Key Stimuli and Power Objects: Aesthetics and Our Innate Sensibilities

Abstract

The chapter looks at how key stimuli and inborn sensibilities affect our species’ aesthetics and determine which shapes, colors, forms, textures, landscapes, and literary themes we are attracted to and consider beautiful. Like other animals, we are predisposed to respond to certain key stimuli which have been associated with an expectation of functionality, fitness, and increased well-being. The perception of beauty represents a strong internal indicator by which it pays to be guided in order to gain various benefits. In this investigation, we enter the microprocesses of artistic creation. We look at the aesthetic effects that make up an artwork to arrive at an understanding of why something captivates, fascinates, and disgusts us. The right embellishment can transform a trivial everyday object into an overwhelming power object-a kind of fetish that means the world to us.