[Turning] the appreciation of creators

This article is a Chinese translation of taste for makers, which is published with the consent of Paul Graham, the original author.

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This translation can be freely copied, changed, and re-published without changing the copyright information.
Copyright 2002 by Paul Graham
Original article: http://www.paulgraham.com/taste.html
Chinese translator: Dai Yuwen
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"Cobaini's Aesthetic opposition to tianchu is an important reason for his rejection of the tolymi system ..."
-Thomas Kuhn, the Copernican Revolution

"Under Kelly Johnson's training, we were so keen to believe that a plane with beautiful looks would fly in the same way ."
-Ben Rich, Skunk Works

"Beauty is the first test: there is no permanent place in the world to hold ugly mathematics ."
-G. H. Hard, a mathematician's apology

I recently chatted with a friend who taught at MIT. his field is very popular now, and the application forms that will soon become research students surge to him every year. "Most of them look very smart," he said. "What I cannot determine is whether they have appreciation."

Appreciation. you don't often hear this word now. however, we still need the concept, no matter what people call it. my friend meant that he hoped that the students would not only be good technicians, but also use their technical knowledge to design beautiful things.

Mathematicians call an excellent job as "beautiful", just like a past or present, a scientist, an engineer, a Music Artist, an architect, a designer, a writer, or a painter, to describe a work of "beautiful. is it a coincidence that they use the same descriptive word, or is there a coincidence in what they say? If there is overlap, can we use the beauty discovery in one field to find another field )?

For our designers, these are not only theoretical issues. if something is really beautiful, we must be able to recognize it. we need good taste to make good things. instead of looking at beauty as an empty abstract, we should consider it as a practical question: how do you make good items?

If you talk about taste, many people will tell you that "taste is subjective ". they actually feel this way, so they think so. when they like something, they don't know why. it may be because it is beautiful, or because their mother has the same thing, or they see a movie star in a magazine with the same thing, or they know it is expensive. their thinking is in a state of chaos without trade-offs.

Most people are encouraged to keep such freeze in an Unweighed state from an early age. if you make fun of your brother and paint his skin green on a picture book, your mother may say, "You like your way, he like his way" or something like that.

Your mom didn't want to teach you an important aesthetic theory at this moment. She just wanted you to stop talking.

Just like many half-real and half-False things that adults tell us, this thing is the same as what they are talking about. once again I told you that "appreciation is just a personal preference", they took you to the museum and told you that you have to use snacks because da Vinci is a great artist.

What is flashing in the child's mind? What does he mean by "a great artist? After years of infusion of "everyone prefers to do things in his own way", he is unlikely to come to the conclusion that the so-called Great artist is better than others. in his Tolle-style cosmic view, the more likely conclusion is that great artists are good for you, just as the book says, "Life is good for people.

Appreciation is a good way to avoid argument. The problem is that it is not true. When you start to design things, you will feel this.

No matter what people do, they naturally want to do better. football players want to win competitions, and CEOs want to increase revenue. it makes people feel happy and proud to do better at work. however, if your job is design, and there is no beauty in it, there is no way to do a better job. if your taste is personal, everyone is perfect: You can do whatever you like.

Like any job, when you design objects continuously, you will get better results. your appreciation will change. and like anyone who is better at work, you know that you are also making progress. if so, your original taste is not only different from the present, but also worse than the present. let's go to hell with the principle of appreciation.

The prevalence of relativity may impede your reflection on your appreciation, even if your appreciation is evolving. but if you face the reality and admit that, at least for you, there are good design and bad design, then you can start to study the good design carefully. how did your taste change? When you make a mistake, think about what makes it happen to you? What did others learn from design?

Once you start to think about these issues, you will be surprised to find out how many different fields the idea of beauty is in. the same principle of perfect design appears everywhere.

A good design is simple. from mathematics to painting, you can hear it. in mathematics, it means that a short proof is often better. in particular, the less the truth, the better. the same is true in the field of program design. for architects and designers, this means that beauty should depend on some carefully selected structural elements, rather than too many surface decorations. (The decoration itself is not bad. The bad decoration is used to conceal the plain entity .) similarly, in the painting field, after careful observation and solid copy of the static object painting, it is often more interesting than a flashy but brainless painting (such as a lace-up collar. in the field of writing, it means to briefly say what you want to say.

When you are forced to do something simple, it means you are facing real problems. If you cannot give up decoration, you have to give up the essence.

