What initially drew me to Dr John Vervaeke’s course, The Primacy of Beauty, is that I consider Beauty—alongside Curiosity and Growth—to be one of my core values. For me, Beauty is more than just visual appeal or aesthetic pleasure; I see it as anything that brings genuine meaning or insight into our lives. I believe Beauty is what helps us form authentic connections—deepening our understanding of ourselves, others, and the world around us.
Yet today, our culture is saturated with superficial pleasures and instant gratification, often obscuring beauty’s deeper significance. Inspired by Vervaeke’s insightful exploration, I have strived to summarise here some key ideas from his course to explain how beauty is fundamentally connected to intelligence, creativity, and problem-solving. My belief is that by reclaiming the true depth and richness of beauty, we can all lead more fulfilling, meaningful lives.
The Lost Sacredness of Beauty
Historically, beauty wasn’t just pleasant—it was seen as profound, even sacred, linked directly to truth and deeper reality. Plato saw beauty as essential to grasping profound truths, offering connection to something greater than ourselves.
Today, however, we’ve largely lost sight of this sacred dimension, viewing beauty as subjective preference or superficial allure. Why did this happen, and why does it matter?
Modern Cynicism and the Loss of Depth
The modern way of thinking, influenced by figures like Freud and Nietzsche, assumes that things are never as they seem and that hidden motives are always at play. However, the irony is that calling something deceptive implies we have also encountered real moments of truth—precisely the kind of truth that genuine beauty once revealed.
Reflection:
- How often do you dismiss something as superficial without considering the possibility of deeper meaning?
The Trap of Smoothness
Philosopher Byung-Chul Han describes our current obsession with “smoothness”—experiences that are frictionless, immediately gratifying, and devoid of complexity. Whether in easy entertainment, social media scrolling, or pornography, smoothness steals the mystery and challenge essential to real beauty.
Real beauty thrives on mystery—something inexhaustible, continuously drawing us deeper into understanding. Think of relationships: genuine connection depends on ongoing discovery, never fully “solving” or objectifying another person.
Reflection:
- Identify areas in your life dominated by smooth, frictionless pleasures. What richer experiences might you be missing?
Beauty as a Cognitive Gateway
Dr. John Vervaeke connects beauty directly with our intelligence and problem-solving abilities. Beauty is deeply linked to our brain’s capacity for insight and understanding.
Research shows when our minds easily grasp deeper connections, we instinctively perceive beauty and truth together. Beauty, therefore, is closely linked to our innate sense-making abilities.
How Beauty Enhances Problem-Solving
Consider the famous “nine-dot problem,” where participants must think creatively to succeed. The solution comes by literally “breaking the frame”—thinking outside conventional boundaries. Beauty similarly involves breaking habitual ways of seeing the world and then reshaping them into something meaningful and new. Encountering beauty helps our minds learn how to shift perspectives effortlessly, enhancing our creativity and insight.
But insight isn’t something we can simply command into existence or passively wait for. It emerges from our active participation, bridging the gap between perception (what we see) and understanding (how we make sense of it). Much like beauty, insight involves a process of self-correction: we realise our habitual perspectives might have been limited or even flawed. Suddenly, appearances no longer deceive us—they reveal deeper truths about reality. Insight, then, is a moment of profound clarity, a joyful recognition of meaningful connections previously unseen.
When experiencing beauty, we’re essentially practicing insight. Both beauty and insight rely on reframing, realising relevance, and seeing new possibilities. Frequent engagement with beauty thus trains our minds in the art of insight, increasing our capacity for meaningful, transformative experiences.
Reflection:
- Recall a time when a beautiful experience or creative moment helped you break free from limiting assumptions. What new perspective did you gain? How did this insight reshape your understanding of reality?
Beauty, Flow, and Meaning in Life
Flow—when you’re completely absorbed in an activity—is closely related to beauty. During flow, self-conscious thoughts vanish, and your ability to act effectively improves dramatically. Athletes, artists, and musicians often experience this, describing flow as deeply meaningful and beautiful.
This connection between beauty, insight, and flow suggests that beauty isn’t merely subjective or objective—it’s “transjective,” meaning it exists in the interaction between ourselves and the world.
Relevance Realisation: Beauty as Insight
Humans naturally filter information through a cognitive process called relevance realisation. We ignore irrelevant details to focus on what’s meaningful. Beauty triggers and trains this ability by helping us effortlessly identify deeper connections, transforming overwhelming information into clear insights.
Reflection:
- Next time you face a difficult problem, step away and engage with something beautiful (music, nature, art). Notice how this experience might trigger fresh insights.
