“This X is awesome” communicates, minimally, that X inspires awe.
It’s a perfectly distinct and valid component of an aesthetic. I would own to its presence in my own (pseudo)utility function, although I’d probably say “Burkean sublimity” instead for the signalling value.
I think you’re technically correct, but especially on the internet, the term “awesome” has been used more and more loosely such that it nearly does have the super-general meaning that STL is talking about. To say that X is awesome is usually just a strong, emphatic way of saying that “I like X”.
“This X is awesome” communicates, minimally, that X inspires awe. It’s a perfectly distinct and valid component of an aesthetic. I would own to its presence in my own (pseudo)utility function, although I’d probably say “Burkean sublimity” instead for the signalling value.
I think you’re technically correct, but especially on the internet, the term “awesome” has been used more and more loosely such that it nearly does have the super-general meaning that STL is talking about. To say that X is awesome is usually just a strong, emphatic way of saying that “I like X”.