What is beauty? Or, taking it a step further – valuable? An answer to such a question really requires more reflection, but I still find the following idea somewhat interesting: In more theoretical contexts, such as mathematics, rhetoric, and philosophy, I value simplicity and clarity, while in the physical world, I value chaos (in a mathematical sense) and diversity. How can these seemingly completely incompatible values coexist in the same mind?
A solution to this paradox is that what I really like are realized complex systems bound together by simple rules. Stokes' generalized theorem, is beautiful because it is simple and at the same time ties together much of the mathematical analysis that is studied over lifetimes without being exhausted. Life on Earth is beautiful because a simple evolutionary process has produced such a diversity of species.
This value model is a very simple one, but still with some interesting implications (and is, by the way, therefore beautiful?), some of which are easier to accept than others: The Earth loses some of its beauty when species go extinct. Anarchy is, as long as no other value is harmed, probably preferable to democracy because it is a simpler form of government that could also result in greater variation in human expression (unless society collapses, that is).
While writing this text, I have not been able to figure out whether or what this model says about friends, family, torture, or if private schools should be allowed to be profit-driven or not. These questions are therefore left as an exercise for the reader.