Art Reboot

71 12 cultural b ias What does all this theorising about consciousness and reality have to do with art? The short answer: everything . The status of art varies greatly according to cultural bias, which, in turn, is dependent on how a culture understands reality. Cultures that have chosen intellect as the governing authority – most western ones – tend to marginalise the trans-intellectual aspects of art, and indeed of anything else. Cultures that recognise the impor- tance of the trans-intellectual mode are more likely to use their arts as a powerful tool in integrating our two ways of knowing. This choice makes for radically different cultures. The East’s respect for the importance of the trans-intellectual mode has had many ramifications, not least the emergence of syncretic, humanist cultures rather than dogmatic, monotheistic ones. In China the main so-called religions are lower-level off- shoots of philosophical ideas rather than deity-devoted institu- tions. Humanist, rational cultures prize a sceptical mind above the dictates of deities as a means of evolving understanding. The absence of overriding external governance also tends to diminish conflict between prevailing interpretations of Meaning, leading to greater harmony between them. Confucianism, Daoism and