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StephenMcCranie β Hug the Elephant
Published: 2012-11-07 18:00:31 +0000 UTC; Views: 3567; Favourites: 213; Downloads: 40
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Does beauty exist? What do you think?This essay is part of a book Iβm writing on sustainable creativity. To read 100 more pages of comics like this, head over to the website!
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Comments: 55
I agree-- even a thread of connection is meaningful-- it means there's something that we share as people.
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"Grapple him with a bear hug"
I love it ^^
I also love how you can put so much depth, comedy, and explanations in one strip! Amazing! I also especially love the three blind men and the elephant, with their perspectives of how it looked and what it was.
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ALL OF THIS! I have friends that I have tried to explain this to and some have even gotten upset with me, as if I was trying to take away their freedom or their personality. We may not have the full picture of what beauty truly is but it certainly has bounds, it has edges, forms, and all great artists wether it's musicians, painters, or poets touch some part of it. That's what makes art resonate, that's what makes it true. To me art is communication, and you can't communicate without a language.
Because if it's not communication isn't it just.. pointless self gratification?
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Yeah-- I've had the sometimes cynical view that if art doesn't change someone-- it's as if it never existed! Art should reach out and touch people. Art should communicate.
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I love this, the part where the three blind men where talking about what they think an elephant is. That's such an accurate analogy. Personally, I believe that beauty is simply everywhere. IT's kind of like how Jack Frost in the Rise of the Guardian is everywhere, but only the ones who believe in him can see him. Beauty is everywhere, but only the ones who can appreciate it will see it.
On an unrelated note, I'd love to get a physical copy of your book, but the shipping cost for the $20 pledge is a bit rough on my piggy bank, so I was wondering if it would cost the same if not more if I bought it after the kick starter project ends?
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Yeah-- wait until after-- that 20 dollar fee is just a fixed rate, and if you're in Canada/Mexico or somewhere closer to the US it'll definitely be cheaper.
Or you can get the digital book, that's an option too!
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I feel that the gap in logic between the blind elephant and things not existing was too big. My friend and I were reading it together and both felt lost.
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I guess what I meant to say was that many people will tell you that because we all see things just a bit differently, truth must not exist. But that is not a logical statement when you think about it-- how can you derive a conclusion about truth from a statement about perception? It just doesn't follow through. Does that make sense?
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This made me smile. I love the expression of that elephant in the last panel.
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Thanks Ravenclaw!Β
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Ahah, wow, this one is one of my favorite ! β₯
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That was, for a lack of a better word, beautiful.
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I honestly love reading these - move over Scott McCloud ^_^
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Thanks! Ha ha. yay.
How are you doing these days, Lesley?
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Not bad - very busy, but good busy - it's keeping me occupied ^_^ I've also got lots of different jobs which makes things a lot more interesting... get to do a bit more illustration as well as the usual design work
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Yay! Sounds like a life that doesn't get boring easily. Keep in touch!
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Nope - just the way I like it ^_^
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I watch you for a long time and I want to say ... you tell me always the same story. It is true! In the last ... possible 10 comics you told me very similar things. I don't want to make you angry or sad. I only want to say ... well, that what i said.
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It's intentional-- these essays are all about learning and how to learn. Thanks!
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Its soo beautiful*A* Really inspiring as always!
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Thanks!
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no problem!
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I saw a while back that the title of your next comic would be "Hug the Elephant" and I was interested from the get-go to see what topic it may cover. After seeing the end, and reading the strip again, I have to say that the title is most certainly quite appropriate for the topic.
Once again, your comic here is timely for me as a person, since it addresses something I'm working through, personally. It is uncanny - and yet, pleasant.
Right now, I'm working on a writing project. It's a work of fiction, but I have found myself reaching for the dictionary many times to ensure the word I want to use is correct; and more than once I have actually used an encyclopedia to confirm a concept I was using would be appropriate. I do this so that my readers can lean back and enjoy the story if they wish, without worrying about inappropriate use of "artistic license." In other words, I want to follow the rules. In the process, I find myself "hugging the elephant" and learning more overall.
You're right - following a set of rules with art is quite liberating and enjoyable.
Thank you for taking the time to write and draw these essays.
Cheers.
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I'm glad they helped! You're welcome!
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Fantastic comic. When the printed one gathering all the other will be available ? Have you a pre-order ? shipping in France is Ok ? :
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I haven't made all the plans for printing yet-- but it's going to happen! I'll let you know when it does--I'm sure we can work out international orders some how...
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I love your comics! They are well drawn, structured and explain things so clearly!
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I'm totally your opinion ... Γ»_Γ»
Your comic shows it really great.
I like it! ^_^
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Thank you!
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This is absolutely wonderful. Your choice in words and visuals are always so spot on! There are some people in my life who could definitely benefit from reading this. :>
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Awesome! Thank you!
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I have always thought that, like may other concepts or feelings, beauty does exist; not in the physical world, though, but in our mind. That's why it's different for everybody.
Beauty could be considered a mental entity that is slightly (or not so slighly!) differently for each person. Because we all are human, very often our concept of beauty may be similar of that of other people, but it doesn't necessarily have to be so.
I think, simply, that artists should focus on what they personally find beautiful 
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I respect your view on this. Like I said in the comic-- I can't prove beauty is out there, so I really have no foundation to argue one way or the other.
