Art Bypasses Filters — It Speaks To The Emotion

Why art is so powerful.

Photo by Dan Farrell on Unsplash

“Art is the activity by which a person, having experienced an emotion, intentionally transmits it to others.” — Leo Tolstoy

Emotions are at the core of the human experience. They begin as physical sensations in the body, often triggered by the world around you. This then gives rise to feelings, interpretations of those emotions, stories that your mind tells you about your body and the world.

Scottish philosopher David Hume viewed emotions, or “passions” as he called them, as the fundamental drivers of human motivation and action.

For him, it wasn’t reason in the driving seat. Rather, he argued that reason is “the slave of the passions.” It just finds ways to justify what the emotions dictate in the first place.

That is why art is so powerful. It speaks directly to the passions.

With a piece of art, you are able to transmit emotions and feelings to other people. You are able to influence their emotional states, and their thinking.

With art, you often bypass the superficial and logical layers of a person’s brain. You speak directly with the subconscious. Having this ability gives you tremendous influence over that person.