268 A Programmer’s Guide to the Mind
different forms of Teacher thought.
We have looked at Teacher emotion and visual outline. I suggest that
the same principle applies when the curve is an imaginary line traced out
by the path of a person. Teacher thought feels good when people move
smoothly. For example, the graceful path of a ballet dancer produces
positive Teacher feelings. This emotion can be increased by having a
chorus of dancers carry out similar smooth actions, or a pair of ice skaters
perform a routine together.
Again, we find the Teacher need for order within complexity. If a
person repeats the same smooth movement, or if one individual perfectly
copies the movements of another person, then there is order, but not
complexity. The result is shallow Teacher emotion. Teacher feeling is
greatest when a number of different smooth movements are combined into
an overall program, or when a number of performers usually perform in
synchronization but occasionally do individual actions. We see this same
principle illustrated with acrobatic flying teams such as the American Blue
Angels or the Canadian Snowbirds. Most of the time, the planes fly
together in formation. However, the biggest Teacher feelings are created
when the pilots break formation to do their own maneuvers, and then rejoin
again. That is order within complexity.
Teacher smoothness can also be present in an everyday action, such as
driving a car. For instance, I may look ahead when I drive so that I do not
have to make any sudden lane changes or jerky stops. I may adjust my
speed by taking my foot off the gas pedal rather than using the brakes. I
may time my arrival at the next light so that I can sail through just as it is
turning green. All of these responses produce a smooth curve of movement
which makes Teacher thought feel good. And in a similar way to ballet
dancing, ice skating, or formation flying, this Teacher emotion is increased
when everyone around me is also driving smoothly.
We can now define beauty and elegance. I suggest that beauty is the
positive Teacher emotion which results from a general theory based in
visual outline. We speak of a person, object or situation being beautiful.
Elegance, in contrast, is the good Teacher feeling related to a general
theory rooted in a path of action. A mathematical theorem is elegant when
the equations move smoothly from start to finish. A person is elegant when
his actions are smooth and organized.
While beauty and elegance are primarily Teacher feelings, these
emotions also include secondary components of Mercy feeling. For
instance, a beautiful object should have a texture which produces a good
Mercy emotion. It must contain no flaws which would create a bad Mercy
reaction. Similarly, an elegant action should not be forceful, since the use
of force implies that some Mercy object is being battered or destroyed.
Teacher emotion also applies to words and theories. My brother Lane, a
Teacher person, will often preface the explanation of some concept with