Distinguishing Lying From “Bullshit”
Interestingly (and usefully), Vervaeke explains philosopher Harry Frankfurt’s distinction between lying and “bullshit.” While lying intentionally misleads by depending on a listener’s concern for truth, bullshit operates differently—it makes truth irrelevant, encouraging us to overlook truth entirely. Bullshit captivates attention through appealing images or ideas, influencing our decisions regardless of their accuracy. Advertising often uses bullshit by presenting unrealistic scenarios we know are false but choose to ignore due to their salience or attractiveness.
He further highlights the danger of self-deception through “bullshitting ourselves.” Unlike lying, which is impossible to genuinely do to oneself, we can easily mislead ourselves by selectively directing our attention. This creates artificial salience, influencing our future perceptions and actions.
“Bullshit” statements exploit ambiguity and can deceive us into thinking something profound has been communicated when nothing substantial has actually been said. Recognising and challenging this “pseudo-profound bullshit” is crucial, especially in an era dominated by social media, where triviality and superficial depth are common.
Why Beauty Makes Sense: The Power of Plausibility
Beauty connects closely with the idea of plausibility, defined as something that “makes good sense.” For something to be plausible, it needs:
- Trustworthiness: Supported by many independent sources, reducing personal bias.
- Elegance: Offers powerful explanations across diverse domains.
- Balance: Neither trivial nor far-fetched.
- Coherence: Internally consistent and meaningful.
Beauty shares these exact features. It has a clarity and trustworthiness, connects different aspects of experience (elegance), strikes a balance that isn’t superficial or unbelievable, and holds together coherently.
Consider how a beautiful theory in science often feels elegant and trustworthy, intuitively “making sense” even before experiments prove it.
Reflection:
- How does recognising beauty in ideas help you learn better or engage more effectively in critical thinking?
Beauty’s Role in Rational Thought and Justice
Vervaeke highlights philosopher Elaine Scarry’s compelling insight that beauty prepares us for justice, not just truth. Beauty teaches us to shift our focus away from the self, developing a capacity for fairness, balance, and proportionality—all essential for just action. He explains how the words “fair” (beautiful) and “fair” (just) share a root for a reason: beauty trains us in balanced judgement and perspective-taking, key skills required to act justly.
Reflection:
- Have you ever noticed how being in awe of beauty—like an awe-inspiring landscape—can momentarily free you from egocentric thinking? How might regularly seeking beautiful experiences help you become fairer and more empathetic?
The Mystery and Excess of Beauty
Sonia Sedivy builds upon these ideas, emphasising how beauty points beyond what can be described by language or concepts—what philosophers call ineffability. When encountering beauty, we often say it “takes our breath away,” meaning we become silent, unable to fully articulate our experience. Why? Because beauty reminds us that reality is more profound and complex than our concepts can fully grasp. It highlights the “moreness”—that every object we perceive has infinite aspects and connections that exceed immediate comprehension.
This “presencing of plenitude,” the feeling that reality itself is inexhaustibly rich and meaningful, is fundamental to our sense of connection with the world. Beauty thus reassures us that reality is ultimately intelligible, even if we can’t fully capture it in words.
Beauty as a Bridge Between Perception and Thought
Vervaeke brings Kant’s philosophy into the discussion to explain how beauty bridges the gap between perception (what we sense) and cognition (how we understand). According to Kant, the imagination plays a crucial role in this process. Beauty stimulates a free interplay between imagination and understanding, helping us realise that our perceptions can reliably be translated into concepts and meaning. Beauty thus teaches us confidence in our cognitive abilities, assuring us that the world remains meaningful.
Everyday Beauty in Metaphors and Gestures
You may not realise it, but beauty constantly informs your daily life through metaphor. Conceptual metaphors—such as saying you “grasp an idea” or “see a point”—bridge perception and thought imaginatively. Metaphors carry insight, helping you see familiar things in fresh, new ways, similar to poetry’s power to transform ordinary language into something beautiful and meaningful. Just as poetry enriches language, metaphor enriches your cognition by creatively repurposing your everyday experiences, making your thoughts more flexible, insightful, and satisfying. Becoming more conscious of this subtle form of beauty in our language can profoundly deepen your understanding and enhance your daily interactions.
Practical Takeaways: How to Cultivate a Sense of Beauty
Here are actionable insights from these ideas to enrich your personal development:
- Practice imagining your future self vividly as someone you love deeply. This enhances motivation and rational decision-making. Notice how this imaginative exercise positively affects your daily choices.
- Engage regularly with activities that encourage mindfulness, contemplation, and imagination, like meditation, poetry, or dance.
