The nature of Beauty

[eightbithoof 518]

I just listened to an awesome TED talk by a man named Dennis Dutton on the nature of beauty.

 

Here is my favorite outtake:

 

"[beauty is] deep in our minds. It's a gift handed down from the intelligent skills and rich emotional lives of our most ancient ancestors. Our powerful reaction to images, to the expression of emotion in art, to the beauty of music, to the night sky, will be with us and our descendants for as long as the human race exists."

 

Link if you are interested: http://www.ted.com/talks/denis_dutton_a_darwinian_theory_of_beauty.html

 

EDIT: (Clicked the wrong button =/) I am curious to see if anyone has any alternate theories of beauty. I mean, really: what IS beauty? Where does it come from? Why does it drive us?

Edited April 28, 2013 by eightbithoof

[Shawn Parks 1,798]

That is interesting.  I had heard that beauty is just a natural instinct to respond positively to things that appear to be the most efficient or healthy.  Things like symmetry or conforming to the "golden ratio" or physical characteristics in a potential mate that subconsciously suggest that they would pass on positive traits to our offspring. 

[Scootalove 10,689]

Beauty is in the ''eye of the beeholder.'' I think it is the boundary that a lot of people will cross, to try to look very appealing and very good looking. They use a lot of methods to look healthy and very beautiful. Beauty is something that can be attained, and a lot of physical characteristics go along with beauty.