How can we distinguish between good and bad interpretations? Discuss with reference to the arts and one other area of knowledge.

There is no ultimate definition of good and bad, they are undoubtedly subjective and relative to personal perspective. However, on a practical scale, what can distinguish an interpretation from being considered good or bad, is the manner in which individuals either conform to or reject what the interpretation proposes. Meaning that a good interpretation generates consensus among individuals, who conform to what the interpretation introduces. In contrast, bad interpretations induce discord and are repudiated. This appoints conformity as the essential distinguisher.

In my view, interpretations express our understanding or explanation of truth. When distinguishing between versions of the truth, we look to encounter what makes one more outstanding in its reliability and appeal to conform to, than the other. To my knowledge, interpretations are given the goal of obtaining reactions from individuals, as enlightenment their truth, and perhaps contributing with new angles of dealing with and experiencing subjects we come across. For example, say an economist discovers a strategy for eliminating tax evasions, they will write about it and publish it, to make others experience their viewpoint and perhaps solve the issue through the economist's ideas. By exploring The Arts and Human Sciences, I will delve into the manners in which conformity arises and the extent of its effectiveness in distinguishing between good and bad interpretations.

I had an obsession with drawing snails as a toddler. In reality, they were simply huge spirals in all kinds of colors, I absolutely loved it. From my parent's perspective, my drawings were of high quality, as they expressed my personality and the capabilities I possessed at that age. However, an artist could argue against that, due to their different understanding of what makes art fundamentally "good". When considering this phase of my life, I come to think about the different interpretations that can be found within The Arts that influence how artworks are appraised. I believe a good interpretation of how art should be evaluated or classified, is oftentimes exercised by artists, in sign of assent to the method proposed by the interpretation. For example, around A.D. 550, the Chinese art critic and historian Xie He's explanation of how to truthfully judge Chinese art pieces inspired him to create a ranking system, composed of six categories known as the "six principles". These principles included: spirit resonance, the structure of using the brush, appropriate depiction of objects, usance of color, composition, and the transmission of antique works (Six principles of Chinese painting, 2021). His method became recognized and accepted among Chinese artists and critics, hence why it is still used today to assess and evaluate traditional Chinese paintings (Xie he, 2002). Similarly, Jonathan Richardson, a highly influential British portrait painter wrote in his book An essay on the theory of painting about sublimity giving the artist the transcendental power to affect a spectator's mind (Tate, 2013). He too categorized art based on three classes: "The mediocre, or indifferently good, the excellent, and the sublime." (Jonathan Richardson, 1792, p.115). His understanding was credited as "the first significant work of artistic theory in English." (Artvee, n.d). The premise of what made these interpretations good was the conformity manifested as practical replication as well as official recognition.

On the other hand, an interpretation that is conformed to, can also concurrently be rejected, due to how distinctly art is seen and experienced amongst individuals. The movement of "action painting" invented in 1952 by the American art critic Harold Rosenberg, received heavy criticism, despite it being considered avant-garde and of extreme importance for the abstract expressionism movement during the 1950s. Rosenberg argued action painting made the practice of painting far more important than the actual final piece (Action Painting Technique, 1950). Experts from other art movements initiated a rebellion against what they considered the "irrational thinking" of action painters, which led to the ruination of the movement in the 1960s. Rejection in this context would reveal Rosenberg's interpretation to be bad. However, many would disagree, and so the interpretation becomes good according to their perspective. This is because artistic interpretations are often in accordance with an interpreter's beliefs, perceptions, and ideas which will not always resonate with every single artist or observer. Conformity is, therefore, an effective tool that facilitates the differentiation of good and bad interpretations on different scales, according to the relativism present in The arts.