- Notice metaphors and gestures in everyday conversations, appreciating how they bridge abstract thought with embodied experience.
- Reflect on fairness and proportionality in daily interactions—beauty teaches us to judge situations with balance and empathy.
Beauty as a Bridge to Meaning
Historically, Western thought separated reality into two worlds: the tangible (physical) and intangible (spiritual). Beauty bridges this divide, connecting our sensory experiences with deeper meanings. Beauty reminds us reality is neither purely physical nor merely abstract—it’s a unified, intelligible whole.
The Imaginal: A Secret to Rationality
Rational thought depends on imagining possibilities vividly. Research shows vividly picturing our future selves can significantly improve our decision-making. This imaginative skill, essential to beauty, thus shapes our practical wisdom and ability to act reasonably.
Four Types of Knowing: Beauty and Wisdom
Beauty engages more than just rational thinking—it taps into multiple forms of knowing.
In Western culture though, when we think about knowledge, we often limit ourselves to propositional knowledge—facts and information we can easily articulate. However, this is just one type of knowing among several. Vervaeke introduces four distinct kinds of knowing, captured by the four Ps:
- Propositional Knowing (Dianoia): This is the knowledge of facts (“knowing that”), such as “cats are mammals,” stored as beliefs. It’s what we’re taught in school and typically associate with intelligence.
- Procedural Knowing (Techne): This is practical knowledge (“knowing how”). Think of skills like playing an instrument or riding a bicycle—actions we can perform without necessarily explaining them in words.
- Perspectival Knowing (Noesis): This involves “knowing what it’s like” to experience a situation. It’s your intuitive ability to read the room, grasp nuances, and interpret context effectively.
- Participatory Knowing (Gnosis): This is knowing through deep involvement or engagement, such as love or meaningful relationships. It’s how you feel deeply connected to someone or something, shaping your very identity and sense of belonging.
True wisdom integrates all these forms. Beauty uniquely activates them simultaneously, guiding us toward a fuller, wiser life.
Reflection:
- Are you relying too heavily on just one form of knowing (e.g., facts alone)? How might embracing beauty regularly enrich your understanding and decision-making?
Beauty as Profound Noticing
Central to Vervaeke’s argument is the idea that beauty is a profound form of noticing—noesis. When we experience beauty, we’re recognising deeper patterns and connections. Beauty draws our attention, allowing us to prioritise and proportion what truly matters. In other words, beauty is profound noticing.
Reflection:
- When was the last time you genuinely paused to notice beauty in your surroundings, and how did it change your perspective?
Why Understanding Different Kinds of Knowing Matters
Recognising these multiple forms of knowing is essential because relying exclusively on propositional knowledge can lead to what Vervaeke calls “propositional tyranny.” When we value facts alone, we overlook other essential aspects of human experience, such as skills, intuition, and meaningful relationships.
Consider honesty. Being honest isn’t simply about knowing the fact that lying is wrong (propositional). It involves knowing how to apply honesty appropriately (procedural), understanding the situation deeply (perspectival), and embodying honesty as part of who you are (participatory). Real virtue, therefore, demands integration of all these forms of knowing.
The Power of Reciprocal Opening
For Plato, experiencing beauty and love isn’t merely aesthetic pleasure—it’s a pathway to personal growth, virtue, and wisdom. He uses the powerful metaphor of the “parable of the cave” (famously echoed in modern culture through films like The Matrix) to illustrate this journey:
- Individuals trapped in the cave see only shadows—partial truths, limited by their own narrow perspective.
- Freedom involves turning away from these shadows, journeying towards greater insight, through a process known as anagoge—a continual ascent to deeper understanding and personal transformation.
- Eventually, wisdom emerges as we continually adjust our inner perceptions (mindset) to understand reality more clearly (insight).
This process—termed reciprocal opening—is central to meaningful living. As we open ourselves to the world, the world reveals more depth and possibility back to us, fostering both wisdom and virtue. Love and beauty encourage reciprocal opening, continually drawing us into greater depth, richer meaning, and healthier relationships.
Conversely, reciprocal narrowing occurs in addiction. The more we engage in addictive behaviours, the narrower our perception of reality becomes, limiting our agency and potential for growth.
To cultivate reciprocal opening, pursue activities and relationships that expand your awareness and understanding, rather than narrowing it.
Reflection:
- Are there areas in your life where you’re experiencing reciprocal narrowing—like unhealthy habits or repetitive conflicts? How might you cultivate reciprocal opening instead, perhaps through mindful practices, new relationships, or pursuing meaningful experiences?
