that most people out there just weren't concerned with the truth of their beliefs or their statements.
They were trying to say what was convenient or what they'd been told to say or what was politically correct.
They had never actually examined their beliefs and see, you know, to see if these actually fit together.
Do these actually work?
Do my stated values and my actions, do these things line up with one another?
Because it should go without saying that if you don't have an understanding of what you're doing, if there isn't an appreciation of truth informing your motivations, then you are doomed to failure.
You know, if you don't know how you're fixing your car, you're not going to fix the car.
You're not just going to serendipitously fall into success if you don't know what you're doing.
You're just going to be muddling along.
And sadly, a lot of people do that.
You know, maybe because they don't have time to examine all their beliefs.
Maybe because they don't want to risk the social cost of examining their beliefs.
Maybe they're just not that intellectual, but most people seem to have very confused beliefs.
They are not embracing truth in their lives.
Then, well, truth isn't quite enough.
Because one thing you start finding if you pursue the truth, well, as my one philosopher friend likes to say, truth is a reason is a whore.
She gives anybody a ride.
And you can use truth for very ugly purposes.
You can use truth for cruelty.
Often the most vicious barbs are true, but very uncharitable.
Truth on its own isn't enough.
Science can build a new system of agriculture or can build an atomic bomb.
In addition to truth, you need goodness.
You need to be looking upwards and pursuing that which is worth pursuing.
It's not enough to just be true to yourself and true about what you're doing and what your motivations are.
You also need to make those motivations good.
You need to become good yourself.
You need to be embodying goodness as best you can.
Because so many people, whether they're operating by pretty lies or even if they're operating by stark truths, they wind up falling into evil, into very vicious forms of hatred, very self-destructive forms of hatred.
I mean, if you take any of these school shooters and talk to them, you know, chances are there's going to be quite a bit of truth coming out of those mouths, but no goodness.
You take these various people that have subscribed, they have been writing black pill blogs, or, you know, you take somebody like Elliot Rogers with the PUA hate crowd, and you look at them and they say a lot of things that are very, very true.
But it's just so dark and evil how they interpret that truth.
So you need the good.
If you just use reason, well, you end up with the endless autistic fighting that you get in a lot of internet communities.
A lot of circular, angry, destructive fighting.
All of it, which is true, but none of it.
None of which is good.
And see, if you pursue the good, if you try and do good, if you try and pull people back from the brink of destruction, if you try and help other people, it's absolutely exhausting.
And you get to the point where you can know what the good thing is, but you just don't have the energy for it anymore.
And so in addition to truth and goodness, you need beauty.
Because beauty is that which nourishes the soul.
Beauty is that which fills you when you're empty.
Beauty is what comforts you.
And the sad thing is we are so lacking in beauty in our world.
I mean, prettiness is everywhere.
Okay, prettyness is wallpaper.
Prettiness is elevator music.
Prettiness is, you know, the exact same beat and chord progression that you've heard on every single song on the radio for the past 20 years.
We are awash in prettiness.
More prettiness than ever before.
And yet we have so little beauty.
A medieval peasant didn't have the amount of luxury and prettiness that we have in our world today.
But the medieval peasant went to church.
He appreciated the profound tragedies, the beauties within the Gospels.
And while he didn't have great material wealth, he did take care of his environment.
He had the possibility to create beautiful artifacts to surround him.
Now, beauty isn't easy.
It isn't easy to create, and it isn't easy to behold.
Beauty challenges us.
It forces us to see the world in a new way.
The same way that truth, truth challenges our preconceptions.
It doesn't allow us to believe whatever we want to believe.
It forces us to believe whatever is true.
And goodness says that your petty greed and your envy and your bile, that, no, that's no excuse.
The petty, ugly things inside of you are no excuse.
Goodness calls you to a higher standard.
And beauty, it encaptures, it encapsulates both of those.
Beauty forces you to see truth, but also goodness.
The painting of a human being and being able to see the beauty in them, even an aged human being, taking an aged face, maybe a face that's been worn with worry, maybe one that's joyful, but forcing you to see what the artist saw and see the beauty in that face.
That's not easy.
Pretty is easy, and pretty is everywhere, but beauty, beauty is something more.
It's difficult, challenging, it's even painful at times.
Isn't it interesting?
Isn't it interesting how these spiritual experiences mimic physical experiences?
Ode to joy is downright painful.
The same way a hot shower can be painful, or disinfectant can be painful, but it nourishes you.
It challenges you, it hurts you, but it nourishes you.
Truth and goodness without beauty are nothing.
They're a stark, cold marble building.
Beauty is what ultimately gives it meaning.
And see, if we don't have beauty in our lives, if we try and subsist on prettiness, or subsist merely on goodness and truth, without beauty...
we will fail because our souls hunger for it.
Our souls need more.
So, Gentlemen and ladies, surround yourself as much as possible with beauty, not prettiness.
Make the time to appreciate the beautifully written word or the beauty of a painting or classical music.
Find that space in your day to have a beautiful experience.
Even if it's just experiencing the beauty of nature when you're walking.
But experience it.
Open your eyes to it.
Let it hurt you.
Because you need to hurt.
You need that cleansing wound that only beauty can give.
Because if you don't have that, you quickly burn out.
You become cynical.
You become jaded.
We need beauty in our lives, folks.
So go out there and find some find some beauty to put into your life.
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