While quite insightful, I feel the end conclusion goes too simplistic. There are multiple "new religions" arising these days and not just that based on sex differences that you cite. For example, we're seeing the rise of "can't criticize the goodness of white people" in certain states of the union. A backlash, perhaps, but with much the same religious fever. Not to mention cults of personality, both domestic and abroad.
The relationship between these other "new religions" and beauty has its own complexities perhaps worth exploring. I cannot, for example, forget the story of a friend of mine who worked as a chef. One night a particularly rich "guru" and his sycophants dines there, and the "guru" ordered his steak well done to the point of burnt. Of course, the sycophants immediately all ordered the same, destroying the beauty of a well done meal.
I would argue that all ideologies oppose true beauty, because it goes deeper than the surface thinking that ideologies require. Crass superficiality may be allowed (gold plated tennis shoes?) for social signalling, but something that touches the soul?--never.
Interesting read, but a casual observation has me spinning at a tangent. Like the mystery Poe is the father of American horror which is just as moral a genre as mystery. But where as the former is about the restoring of the moral order, learning the truth and "with this truth your hero has a chance to set the world to rights," horror is the story of " the damned will see their errors too late".
It should not be surprised the same source synthesized both.
But now I'm thinking on my favorite mystery subgenre: detective, which arguably is one point where the two touch. More interesting is I'm noticing when detective stories are written seem to be a strong indicator of if they are mystery, the truth allows the detective to set at least some part of the world right, or horror, where the truth comes too late to save the world.
In film, "The Maltese Falcon" is the former for all the grayness of its ending while "Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown" is the quintessential expression of pointless knowledge of the truth. In books the former runs through Lawrence Block while Dennis Lehane does the latter so well some books made me physically ill. I'm left to wonder if this is a mark of society realizing Nietzche's madman was right.
While quite insightful, I feel the end conclusion goes too simplistic. There are multiple "new religions" arising these days and not just that based on sex differences that you cite. For example, we're seeing the rise of "can't criticize the goodness of white people" in certain states of the union. A backlash, perhaps, but with much the same religious fever. Not to mention cults of personality, both domestic and abroad.
The relationship between these other "new religions" and beauty has its own complexities perhaps worth exploring. I cannot, for example, forget the story of a friend of mine who worked as a chef. One night a particularly rich "guru" and his sycophants dines there, and the "guru" ordered his steak well done to the point of burnt. Of course, the sycophants immediately all ordered the same, destroying the beauty of a well done meal.
I would argue that all ideologies oppose true beauty, because it goes deeper than the surface thinking that ideologies require. Crass superficiality may be allowed (gold plated tennis shoes?) for social signalling, but something that touches the soul?--never.
Interesting read, but a casual observation has me spinning at a tangent. Like the mystery Poe is the father of American horror which is just as moral a genre as mystery. But where as the former is about the restoring of the moral order, learning the truth and "with this truth your hero has a chance to set the world to rights," horror is the story of " the damned will see their errors too late".
It should not be surprised the same source synthesized both.
But now I'm thinking on my favorite mystery subgenre: detective, which arguably is one point where the two touch. More interesting is I'm noticing when detective stories are written seem to be a strong indicator of if they are mystery, the truth allows the detective to set at least some part of the world right, or horror, where the truth comes too late to save the world.
In film, "The Maltese Falcon" is the former for all the grayness of its ending while "Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown" is the quintessential expression of pointless knowledge of the truth. In books the former runs through Lawrence Block while Dennis Lehane does the latter so well some books made me physically ill. I'm left to wonder if this is a mark of society realizing Nietzche's madman was right.