Time and beauty are two of our most visceral perceptions. Yet, their
nature is seldom questioned. In this ground-breaking new work, Adrian
Bejan - a true 'original' among physicists - explains, in a scholarly
yet colorful style, the scientific basis for the perception of time and
beauty.
Organized into three main ideas, the book begins first with the
perception of time. The author expounds on why we feel that time flies
faster as we get older. Perceived time, also called "mind time," is
different from clock time. In this context, time is another word for
"perceived change". Next, readers will discover that beauty is appealing
because beautifully-shaped images are scanned faster by two eyes. To
observe our immediate surroundings and to understand them faster is
highly advantageous to survival; hence, there is an underlying
evolutionary advantage to our discernment for ideal ratios, shapes, and
beauty at large. Finally, time and beauty are jointly understood to
explain why the global pandemic had decelerated our mind time. This
understanding arms us with techniques to slow down our mind time (which
accelerates with age), and to create the conditions for living longer
and more creatively.
Scientists may have contemplated aspects of time and beauty separately.
In contrast, the author submits an original and rewarding approach to
understanding them together. In the process, key questions to our
cognition are answered. Why does the mind "try" to make sense of a new
mental image? Why is there a natural tendency to organize a new input
and mentally position it among past perceptions? Through physics, the
book offers a general answer: to empower the individual with speed and
clarity of thought, understanding, decision-making and movement. The
same answer holds for the other disparate perceptions illustrated in
this book, from time and beauty to ideas, message, shape, perspective,
art, science, illusions, and dreams.
