For this newsletter, I wanted to write about philosophy (at least I think this counts as philosophy because I remember having to write about something similar in a college class), inspired by an anime I just watched called “Parasyte: The Maxim.” The anime follows a high school student whose hand is taken over by an alien parasite. As he battles other parasites, he grapples with questions of humanity and survival. One episode, in particular, made me reflect on how humans determine beauty.
It’s fascinating that most people can agree on places in the world that are beautiful. Many of these places are natural attractions. While there exists beautiful man-made creations, it’s intriguing to consider why humans seem to universally find nature beautiful. Is nature objectively beautiful, or have humans somehow collectively decided that it is? When you think about beauty standards for people, those do vary significantly by culture. So, does this mean there’s no such thing as objective beauty?
On the other hand, some might argue that certain individuals are universally recognized as beautiful, suggesting that beauty isn’t entirely subjective either. To be honest, I don’t think we’ll ever have a definitive answer. If beauty were purely subjective, though, it raises the question: why have humans decided that nature is beautiful? My belief is that humans (and perhaps all living creatures) inherently value life. I think this is a survival trait; without valuing life, humanity likely wouldn’t have lasted as long as it has. Since we value life, we think places with a lot of life are beautiful. For example, thriving coral reefs or lush green forests seem more beautiful than damaged reefs or a plot of land with all the trees chopped down.
It’s also worth wondering why humans care about future generations, another trait that’s likely contributed to our survival. Perhaps the explanation is similar: we value life and want to extend the lifespan of not just our species but all species. Personally, I work on energy efficiency in data centers, which I find meaningful because it can significantly impact the planet. I think I care about the planet because I want future generations to experience the cool things in the world that exist today.
I think its a good thing that I and many others have this belief but when I ask myself: why do I care? I don’t really know why. Is it because I grew up in California, near the ocean, in a community that valued the environment? Were these values passed down to me, or are they truly my own beliefs? It’s probably some combination of the two, but it’s still an interesting question to think about. At the end of the day, maybe it doesn’t really matter why we think a certain way.