Researchers find classical musical compositions adhere to power law

[NikolaeVarius]

You know one thing that shaped Beethoven into what he was, for better or worse?

He had an alcoholic father who regularly beat the shit out him when he was a kid.

How would you begin to program that sort of emotion into a computer? And then meld it with hundreds of thousands of other influences in such way that it eventually could compose a symphony with a chorale finale dedicated to joy?

By turning everything into math. Beauty is so subjective.

 

[darkswordsman17]

By turning everything into math. Beauty is so subjective.

Exactly. Art is not some magical thing that can't be explained or studied, but a lot of people don't like to think of it in that way. I also do not think scientific evaluation in any way ruins it. I'm baffled at people that think science takes beauty out of the world or causes things to "lose their magic". I think science just explains the magic, which for me makes things all the more beautiful. Being so negative about it just makes it seem like you want to celebrate ignorance. It reminds me of the religious people that want to eschew scientific explanations to keep believing in fabrications. I roll my eyes when people say "more art than science", and most of the people I've known that use that phrase tend to want to not understand things (people like Jeremy Clarkson for instance, who while being entertaining absolutely revels in ignorance).

I also find it baffling how people can be that way when many great artists are/were also pretty brilliant minds. It generally takes a lot of knowledge and understanding to be a great artist. I think that's more than just coincidence.