Aesthetic Chills: Knowledge-Acquisition, Meaning-Making, and Aesthetic Emotions

Abstract

This article addresses the relation between aesthetic emotions, knowledge-acquisition, and meaning-making. We briefly review theoretical foundations and present experimental data related to aesthetic chills. These results suggest that aesthetic chills are inhibited by exposing the subject to an incoherent prime prior to the chill-eliciting stimulation and that a meaningful prime makes the aesthetic experience more pleasurable than a neutral or an incoherent one. Aesthetic chills induced by narrative structures seem to be related to the pinnacle of the story, to have a significant calming effect and subjects describe a strong empathy for the characters. We discuss the relation between meaning-making and aesthetic emotions at the psychological, physiological, narratological, and mathematical levels and propose a series of hypotheses to be tested in future research.

Physics of the Mind

“…This theoretical prediction have been experimentally confirmed (Perlovsky et al, 2010; Schoeller and Perlovsky, 2015, 2016). Relation of aesthetic emotions to knowledge was established by Kant (1790), although he could not formulate his thoughts with mathematical precision, the adequate mathematics did not exist at the time.…”

“…Some processes could never become conscious; others can be accessed by consciousness with significant mental effort, as in creative processes; still others become conscious under changing circumstances without special effort. Many theoretical predictions have been confirmed in experiments (Kosslyn, 1980; Grossberg, 1988; Perlovsky et al, 2010; Schoeller and Perlovsky, 2015, 2016). …”

“…So, I would again emphasize that the theoretically predicted properties of the emotions of the beautiful, their relations to the meaning of life are unexpected in contemporary aesthetics and contradictory to accepted views. Nevertheless these theoretical predictions have been experimentally tested and confirmed (Schoeller and Perlovsky, 2015, 2016), which is the fundamental property of the science of physics of the mind.…”

“…His thoughts have not been understood by his followers. Aesthetic emotions are related to learning and understanding at every level of the mental hierarchy, understanding is pleasant (Perlovsky, 2001, 2006a; Perlovsky et al, 2011; Schoeller and Perlovsky, 2015, 2016). But we do not relate understanding at lower levels to the beautiful.…”

“…At lower levels aesthetic emotions could be below consciousness. At the top of the hierarchy the highest aesthetic emotions are emotions of the beautiful, sometimes these emotions could be strong and even produce physiological effects, aesthetic chills (Perlovsky, 2002, 2006a, 2007c, 2008a, 2010b,c; Mayorga and Perlovsky, 2008; Schoeller and Perlovsky, 2015, 2016). …”