Good design is permanent. Every proof in mathematics is permanent, unless it is wrong. What does he mean by "there is no permanent place in the world to hold ugly mathematics? He means like Kelly Johnson: ugly things cannot be the best solution. There must be a better solution, and someone will eventually find it.

Aiming at Eternity is one way to find the best answer: if you can imagine that someone else can surpass you, come on your own. some of the greatest masters have done so well in this respect, leaving almost no space for the future. the sculptor after Mr. wolle had to live in the shadows of him.

The strange thing is that if you want to do something that will attract future humans, one way is to try to attract past humans. it is hard to guess what will happen in the future, but we can be sure that we will not care about fashion in the future. therefore, if you can make things that attract contemporary people and people in 1500, it is very likely that it will attract people in 2500.

A good design solves the correct problem. A typical (for cooking purposes) stove has four fire ports to form a square shape and each has a switch to control them. How do you arrange these switches? The simplest answer is to arrange them into a row. however, this is not the answer. switches are intended for humans. If you arrange them in a line, the unfortunate Cook has to stop and think about which switch controls which exit. A better way is to arrange a square like an exit.

Many bad designs are diligent but misled. in the middle of the 20th century, there was a culture of sans-serif fonts. these fonts are indeed closer to pure basic fonts. but this is not the problem you want to solve in the text. it is more important to recognize letters easily. although it looks like the Victorian style, the lowercase letter g of Times Roman is easy to distinguish from the lowercase letter y.

The problem can be solved or improved. in the software field, a difficult problem can be replaced by an equivalent problem that is easier to solve. physics develops faster because the problem to be solved changes to the ability to predict and observe the behavior of things, rather than reconcile it with classical works.

Good design is enlightening. jane's novels are hardly described. They don't tell you what everything looks like. She tells a story so well that you can imagine the scene on your own. similarly, the pictures with startup are generally more attractive than those with a combination. every person who has seen Mona Lisa has his own story about her.

This principle is embodied in the architectural or design field that buildings or objects should be used freely: for example, a good building can act as such a background, let the people who live here live any life they want, rather than living life, just like executing the Architect program.

In the software field, it means you should give users some basic elements that can be freely combined like assembled toys. in mathematics, it means that a proof that can become the foundation of many new jobs is more desirable than a proof that is difficult but cannot lead to any new discoveries. in the field of science, generally, the reference (by others) is a rough indicator of its own value.

Good design is often a bit funny. this is not always true. but the Durer carvings, the womb char, pantheon of Saarinen, and the original Porsche 911 seem a bit funny to me. the incomplete theorem of Godel is like a prank.

I think this is because humor is related to power. if you have a sense of humor, you have the power to keep your sense of humor. If you lose your sense of humor, you will be hurt. therefore, the power sign, or at least the specialty, does not need to take things too seriously. confidence will make you seem to adopt a relaxed attitude towards the entire process. just like Hitchcock in his film, Bruegel, in his painting, played by Shakespeare in his drama.

Good design doesn't have to be funny, but it's hard to imagine that things without a sense of humor will be good design.

Good design is difficult. If you look at people who have made great achievements, one thing is that they have worked hard. If you do not work hard, you may be wasting time.

A difficult question requires a great deal of effort. A difficult proof of Mathematics requires a brilliant answer, and it is often fascinating. The same is true for engineering.

When you climb the mountain, you will take out all unnecessary things from your backpack. an architect who wants to build a house in a difficult place or with only a small budget will find that he must make an elegant design. pop and flashy things can only be put aside.

Not all efforts are good. pain also has advantages and disadvantages. you want the pain to fly, rather than the pain on the nail. The difficult problem may be good for the designer, but the difficult customers and unreliable raw materials are no good.

Traditionally, the highest position in the art field is reserved for portraits. there is a reason for the tradition, not because the figures are painted in our minds, but not in other paintings. we are so good at observing faces that we are satisfied with the unremitting efforts of people who draw faces. if you describe the branches for five degrees during tree painting, no one will see them. if you picture the human eye for five degrees, everyone will notice it.

When the Bauhaus school adopted Sullivan's "form-based follow-up function", they meant that the form-based follow-up function. in addition, if the function is difficult enough, the form must follow because there is no room for error. wild animals are beautiful because they have a hard life.

A good design looks easy. like a good athlete, great designers make people feel that the design is very easy. this is usually a representation. after several modifications, you can read the article.

In the tech field, some of the greatest discoveries seem so simple. You may say to yourself that I also want them. The discoverer is qualified to answer this question: Why didn't you think of it?