As Vervaeke succinctly puts it: “Learn to love wisely,” because our deepest satisfactions come not from possessions or achievements but from genuine connection and engagement with reality. Loving wisely involves cultivating a relationship that leads you toward personal growth, meaning, and fulfilment.
Historically, Western thought divided existence into two worlds: the physical (tangible) and the spiritual (intangible). This separation can cause tension in understanding beauty, as it belongs simultaneously to both realms.
Dr. Vervaeke suggests transcending this two-world dichotomy altogether, much like Zen philosophy encourages. Rather than seeing beauty as a bridge between two separate worlds, we can view it as evidence that there’s just one interconnected reality.
Holding Finitude and Transcendence Together
According to Vervaeke, humans exist in a delicate balance between two fundamental realities:
- Finitude: Our limitations, vulnerabilities, and mortal nature.
- Transcendence: Our potential for growth, virtue, and self-improvement.
Holding these two in balance—recognising our limitations without succumbing to despair and aspiring to greatness without arrogance—is essential for living a meaningful life. Plato called this tension tonos. Beauty and love help us maintain this tension, reminding us that meaning emerges from living authentically between our limits and our potential.
Reflection:
- Are you maintaining a healthy balance between humility (finitude) and ambition (transcendence)? How could greater awareness of beauty help you sustain this balance?
Beauty as a Gateway to Wisdom
According to Vervaeke, beauty educates our cognitive abilities by encouraging reverence, aspiration, wonder, and gratitude:
- Reverence: Beauty reminds us of something beyond ourselves.
- Aspiration: Beauty calls us to grow, to become more than we currently are.
- Wonder: Not mere curiosity, but deep questioning about ourselves and the world.
- Gratitude and Appreciation: Beauty makes us aware and grateful for existence itself.
Reflective Question: When was the last time you experienced something beautiful that prompted you to rethink your views or inspired personal growth?
Beauty and Practical Wisdom: Being Reasonable
Beauty helps us navigate life effectively by teaching us what Vervaeke calls “practical wisdom” or reasonableness. This isn’t logic or cold analysis—it’s about intuitively sensing what’s truly important and meaningful. Beauty trains you to discern what’s worth your attention and helps you recognise when to reconsider your beliefs and habits (self-correction).
In short, beauty doesn’t just capture attention—it also educates attention itself.
Reflection:
- Have you considered how surrounding yourself with genuine beauty might improve your decision-making and well-being?
Beauty: The Bridge Between Goodness and Truth
Thomas Aquinas described beauty as the “glue” that connects truth (our rational understanding of the world) with goodness (our moral orientation). Beauty makes us realise that truth is intrinsically valuable and good in itself, essential for meaningful science, ethical decisions, and fulfilling lives.
Beauty as Transjective: Beyond Subjectivity
Beauty isn’t merely subjective (“in the eye of the beholder”) nor purely objective (“inherent in the object”). It’s transjective—emerging from our interaction with reality. Beauty exists in the dynamic relationship between us and the world, continuously reshaping our perceptions and insights.
Consider musicians improvising together: beauty arises from their shared exploration, not just individual talents or objective notes.
Reflection:
- How might viewing beauty as interactive (rather than passive) change your daily approach to experiences and relationships?
Falling in Love with Being
Ultimately, Vervaeke argues, overcoming modern meaninglessness involves deeply reconnecting with beauty—falling in love not just with individual experiences or things, but with being itself. This is a practical, everyday mindset of openness, gratitude, and awe toward life.
Beauty reminds us existence itself is valuable and meaningful. By actively cultivating experiences of genuine beauty, we profoundly reconnect with reality, which enriches our lives and relationships.
Reflection:
- Intentionally seek moments of beauty daily. Notice how this shifts your overall attitude toward life.
Conclusion: Embracing the Beauty of Being
In a culture dominated by superficial pleasures, reclaiming the profound significance of beauty can transform our experience of life itself. As Dr John Vervaeke emphasises, the solution to modern struggles with meaninglessness, loneliness, and nihilism can be found by deeply reconnecting with the beauty inherent in existence.
Engaging actively with beauty—rather than passively observing it—sharpens our cognitive skills, enabling us to see through superficial illusions, avoid self-deception, and cultivate richer insights. Regular encounters with genuine beauty train our minds to break limiting frames of perception, fostering creativity, empathy, and a deeper connection to reality.
Ultimately, rediscovering beauty means cultivating an openness toward wonder and possibility. When beauty guides our daily experience, we strengthen our wisdom and uncover a profound sense of fulfilment. In reconnecting beauty with truth and goodness, we rediscover a cosmos rich in purpose—an invitation not merely to observe life, but to actively fall in love with the depth, wisdom, and vibrant connectedness of existence itself.