📘 Part 3: Beautiful things

This episode's vocabulary

To capture (verb) - if something captures your imagination or attention, you feel very interested and excited by it.

Transfixed (adj.) - unable to move or stop looking at something because you are so interested, surprised, or frightened.

Bittersweet (adj.) - containing a mixture of sadness and happiness.

Pareto principle(noun) - the idea that a small quantity of work or resources (= time, money, employees, etc.) can produce a large number of results. (the 80/20 rule)

Distribution (noun) - the number of times each value of a variable (= a number that can change) is found in a set of data, shown as a graph, chart, etc.

Sheer (adj.) - used to emphasize how very great, important, or powerful a quality or feeling is; nothing except.

Raw land (noun) - land in its natural state, which has not been used or prepared for building on or growing crops on.

Rugged (adj.) - (of land) wild and not even; not easy to travel over.

Appeal (noun) - the quality in someone or something that makes him, her, or it attractive or interesting.

Draw someone's eye(s) - to attract someone's attention.

Temperament (noun) - the part of your character that affects your moods and the way you behave.

Disposition (noun) - the particular type of character that a person naturally has.

Every cloud has a silver lining (idiom) - said to emphasize that every difficult or unpleasant situation has some advantage.

Hardwired (adj.) - if someone or something is hardwired to do a particular thing, they automatically do it and cannot change that behaviour.

To carve out something (phrasal verb) - to successfully create or get something, especially a work position, by working for it.

Elegant (adj.) - graceful and attractive in appearance or behaviour.

Arbiter (noun) - someone who makes a judgment, solves an argument, or decides what will be done.

Be-all and end-all - the most important thing.

To get your foot in the door (idiom) - to enter a business or organization at a low level, but with a chance of being more successful in the future.

Excess (noun) - an amount that is more than acceptable, expected, or reasonable.

To tread (verb) - to walk.

Manifestation (noun) - appearance.

Core (adj.) - the basic and most important part of something.

Voluptuous (adj.) - a voluptuous woman has a soft, curved, sexually attractive body.

Figure (noun) - the shape of the human body, or a person.

To manifest (verb) - to show something clearly, through signs or actions.

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Questions and Answers

M: What does beauty mean?

R: Something or someone that captures your attention and leaves you almost transfixed by how it or how they look and how they inspire you. It's usually a positive or a bittersweet experience sometimes. You can see it in certain kinds of art.

M: Do you think there are more beautiful things now than in the past?

R: Well, there are more things in general, so a simple Pareto distribution would suggest there are more in terms of sheer numbers, but the proportion is probably about the same.

M: What beautiful scenery spots are there in your country?

R: That depends on your tastes. The Highlands have a certain raw and rugged appeal since they're pure, unfiltered nature, and that certainly captures people's imaginations. Similarly, we've got many ancient Gothic-style buildings in our cities that draw the eye. So it's really dependent on the individual.

M: Where do you think people usually come into contact with beautiful things?

R: Well, that's probably a matter of temperament. By that I mean, like, if you're an angry, disagreeable person, you will probably not find a lot of beauty wherever you go. By contrast, if you're of a more positive disposition, then you're more likely to find the silver lining in every cloud you come across.

M: Why do you think people create beautiful things?

R: Well, why wouldn't they? There's already so much negativity in the world. And we're hardwired to find it. Far better to spend your time carving out something attractive and elegant to lift people up and inspire them to keep going, despite how harsh life can be at times. And if not for other people, then at least for oneself.

M: Who decides what's beautiful and what's not?

R: Ultimately, the arbiters of culture, I suppose. Though to a certain extent biology will play a role in that too. For example, apparently, facial symmetry is a key marker of health and attractiveness. And people are drawn to what is healthy and good for them.

M: What are the advantages of being considered beautiful?

R: Well, you would know, wouldn't you? But seriously, though, you get access to lots of things, if people like you, for whatever reason it is. People buy you drinks or agree to go out with you, etc. It's not the be-all and end-all you have to have a personality to back up the beauty, but it certainly gets your foot in the door.

M: Are there any disadvantages?

R: Well, if you get access to things, there's a risk of excess isn't there, you could have too much access to some things. For example, you hear a lot about models and actors developing addiction issues. So it's important to tread carefully in that regard.

M: How has what is considered beautiful changed over time?

R: Well, broadly speaking, I don't think it has. Although maybe the physical manifestations have. The core concept hasn't changed, though, like something that captures your attention, and leaves you feeling positive and transfixed afterwards. So maybe, for example, pieces of art from maybe 100 years ago had slightly more voluptuous figures in them than they do now. But still, that's changed, but they still make people stop and look and feel positive about what they're looking at. So it's still beautiful for the same reasons.