Da Vinci has only a few portraits. you watched the paintings and thought, all you had to do was to draw the eight or nine lines to the correct position, and then a masterpiece was created. yes, but you must draw them to the correct position. A slight deviation will cause the entire painting to fail.

Line Drawing is almost perfect, so it is actually the most difficult visual media. in mathematical terms, it is a closed solution. less excellent artists gradually approach the same problem. one reason why children about 10 years old give up painting is that they are determined to draw pictures like adults and try to draw a face for the first time. it's awesome!

In many fields, it is easy to associate with exercises. maybe you can use your subconscious to complete the task with your consciousness. in some cases, you precisely train your body. A professional pianist Presses keys faster than the signal sent from his brain to his hand. after a period of training, painters can pass visual perception from the eyes to their hands, especially conditioned reflection.

When talking about a person "entering the chemical environment", I think they mean that the spinal cord controls the body, the spinal cord does not hesitate, and the consciousness is liberated, making it more difficult to think about problems.

Good design uses symmetry. I think symmetry may only be one of the ways to achieve simplicity, but it is very important and worth mentioning separately. It is a good sign that nature applies it a lot.

There are two types of symmetry: Repetition and recursion. recursion refers to repetition at the sub-level, just like the context of the leaves.

Symmetry is not popular in some fields, as a rebound to excessive use in the past. architects began to consciously use asymmetry in the Victorian age. In the 1920 s, asymmetry became the clear premise of modern architecture. however, even such buildings are asymmetrical only on the central axis, and there are still many small places that are symmetrical.

In writing, there are symmetry at all levels, from phrases in sentences to novel structures. this is also true for music and painting. mosaic paintings composed of the same particles (and some saeshang paintings) have special visual impact. the combination of symmetry produces some of the most memorable works: the birth of Adam and the American Catholic Church.

Recursion is particularly useful in mathematics and engineering. the induction method is incredibly concise. software problems that can be solved recursively are almost certainly the best solution. the Eiffel Tower is noticeable in part because it is recursive: A tower is stacked with a tower.

The danger of symmetry, especially repetition, is that it may replace thinking.

Good design imitates nature. it is better to say that it has spent more than years exploring solutions to problems than imitating nature. if your answer is a natural imitation, it is a good sign.

Copying is not cheating. no one will deny that the story should be like life. finding inspiration from life is also a magic weapon for painting, although its tasks are often misunderstood. the goal is not to make a simple record. The point is that it gives you something interesting: When you look at an object, your hand will make more interesting work.

Imitation of nature also works in the engineering field. the ship has had spine and ribs for a long time, like an animal's chest. in some cases, we have to wait for better technology: Early aircraft designers mistakenly designed the aircraft to look like birds, but they don't have enough light material or power (the litters' engine weighs 152, but only 12 horsepower output .), there is no sophisticated navigation system that allows machines to fly like birds. however, I predict that a small self-driving plane that can fly like a bird will appear within 50 years.

Since we have powerful computing capabilities, we can not only imitate the results of nature, but also simulate a large self-generated method. genetic algorithms allow us to create things that are too complex to be designed under normal conditions.

A good design is a re-design. The ability to do things right for the first time is very small. Experts expected to discard some of the initial works and they planned the change.

Self-confidence is required to discard the work. you must think like this, and there will be more results. for example, people are reluctant to redraw bad places when they first learn painting. they feel lucky to have done this step. If they do it again, it may be worse. so they convinced themselves that the painting was not so bad. Actually, it might be the case.

It is dangerous to persuade yourself. It is better to make mistakes in order to cultivate an unsatisfied spirit. in da Vinci's sketch, it is often five or six attempts to draw the exact position of a line. behind the distinctive Porsche 911 is a clumsy prototype. in his original Guggenheim design, Wright was a pyramid-shaped building (Ziggurat) on the right. He turned it back to the present.

It is normal to make mistakes. rather than regard errors as disasters, they should be easily confirmed and repaired. da Vinci invented the sketch more or less, so that painting could bear more load and exploration. the software for source code development has fewer errors because it acknowledges the possibility of making mistakes.

It is helpful if the media can make changes easily. in the 15th century, the painter began to be able to deal with difficult theme such as portrait painting, because, unlike the painting, the oil painting can be mixed and covered.

A good design can be replicated. The attitude towards replication usually leads to a detour. A newbie starts to imitate it before he knows it. Then he tries to create the original one consciously. Finally, he realizes that correctness is more important than originality.