I suppose I prefer the concept that beauty is outside of us because it gives us something to pursue and discover, it gives us something to argue about and debate on and grow towards. It's very motivating! When I think beauty might contain principles and constants, it fills me with a hunger to learn, like a scientist trying to figure out what makes the universe tick. It moves me to action, to pursuit. The scientist searches because he assumes there is something to find.
My struggle is that I feel like our culture is constantly telling me I am not allowed to be a scientist in regard to art. People seem to find the idea of universal beauty distasteful, even wrong. I think this might be because a statement about beauty is a statement about humanity, about the eyes that perceive the beauty, about ourselves. We are very hesitant to say anything definite about ourselves, because we donβt want to be perceived as absolutist or dogmatic. But I think our hearts betray usβ universal statements about humanity brings out our passions and hungers and hopes that we are not alone, that we are not so different that we canβt relate to each other.
When you look out in the world it does look pretty dark and unfathomable. There are two ways of interpreting the darkness. Either we can see, but there is darkness in the world, as our culture seems to tell us, or we are blind but live in a world of light. I would rather believe the world is full of light and I am blind, because at least Iβd have something to look at if I ever find a cure for my blindness.
Thanks for sharing!
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I understand your way of thinking
As a person who enjoys 'mindplay', as to speak (concepts, ideas and theorizing about them), I personally think that there actually is no difference between what is 'outside' us and what is 'inside'. Look at it from this point of view: everything we see and feel we actually see and feel in our mind. What is real to us is the impression that things give us, and not the things themselves. We actually can't prove that the world exists outside of us (Descartes talked about this, I think); because, from the day we are born and until we die, we'll only see the world through our own eyes.
So it doesn't really matter if things exist or not, does it?, because to us they do
At the same time, our mind is so complex that we don't know almost anything about ourselves, and we keep discovering and developing thoughts, opinions, views, feelings, during all our life; maybe they had been in our mind all along, maybe they appeared later, who knows? But we don't really know ourselves completely, each new situation brings a new side of us and that is what's the most exciting about life. Maybe the only times when we can see a bit more of that 'unconscious' part of ourselves, naked, is when we're dreaming and through art (or creativity, our beauty, however you want to call it).
So I don't think that beauty does 'need' to be an external entity in order to be able to be discovered and defined 'scientifically', as you said
In response to this (what a great sentence!): "Universal statements about humanity brings out our passions and hungers and hopes that we are not alone, that we are not so different that we canβt relate to each other."
I'm currently studying Language and Literature, and there's this concept in Linguistics that we often talk about, which is called Universal Grammar. Each person is different, but, at the same time, we're all human and we share most basic aspects of our being. One of them is our language capability. Thanks to the fact that we all 'think similarly' (as scientists would say, we have more or less the same brain), all languages in the world share a lot of aspects, structures, sounds (Universal Grammar); even if those languages have never been in contact at all.
Isn't that amazing and surprising?
In a more personal note: in my everyday life, I just know that I have my views on 'beauty' (beauty in nature, in people, in things that I enjoy to do, in art, in life), that are different from those of other people, and I try to find this beauty and touch it and enjoy it and even discuss it. But, apart from cases like right now, I don't really question what it is, exactly; I just know it's there, and it's important to me, it makes the world richer and more enjoyable and it gives me fuel to go on and be curious and learn. The rest doesn't matter to me
It's hard for me to explain this kind of thing in English, I keep repeating the same things and taking too long, but I hope you understand what I mean.
Thanks again for your wonderful and inspiring comics. I wish you happiness and luck!
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Universal grammar-- that is very cool and beautiful, thanks for sharing that concept! And thanks for taking so much time to write a response!
I agree with the fact that we can't prove the world exists, but what frustrates me is when people use this statement as a basis to disbelieve the world. We also can't prove the world does not exist, so why are we so quick to throw it away?
Maybe people like to disbelieve the world because it seems very intellectually daring-- like they are the only brave souls who know that mankind is trapped in the matrix. But I think it's much more daring to believe the world exists-- that there are unknowable and mysterious entities outside your mind which may harm you or help you, and that your actions have real consequences on real people. It is much scarier to live in a world that exists.
The idea that the world exists only in your mind seems to take the joy out of many things. Take discovery for instance. To me discovery means peeling back a layer of the world and seeing something no one else has seen. What makes it so exciting is that it's been there the whole time, and anyone could have discovered it, but you got there first. That's exciting! But if the world is all in your mind, discovery is reduced to peeling back a layer of your own mind. Maybe it's been there the whole time, but who cares? Such a discovery only effects you anyway, and it's not like anyone else but you could have discovered something in your own mind.
What made the Matrix exciting was that even though all humanity was trapped in their own minds, there existed an objective reality beyond the matrix. If Neo never woke up, the story wouldn't have been... well, a story. I'm not saying we can wake up like Neo did-- I agree that our perspective is subjective and can be explained entirely with cones and rods and taste buds and chemicals and nerve endings. But we have to remember that any observation we make about the nature of perception is still only an observation about perception, it is not an observation about the objective world. You can observe that your glasses are made out of glass, but you can't conclude that the world is made out of glass too. You're eyes may shed tears, but that doesn't mean it's raining outside.
Thanks for sharing your interesting thoughts! I believe that beauty is there too, and what makes me excited that it might exist outside of myself is that then I can share it.
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