i like the whole appolian / dyonisian thing. i maintain that we like art because we like liking it. the appolian view of art is objective, the dyonisian subjective; we see the trees and extrapolate there being a forest. we see an assortment of brush strokes and extrapolate a picture. we see a bunch of organs and bones and extrapolate a person. the dyonisian aspect of art means we bestow meaning on something which might otherwise be seen as arbitrary, if not random. and we like to think we exist (because existence is what we all love most) and for us to really exist, other things have to exist. that's why we do everything we do, or at least why i do everything i do, because it convinces me i exist and i can derive satisfaction from that. looking at art, reading books, even this discussion makes me feel more alive. more tangible, more objective. i want to exist, and doing all these things makes me feel more like i exist. even negative things work too - i believe that, deep down, we all love negative experiences, heart breaks and the like. we don't like things that threaten our existence, but... whatev