Ignorant imitation is almost the recipe for bad design. if you don't know where your idea comes from, you may be imitating a imitator. the Rafael style was so popular in the middle of the 19th century that everyone who studied painting had to imitate him or even him. it is this ethos, rather than lafir's own work, that angered the former Rafael artist.

Ambitious people are not satisfied with imitation. The second stage of appreciation is consciously aiming at originality.

I think the greatest masters have a kind of self-defeating spirit. they are eager to get the correct answer, so if some parts of the correct answer have been found, there is no reason not to use it. they are confident enough to learn from others without worrying about losing their ideas in this process.

A good design is usually special. some of the most outstanding works have an incredible quality: Euler's formula, Bruegel's Sprite hunters, SR-71, lisp. they are not only beautiful, but also singular.

I don't know why. it may be my ignorance. the opener must be incredible for dogs. if I am smart enough, I think EI * Pi =-1 is the most natural thing in the world. in any case, this formula must be truth.

Most of the qualities I mentioned in this article can be cultivated, but I do not think that singularity can be cultivated. the best thing you can do is not suppress it when there is such a sign. einstein did not try to create a strange theory of relativity. he tried to find out the truth, which seemed strange.

The only style you deserve is the one you cannot pursue. this is especially true for singularity. there are no shortcuts. mannerists, romantics, and two generations of American high school students are not found in the Northwest route. the only way to reach it (singularity) is to survive (design) and then come out from the other end.

Good design appears in batches. residents of Florence in the 15th century include Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Donatello, and Masaccio ), filippo Lippi, Fra Angelico, Verrocchio, Botticelli, and Leonardo da Vinci ), and Angela Angelo ). milan is as big as Florence. How many Milan artists can you tell?

Something happened in Florence in the 15th century, and it cannot be inherited because it does not happen now. you must assume that, regardless of the inherent factors of da Vinci and Picasso, there should also be Milan. what about Da Vinci in Milan?

The population of the United States is about one thousand times that of Florence in the 15th century. the 1949th Da Vinci and the 1949th Picasso lived in the middle of us. if we only control everything by DNA, we will encounter artistic masterpiece every day. we don't. The reason is that you want to create Da Vinci. Not only does it need his native abilities, but it also needs the frorensa in 1450.

There is nothing more powerful than a group of talented people to explore related issues. in comparison, genes are insignificant: The genes with Da Vinci are not enough to compensate for staying close to Milan and away from Florence. the present generation has migrated more, but the great works still come out of a few hot spots: Bauhaus, Manhattan program, New York, and skunk works of locksid, xerox PARC ).

At any time, only limited subjects and limited teams that do great work. if you are too far away from these projects, it is almost impossible to have a good job. you can adapt to or oppose this trend to some extent, but you cannot leave it alone. (maybe you can, But Da Vinci in Milan fails .)

Good design is often bold. people believe in ridiculous things in every period of history and are so firm that you have to come up with different opinions at the risk of rejection or even violence.

It would be nice if our times were different. I have not observed it yet.

This problem not only tortured every era, but also tortured every field to some extent. many works of the Renaissance have long been considered terrible in that era: According to Vasari, Botticelli regretted and gave up painting, FRA bartolommeo and lorzo di credi actually burned parts. einstein's theory of relativity made many contemporary physicists unhappy and were not fully accepted for decades in France until the 1950 s.

Today's experimental mistakes are the theory of tomorrow. If you want to discover great new things, you should not turn a blind eye to the areas where wisdom and theories are not involved, but pay special attention to them.

As a special case, I think it is easier to see ugliness than imagined beauty. most people who create beautiful things achieve their goals by modifying what they think is ugly. great works are often produced like this: Someone sees something and thinks that I can do better than this. gioreach (gioreach) sees the Holy Mother image depicted by the traditional formula to make people feel satisfied for centuries, but he feels clumsy and unnatural. as a theory widely accepted by contemporary people, cobaini is deeply worried that there must be a better solution.

It is not enough to endure ugliness. you need to understand this domain before developing a sense of smell that knows where to change. you have to work hard. after you become an expert, you will hear the internal VOICE: What a hack! There must be a better way. Do not ignore these voices and cultivate them. The secret of a great work is: a very accurate appreciation and the ability to satisfy it.

Original note
Sullivan actually said: form ever follows function. But I think this inaccurate reference is closer to the meaning of a modern architect.

Stephen G. Brush, "Why was relativity accepted? "Phys. perspect. 1 (1999) 184-214.

[Turning] the appreciation of creators