M: And do you think the concept of beauty will change in the future? And how?

R: I think as more materials to express beauty become available, then how it manifests will change as well or it will just add on to what's already there. But it will still be about things that leave people feeling good and feeling positive about what they're looking at or what they're experiencing.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your answers!

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Discussion

M: What song do we have about beauty? It's a beautiful, beautiful life.

R: Well, we have also Christina Aguilera. No matter what they say words can't bring me down. My singing might bring you down.

M: Oh, Rory is singing Christina Aguilera. You see, only on premium.

R: Yeah. People really are getting what they pay for.

M: What does beauty mean? A typical IELTS question. What does success mean? What does happiness mean? And Rory told us that something or someone that captures your attention. So kind of that catches your attention, that captures your attention and leaves you almost transfixed by how it looks. So if you are transfixed what happens?

R: You're standing there unable to move almost because you're just so focused on this thing.

M: Yeah, you see something beautiful. And then like, whoa, you're, oh, it's just so beautiful. So it inspires you. You're transfixed by how it looks. You're amazed. It captures your attention. So beauty is usually positive, right? Or bittersweet experience. And we can see it in certain kinds of art. So when we think beauty, we think art. Or people could be considered a piece of art, you are a piece of art, dear listener. Rory is a piece of Scottish art.

R: Or a work of art.

M: A work of art. Then a typical question is to compare now and in the past. So do you think there are more beautiful things now than in the past? You're gonna use used to. We used to have such and such. But in general, there are more things which are beautiful now you think, yeah?

R: Well, yeah, I mean, like as the number... We have more stuff. So of course, there's going to be more beautiful things.

M: And Rory used this like, in terms of sheer numbers. Sheer, it just in terms of like...

R: Absolute numbers. Like just the numbers. So the number has gone up.

M: Yeah, shear is a nice, like word, which could be added to different words. For example, I can use it... Like this idea is sheer nonsense.

R: Or sheer brilliance.

M: Yes. Sheer brilliance. Yeah, it could be like positive and negative. Right? Or it was sheer coincidence.

R: Or utter coincidence.

M: Utter coincidence. Yeah. So kind of to emphasize how great, important, powerful something is we use this one. And what did you say about distribution?

R: A Pareto distribution? So for example, 20% of things will contribute to 80% of the beauty, for example. So it's always going to be like that. So it'll always be 20%. So the proportion hasn't changed. There's probably the same percentage of beautiful things, but the number is increased. Do you see what I mean? No. Let's say 100 years ago, there were 100 things and 20% of those were beautiful. Great. So that would be 20 things. And now, we've moved on. So it's 100 years later, more things have been produced. Let's say it's 1000 things. 20% of 1000 things will still be considered beautiful. So it's not 20 things anymore. It's 200 things. So the sheer numbers have gone up. But the proportion, 20% is still the same.

M: Oh, okay. Interesting. Very interesting. Okay, dear listener, how are you doing? Are you with us? Okay, cool. Beautiful scenery spots. Spots like places. Scenery meaning landscape. Yeah? So we usually talk about lakes and nature and parks. So beautiful scenery. And Rory talked about Highlands. Scottish, you know. And unfiltered nature. So pure, unfiltered nature. Unfiltered. Yeah, without a filter. Another word is pristine nature. Pristine is like pure. Without any people. So pure, unfiltered nature captures our imaginations.

R: And also, he talked about ancient Gothic-style buildings in our cities. Draw the eye. So if a building draws the eye, it catches our attention, yeah? Yeah, so here you can talk about buildings and nature and parks. So beautiful scenery. Scenery is uncountable. So it's beautiful scenery. And Rory's answer here was interesting because he said that kind of nice, I don't know, happy people see beautiful things everywhere. So if you're, like a happy person, you'll probably find a lot of beauty wherever you go. Yeah? So you don't need to go to a special place, to a museum or... It's just like you find beauty everywhere. Yeah? So from these little things. But if you are an angry, disagreeable person, if you disagree with everything, you'll probably not find a lot of beauty wherever you go. So even if you're gonna be in a beautiful park, everything is going to be horrible to you. Yeah? What did you mean, when you said like, if you are of a more positive disposition?

R: It just means if you're a happier person. Your disposition is how you feel about things in general. And if you have a positive disposition, then you feel more positively about things.

M: Rory, you've used an idiom. And like an actual idiom. To find the silver lining in every cloud. Do you think it's okay to use it here?

