Why do we like beauty?

[GuiltyCowboy]

We take it as a given that beautiful things are appealing but I've always wondered: what is it about beauty that makes us like it, value it, long for it?

Why does it speak to us?

And, to be clear, I'm talking specifically about the person who is looking on the beauty (and so not the person who reaps the obvious benefits from being beautiful).

And is there a gender divide? Does the beauty of a man work on a woman differently to the way the beauty of a woman works on a man? What about ideals of beauty in LGBTQ+ communities? In other words, beyond what is simply aesthetically pleasing, does beauty represent - stand in for - different things, depending on who is doing the looking?

 

[NotWise]

Maybe it works the other way around; something appealing to us is inherently beautiful.

As far as (cis, het) people are concerned, I think women see beauty in men very differently than men see it in women, and there are factors that either sex may find more important than physical appearance.

In a Lit context, describing someone as "beautiful" may not be the only, or even the best, route to making them sexually attractive to the readers. Appearance may grab your attention, but it's only a starting point.

 

[SimonDoom]

I think some of it is hard wiring. We're programmed to find certain things attractive. I feel that way myself based on personal experience, but also based on reading.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Beauty is a fleshy delight, but ass-ugly is hard to stomach!

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I don't think there's any gender dependence. I assume you meant visual beauty in your post? Anyway, we are simply wired to react to physical, visual beauty above all else.

Physical beauty, far more than any other characteristic we might have, determines how most people see us and how they react to us. It's actually a flaw of our nature. Just analyze your own and other people's daily interactions. We are all so, so biased towards pretty people.

There are other, far more interesting kinds of beauty, but those are harder to see, and far fewer people are attracted to those. We do mostly write smut, so physical beauty is basically a must, but even in some stories here, you can read about other kinds of beauty. I wish there were more recognition for that.

 

[Bamagan]

Beauty, like similar concepts such as truth and goodness and love, is something that lifts our awareness of ourselves as individuals out of that limited perspective and expands us to include the subject(s) of our perception, bringing us just a tiny bit closer to recognizing a fundamental unity of being.

Or maybe it's just neurons randomly firing.

 

[onehitwanda]

Because boobs are nice.

View attachment 2642148

 

[SmilingLez]

I think humans are pre-wired to favor facial symmetry, a youthful appearance, and a strong healthy body. As far as body parts go, humans do not agree on breast size, penis size, vulva appearance, etc.

 

[Voboy]

...and, as usual, Wanda cuts to the chase.

I think it's mostly evolutionary. We value certain visual features because evolution selects for them; the famous facial ratio is the prime example. I don't think it's anything worth philosophizing about.

Especially since beauty is a spectrum. Some people find one thing beautiful, other people find a different thing beautiful. And, even in the same person, it can change over time.

Not worth worrying about, IMO.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

The answer to that question is extremely long, and it branches out into many fields. The short answer though is that we, as a species, are hardwired to like beauty and be attracted to it. Reasons for it range from survival, joy, expression, comfort, connection... I mean, it has nothing to do with gender, and you can spend like a whole week researching this. Aesthetics is a whole branch of philosophy dedicated to study beauty, and I had to take at as a subject for a year in the conservatory.

 

[AG31]

I think some of it is hard wiring. We're programmed to find certain things attractive. I feel that way myself based on personal experience, but also based on reading.

But different cultures can have very different ideas of beauty. One common thing, I think, is regularity of features.

 

[AG31]

I think beauty, in general (people, plants, sunsets, art), is a gift to the universe. It's easy to imagine a universe where beauty did not exist. But we have it all around us. Neat.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Maybe it works the other way around; something appealing to us is inherently beautiful.

Beat me to saying that! I don’t think the concepts are discrete.

 

[GuiltyCowboy]

a youthful appearance, and a strong healthy body.

That's my sense of it.

I find a flawless complexion and lustrous hair inherently appealing - pert boobs too, obvs - and I'm sure that's something to do with me wanting to reclaim youthful vitality or something. As if beauty is a source of life.

But is all beauty an indication of youthfulness? I don't think it is. There's surely a distinction between something that is aesthetically pleasing and something that's beautiful. I've never wanted to fuck the Pazzi Chapel, basically.

Aesthetics is a whole branch of philosophy dedicated to study beauty, and I had to take at as a subject for a year in the conservatory.

Was it interesting or boring? Any worthwhile insights?

I've been aware in the past of women describing men as being beautiful in a way that suggests that they value that beauty in a subtly different way than if it was me describing a beautiful woman. Like there's something useless or redundant to it: it's nice and sometimes even breath-taking but, in the end, so what? It's even faintly damning. Not that it's damning that they're only beautiful (ie that they're dumb as well) but that the beauty itself is somehow damning.

 

[SmilingLez]

But is all beauty an indication of youthfulness? I don't think it is.

I do believe youthfulness classifies as beauty, and I believe that someone who takes care of themselves mentally and physically is an indication of youthfulness.

When I think of death and dying, I think of older looking and physically challenged folks (whether it be from lack of movement or even obesity)

 

[Britva415]

what is it about beauty that makes us like it

Turn it around: One way to define beauty is, it is exactly that which we like.

So it seems to me that the question is simply “why do we like stuff at all.”

Would you agree or is that not the direction you would take this?

 

[BeechLeaf]

Aesthetics is a whole branch of philosophy dedicated to study beauty, and I had to take at as a subject for a year in the conservatory.

I did a semester of Aesthetics, and unlike all the other philosophy I did, I can't recall a single insight from it. I'm guessing they never even mentioned genetics, which to me is the starting point. And unlike in logic or ethics, I can't think of a well-known figure or viewpoint in the field.

Sorry, edited to add I have no deep insight into the original question, just mumble mumble symmetry mumble genetics. But that hardly touches on why I love language so much, in particular stories here.

 

[EmilyMiller]

To me, this is beautiful:

exp(πi) + 1 = 0​

YMMV

 

[liliput1]

Animal brains equate certain physical standards to fitness to procreate. Which is why when you see a beautiful person you also tend to think about sex. Because beauty is literally secondary sexual characteristics.

 

[BeechLeaf]

Well before Homo a feeling for symmetry and natural-looking scenery gave the message "there is no leopard hiding in that tree". [Memo to self: look up whether leopards hide in, never mind.] The human advance to abstraction and language transferred that sense so that we can also see it in e^iz = cis z and She Walks in Beauty.

 

[EmilyMiller]

e^iz = cis z

Well if you must generalize

 

[StillStunned]

To me, this is beautiful:

exp(πi) + 1 = 0​

YMMV

To me, this is beautiful:

Scientists researched what kinks dogs prefer. They were surprised to find that 80% of the responses were "Rough".

 

[BeechLeaf]

We've had this discussion before, Emily. I find the general form much more awe-inspiring than a special case that happens to contain the numbers 0 and 1.

 

[EmilyMiller]

To me, this is beautiful:

Scientists researched what kinks dogs prefer. They were surprised to find that 80% of the responses were "Rough".

 

[EmilyMiller]

We've had this discussion before, Emily. I find the general form much more awe-inspiring than a special case that happens to contain the numbers 0 and 1.

It’s the elegance of incorporating four of the foundational numbers in one expression (and I don’t mean π).