EV004: The Vanished Flower

As the saying goes, there’s no accounting for taste. But we can’t seem to help it: as we become aware of our preferences, we look for conceptual and narrative devices that help us make sense of them. Maybe a decades-old essay explains our newfound obsession with comics. Maybe our interest in music or film appears to have roots in our childhood. “I love modern dance,” we say, and leave it at that. But we want to go deeper. We’re tempted to answer the question that lies implicit in every expression of favoritism: why?

“The Vanished Flower: How Personal Taste Models the Infinite” takes the idiom at face value. We start from the premise that what we call “taste” defies full explanation. In part one, we’ll dive into the mystery of taste as a way of thinking philosophically, especially in an age where AI technologies are apparently capable of generating both taste and meaningful philosophical statements.  Specifically, we’ll ask how the rise of generative AI makes one’s own aesthetic sensibilities even more crucial to the timeless task of philosophical concept-creation. As we proceed, we’ll substantiate an overarching argument: the question why do we like what we like? has distinct metaphysical relevance in the age of automation.

Part two is a philosophical twist on a childhood classic: show-and-tell. All are welcome to bring physical objects that represent their unique taste for sharing and conversation. This is an invitation to discuss ideas and tell stories about the items that affirm our sense of being in the world. We may not arrive at grand unified theories that account for these objects’ place in our lives, but we’ll find value in posing big-picture questions nonetheless. Our conversation will be guided by the following prompts: first, how do these artifacts give embodied form to our idiosyncrasies? Second, what forces are they uniquely capable of mediating? Last but not least, what can we gain by treating them as singular instantiations of the infinite?