Defining Preference

Why not have a bouquet of these?

Why do we prefer?

Sculpture to paining? Blue to red? Life to death?

Perhaps preference is deeply engrained in one’s DNA; perhaps subconsciously programmed by one’s environment; perhaps a product of both.

Regardless, while proclivities may be societally influenced, the urge to claim and even assert one’s own partiality as dominant is an innate aspect of human nature. I firmly believe (however ignorant it may sound) that Michelangelo’s and Leonardo’s arguments regarding the nobility of different artistic mediums stem from their own personal predilections rather than from their conceptions of nobility. Even in class, we were able to see that the proposed question—‘what is the noblest form of art?’—quickly became twisted, morphed, forgotten, and replaced by the question that it is a derivative of—‘which art do you prefer?’

While I do not believe that it is impossible for one to differentiate one’s own propensities from the way one views the world, I feel that it is (understandably) uncommon. It would take more than will power; it would take constant conscious awareness. After all, to some extent, our preferences do define us. It is only natural to view society, politics, art, life through the lenses we have subconsciously created for ourselves. It is infantile to live subjectively and equally untrue to force oneself to live objectively. While we may view art with our own preferences in mind, we must not let our own preconceived notions cloud or distort the art itself.