Beauty and Art Arise in the Brains of Beholders

Abstract

Perceiving is an active process, it unfolds over time. Beginning at a starting fixation the eyes and the attention of a spectator scan over a visual display until enough data for a satisfactory interpretation of the percept are collected. Modulated by the current context, especially by the expectations of the observer, the process comes to a halt and the perception is concluded with an emotional tag for the total outcome of the action. This means not only the observed different features and the whole of the percept are important but sometimes even more so the way the operation went. Positive emotions usually result from a 'pleasant' content and a successful process, whereas better than expected progress gives rise to special good feelings. Beauty would be but one of the possible emotional signals of this primarily self-monitoring process, which is claimed to underpin all mental activity, conscious and unconscious.