I’ve always loved art, the same way other people get drawn to hockey or video games. I get my pleasure from a great painting, a classic movie, a beautiful piece of applied art. They give me ideas, inspiration, desire and motivation.

I was fortunate. I got the opportunity to study art and aesthetics. I came to appreciate how art informs identity, shapes cultures, and serves religious, spiritual and propagandist objectives. In fact, aesthetics is fundamental to our survival, drawing people to appealing locations where food and water can be found and encouraging group success through behaviours that reflect beauty and truth, like mutual cooperation, ethics and morality.

We humans are hardwired to use aesthetic qualities such as balance and symmetry to process the world around us. And did I mention its importance to advancing scientific and mathematical knowledge? In short, aesthetics is everything!