R: Yeah.

M: Isn't it like a cliche? Like an old idiom?

R: If you were just to say every cloud has a silver lining, and then look at the examiner after stressing it, then yes, but it's stretched out here. To find the silver lining in every cloud. So you've changed the form.

M: Yeah. And usually, we don't do this because we learn an idiom as it is, and we use it as it is. But sometimes we can change it, but dear listener, be very careful with that, okay? Because if you make a mistake, and you want to use this idiom, and you make mistake, so your score could get lowered just because of this mistake. And the examiner will find it very strange. So here, you can just learn this sentence. If you are of a more positive disposition, so if you're a positive person, then you are more likely to find the silver lining in every cloud you come across. So pretty much you will find something nice in everything. People are hardwired to find negativity, yeah? So if I'm hard-wired to find something, it's in my brain. So I'm kind of like born with it. What else can I be hardwired to?

R: Oh, hard-wired for survival, I suppose. Because that's part of it, actually. Hardwired to focus on negative things. Because if our attention is drawn to everything, then it's difficult to focus. And so you'd be less likely to survive. If you focus on the negative things, then you're more likely to survive because you're aware of them, and you can take steps to deal with them.

M: Yeah, true. Like at school, like teachers seem to be hardwired to find only mistakes, they kind of they hardly ever praise you, but they kind of find every mistake you make. And point it out. Well, some teachers. And it's far better to spend your time carving out something attractive. So if you carve out something attractive, you, for example, take a pumpkin and carve out...

R: A face.

M: A face, yeah. You carve out a face. Like for Halloween, for example, people carve out different things from wood. Yeah? So something, you can make something elegant and attractive. Why? To lift people up, lift people up, like to improve their mood, to improve their spirit. Yeah? So to lift up their spirits. Hey! To make them happier. And inspire them despite our harsh life. Life could be harsh, could be, you know, like difficult, hard, harsh life. Who are these people, the arbiter of culture?

R: The arbiters of culture are the people who control it.

M: Who controls culture?

R: Oh, well, we all do in a way. But the arbiters of culture will be the people with the largest amount of resources and power. So probably elites, politicians, figures of power, business magnets. This kind of thing.

M: Yeah, maybe the owners of museums or directors of state museums. So an arbiter is someone who makes a judgment, right? Who decides what will be done. For example, the arbiters of fashion, right? The arbiters of taste. There are advantages and disadvantages to being beautiful. And to something beautiful. So about the benefits of being considered beautiful, you get access to lots of things. Yeah, so a beautiful person could get access to lots of things. People buy you drinks. They go out with you. They want to be around you. But it certainly gets your foot in the door. Rory, is this another idiom?

R: It is. Yes, to get your foot in the door is like to get yourself at least a positive start.

M: Could you give us another sentence with this?

R: So it could be like, there was lots of competition for this job. However, my extra knowledge of the subject area got my foot in the door.

M: Hey! As for the drawbacks, you can say on the flip side. I guess for the drawbacks, there is a risk of excess. So it's just too much. You have access to lots of things, and everything is available. Lots of people want to be around you and it's become like too much. You could be overwhelmed. Yeah? By just things. Here you've used this word, voluptuous.

R: Voluptuous. That just means figures that have. They're not thin, but they're not fat. They're, I don't know what the word is, apart from voluptuous. It just means that they're full-figured people. They're not fat, but they're not so skinny that they look like they're dying. Curvy. That's what I want to say. Voluptuous, curvaceous and sexually attractive. Typically used of a woman but can also be used for men.

M: Wow. Yeah. So voluptuous body or a voluptuous figure. Figure like a person's figure, yeah? A person's body. Or a voluptuous mouth, for example. And you know, here for this question, like, how has it changed? So something that's considered beautiful, so and it has changed. You can talk about people's bodies, right? For example, Marilyn Monroe. Well, you know...

R: A voluptuous figure.

M: And is still considered one of the most beautiful and sexiest woman in the world. So head a voluptuous figure. She wasn't like, like super slim or something. She was a bit plumpish, right? But in a nice way. And then there was this fashion for skinny people. Like everybody wanted to be, like, super thin. Yeah? And people would not eat much just to be like super thin. Like models. But now fashion is changing. And what is considered beautiful is also changing. Right? So we have different people from all over the world, different colours, different bodies. So you see, kind of there are some changes. And yeah, dear listener, you can talk about people's bodies. Cool.

R: But hopefully you enjoyed our beautiful answers! Thank you for listening!

M: You are beautiful! We love you! We hug you! Bye!

R: Bye!

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