I was watching a TV show "ge2 shi4 zhui1 xiong1"("To get unstuck in time", but that's not what the title means), and I was at the episode when the woman in the wheelchair started getting pissed. It got me to think about aesthetics. (Which is not a bad thing, since I rarely think about aesthetics[I'm starting to see Dr Chan's point about "you need content to think"])

In my impression, it seems to me that Plato argues that since art alone cannot give us any truth, and can be used as a medium to "teach" both truths and untruths, it is only of value if it is used to teach correct moral values and truths. (I shudder at the term "correct moral values". Actually he probably didn't say that. Most likely he said something in Greek, then I read the KI notes and I get the impression he said something like that.)

It seems to me that Aristotle disagrees; he says that art does have value. The viewer of, for example, a play, suspends his disbelief when he immerses himself in it, but if the scenario is too outrageous, he would reject it and would not appreciate it. Thus, perhaps, by looking at good art that many people appreciate, we would be able to learn something real in life. Also, when we immerse ourselves into a play or literature, a scenario may stir some kind of emotion in us, and when the scenario actually happens to us, we may be able to better react to it.

However, when a young child with very little prior experience reads a lousy novel, he may get a wrong impression of what the world is like, since he cannot possibly reject any scenario, having never experienced many things that can be expressed in a novel.

By now you may be able to guess why that TV show got me to think about aesthetics. I have never really interacted with wheelchair-bound people, so I have no idea of what they are like. Yet, I am presented with an image of a wheelchair-bound person, and I have no idea if that is a correct representation. I wouldn't like to be misled by the TV show, but I also wouldn't want such a thing to spoil my appreciation of that TV show (the TV show is actually quite nice). Those thoughts are rather irritating when one really wants to enjoy a show. (Which is why I don't watch romance films or films that portray special people whom I have never encountered before. It is too stressful.)

I suppose the best cure for it would be to get to know them personally.

Out of randomness, I shall rant here about the things that make my blood pressure rise.
-People who block the road/escalator. (Maybe I shouldn't drive when I grow up.)
-People who talk loudly in the library.
-People who set their handphones to a loud ringtone, then pick up calls very slowly.
-People who don't cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze.
-Drama that overdramatize.
-Model essay compilations full of stories of orphans/poor people/disabled people.
-Screaming babies.
-(This may make you cringe, but it is true)Rafflesians who misbehave in public.