Science began with the Copernican Revolution. Recognition that the world is an average planet, and that our place in the cosmos is nothing special, has allowed humanity to make generalizations about the universe based on local observations. Yet while the Copernican Revolution has enlightened scientists for centuries, art remains Ptolemaic. Masterpieces are worshipped. Only the extraordinary is deemed praiseworthy. If art is to foster universal understanding—and be more than a cultural trophy—the great works must be abandoned.
Art ought to be mediocre. The art of the future must be Copernican.

1. Painting must have the average color of the universe. Let it be beige.
2. Sculpture must have the predominant composition of the universe. Let it be gaseous.
3. Music must have the gross entropy of the universe. Let it be noisy.
4. Architecture must have the fundamental geometry of the universe. Let it be flat.
5. Cuisine must have the cosmological homogeneity of the universe. Let it be bland.
6. Film must have the mathematical predictability of the universe. Let it be formulaic.
7. Dance must have the characteristic motion of the universe. Let it be random.
8. Literature must have the narrative arc of the universe. Let it be inconclusive.

To that end, Keats promises that nothing in his exhibit will be a masterpiece. Consider, for example, his monochrome beige paintings (made with latex house paint): Keats says the color came from averaging the spectrum of starlight in more than 200,000 galaxies. “Copernican painting is nothing special,” he explains, “and the same is true for Copernican cuisine and music and sculpture. It’s all perfectly mediocre, like the world. And like the world, Copernican art can reveal to us the nature of the universe, if only we can learn to appreciate the ordinary.”

For those of you who might be interested, there is a new, free online journal called the International Journal of Wellbeing. Although it is an academic publication, today marks the release of a special issue on “felicitators,” those who have created the most happiness in the history of the world. The nominees range from Moses to Dr. Seuss to Central Park. Each article, written by a noted happiness expert, is hewn in a style less formal than most academic publications but still takes a nuanced view of happiness. My own submission, Maria Montessori, is included among these fine articles.

Each is available as a free-of-charge PDF download. Enjoy!

When subatomic particles are entangled, they behave as if they were one and the same—any change to one particle instantly and identically changes the other, no matter how far apart they are. Quantum marriage is based on this phenomenon.

As Keats explains:

The equipment is situated in a sunny window. Exposed to the full spectrum of solar radiation, a nonlinear crystal entangles photons. Pairs of entangled photons are divided by prisms, and the photoelectric effect translates their entangled state to the bodies of a couple who wish to be united. …
Moreover those who get entangled will have to take their entanglement on faith, as any attempt to measure a quantum system disentangles it.

“Quantum Entanglements” will be operating through July. Check out this video from Science Friday that helps explain the thinking behind the project:

But what do they mean by “spiritual”? The results show that these scientists have a very different interpretation of spirituality than that given by most Americans. Read the full interview at BQO. —Heather Wax

When it comes to promoting cooperation, do rewards work better than punishment? Can nice guys finish first? And with only two episodes of this season of Survivor left, find out why forming alliances is so important—and why they always break down. Check out the story at BQO. —Heather Wax

We have gotten great results from our experiments. They are as good as or better than the polygraph, and we are still in the early stages of this innovative new method to determine if someone is trying to deceive you.