While conformity in The arts arises from personal fondness, in the human sciences, what triggers conformity the most, are interpretations supported by evidence. Considering economics as a field in the human sciences, let us explore the following example. The Washington Consensus, a term attributed to a set of market-oriented political reform policies popularized in the 1980s, to reduce the financial crisis that arose on a global scale at the time, generated negative repercussions after it had been tested. John Williamson, the British economist who invented the term gained support from official institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which recommended his set of policies to governments seeking to improve their economy. However, as the Washington consensus began to be applied, especially in poor, highly indebted countries, they instead significantly decreased their economic growth between the 1980s and 1990s (Brookings, 2021). Naturally, these policies began to generate debates, questioning their ability to achieve what they had originally pledged. The term became used derogatorily, connoting the possible invalidity of the institution's recommendations for policy creations until today (Stephen R, 2020). When it comes to conforming to theories proposed in the human sciences, especially the ones that intend to solve an issue affecting others on a large scale, individuals or groups seek certainty and proof about the validity of what those ideas or explanations urge. In this instance, Williamosson's understanding on how to reduce economic decline had to be firstly conformed to, as countries, in Subsaharan Africa for example, adopted it revealing its unreliability and ineffectiveness. This precludes his interpretation as good since it generated discord and rejection from policymakers and governments. In the context of this incident, conformity can be argued to be a compelling distinguisher of interpretations, however, its harm to individuals is worth considering. Why was this interpretation not tested on a smaller scale without damaging the economy of countries in such magnitude? This is a conflicting issue in observing human behavior, it can be challenging to conclude the effectiveness of a theory, without applying it exactly the way it proposes. With this in mind, conformity can be harmful to individuals, when it's required for the process of verifying an interpretation, but is appropriate when solemnly distinguishing.

Contrastingly, interpretations that are not fact-based can still be accepted, as individuals' sense of perception does not always depend on evidence to conform to explanations. In this case, the determination and reliability of whether an interpretation is good or not lies upon the one judging or conforming to it. Green claims, also known as "environmental claims", refers to what businesses utilize to promote how their product benefits the environment or impacts it less, intending to increase their demand as consumers have become more and more concerned with making sustainable choices. However, in a study conducted by EU authorities on green claims in digital markets, it was discovered that \(42 \%\) of the claims were deemed as "false or deceptive and could therefore potentially amount to an unfair commercial practice under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive" (European Commission, 2021). This called for stricter regulations as it eradicated firms with genuine intentions from profiting more off of consumers purchasing their eco-friendly products. Before regulations were placed, greenwashing as this issue is known, worked well, pending consumers' sense of perception may have reduced their interest in factual evidence to this reputational advertising technique, exposing them to disinformation that deceived them completely. In this case, conformity is not an accurate measure of good interpretations as it does not reflect the authenticity of these advertisements' ability to factually promote the truth about their products. When individuals are allowed to respond to different types of truth, it generates implications due to their sense of perception that can cause ambiguity in how they evaluate these ideas, misleading them from the factually supported truth. It is therefore difficult using conformity to distinguish good and bad interpretations due to this natural unreliability that exists in the way individuals respond to them.

I have now explored the extent to which conformity can distinguish between good and bad interpretations. It appears that, while conformity appropriately accounts for the subjectiveness of individuals' responses to interpretations, and from there reveal them as relatively good or bad; it may be unsuccessful in doing the same in other specific areas of knowledge, which require the pondering of what in essence, makes interpretations truthful or not regardless of who responds to it. Before delving into this exploration, I understood that what differentiated an interpretation from being good or bad, depended on either human compliance or repudiation to the interpretation. However, I have now become more aware of how misleading this reliance on human response can be, due to the interpretations' inherent subjectiveness. With this in mind, a new approach to this investigation could involve distinguishing good and bad interpretations, based on their impact on the well-being of individuals, evading the implications of measuring the aptitude of human responsiveness alone. As an example, considering the impact communistic economic ideologies have on the financial freedom of a country's residents, can help distinguish whether that type of understanding aggregates to the well-being of individuals submitted to it. As for The arts, the well-being of others can be explored through the impacts of miscommunication leading to misinformation, perhaps not contributing to such large-scale damage as compared to the human sciences.

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