Jeffrey Carduner, Aesthetic Realism consultant, writes:

“Cleverness” can seem such a big thing in the world—and it’s usually seen as devious. But are there really two kinds of cleverness: one that’s beautiful, and another that’s ugly and makes for pain, including between men and women? Answers that people long for are here—in “Love, Art, & Cleverness,” this tremendous new issue of The Right of Aesthetic Realism to Be Known.

The commentary by Ellen Reiss begins:

Dear Unknown Friends:

We continue to serialize Poetry and Cleverness, by Eli Siegel, an important and wonderful lecture of 1949. Here too is an article by Lynette Abel, from a recent public seminar titled “How Can a Woman Be Sure of Herself in Life & Love?” Yes, Aesthetic Realism truly answers that question, which fact in itself is evidence for how needed Aesthetic Realism is.

And there is the subject of Mr. Siegel’s lecture. Aesthetic Realism explains the difference between cleverness that’s valuable, useful, charming, meaningful—and cleverness that is devious and hurtful. The first is impelled by respect for reality; the second by contempt. And in this section of his lecture, Mr. Siegel speaks about two kinds of good cleverness, one of which is larger and deeper.

By way of introduction, I’ll comment on the relation between something Ms. Abel writes about—the tremendous subject of love—and cleverness. It happens that both men and women don’t know whether love is a matter of cleverness or of deep, wide feeling. Most people would say it’s the latter, yet most people rely on cleverness, mainly devious cleverness, to “get” someone and have things proceed in the way they think they want. This is one of the biggest causes of sadness, emptiness, and anger: the hope for love yet the feeling one needs to be strategic.

Right now a woman is thinking about what outfit she can wear that will knock a particular man dead. She has prepared herself for many years: thought about how to use her eyes, her smile, how to walk, how to seem enchanting. And men have gone after the most seductive look and technique too. The media, social and otherwise, are replete with advice on the subject. Of course, people should try to look good, dress well, etc. But usually in what’s called the dating scene, there is the cleverness of trying to nab and manage someone while seeming at ease and natural. Men have been suspicious of women, felt women were plotting. Women have thought that of men.

And there is something seen as “romantic”—an intrigue and flirtation—which is really a contest about cleverness, perhaps amid smiles and glances. It comes to this: Can I make that person need me more than I need him or her? Then, after people do “get” each other, as time passes each wonders why they don’t have the big, deep, sweeping feeling of love they so much want. But you cannot pursue a false notion of love—the having your way through cleverness—and then expect to feel the real thing, which the depths of you long for….Read more