Interpreters should evoke mood, not declare objects beautiful

Evidence

An object, whether a mountain, a lake, a crystal, a Chippendale, or a heroic act, is not made more beautiful by being called beautiful. And the perception of beauty is always in the nature of a surprise. We sometimes humorously call overlooks in the national park areas “ohs and ahs” from the fact that these exclamations are the spontaneous manner in which the visitor expresses his wonderstruck feeling. Thus, in an interpretive sign you are not wise to describe any definite object as beautiful; besides being impertinent by infringing upon the visitor’s taste, you are interposing between him and the scene. But there is no harm in using a phrase like “the beauty that surrounds us in this region,” for nowyou are establishing a mood, and the generalization, concerning which there would seldom be any disagreement, leaves the person a free choice as regards any single object. — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 511

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Parks’ finest purpose is spiritual uplift via beauty — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 526; Labeling things beautiful destroys their perceived beauty — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 506; Interpreters should tell stories, not recite inventories, because visitors seek enjoyment — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 246 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Interpreters must feel the beauty they interpret or they fail #expands (0.85) — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 523