Art, Neurobiology, and Mescaline: The Neuroaesthetics of Semir Zeki

In the true reality of his world of Forms, Plato claimed there exists a perfect Form of Beauty, imperfectly manifested in what we call “beautiful.” Despite the appeal of Plato’s metaphor, students of aesthetics have struggled to substantiate it. With one third of the brain devoted to vision, it’s not surprising that a field called neuroaesthetics has arisen to establish the biological and neurobiological foundations of aesthetic experience. Neuroaesthetic research shows that the brain looks for necessary features and then distills and abstracts a limited version of what it sees because of its limited memory system.

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I'm still trying to process this article, but I thought some members on here might find it interesting, especially with the mention of Terence McKenna. At least it provides biological support for the claim that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Once I read over it a few more times I'll probably chime in with more, but I'm interested to see what the rest of you think.

reply to post by Xcalibur254


“Art’s task is to save the soul of mankind,” says McKenna. “If the artist cannot find the way [into the human soul], then the way cannot be found.”

that closing statement in the article kind a says it all !

very interesting read.

The art that is in us all, has been there for "god knows" how long. It's the same truth in us all and science is finding that it is the real thing.

Exciting times