Why do we like beautiful things?
Humans attempt to achieve beauty in many ways. Not only do we want us and our partners to be beautiful, we also want our environment to be beautiful. We spend time and money on grooming ourselves. We spend time making our homes look beautiful. We go to museums to look at beautiful things. We purchase beautiful items. But why all this effort?
What do we need to live? Food, water, and shelter. However beauty is something extra, something that we want, not necessarily something that we need. Life could go on just fine if we never strive for beauty. But beauty is one of the pleasures of life, and there is no reason to deny it.
Why does beauty give us pleasure? It seems universal that we like beautiful things.(although we might not agree on what's beautiful). Therefore there's probably a genetic component to it. As for the exact reason why we are genetically programmed to strive for beauty, I don't know. Possibly it has something to do with evolution.
Why do we like beautiful things? Who knows?
What do we need to live? Food, water, and shelter. However beauty is something extra, something that we want, not necessarily something that we need. Life could go on just fine if we never strive for beauty. But beauty is one of the pleasures of life, and there is no reason to deny it.
Why does beauty give us pleasure? It seems universal that we like beautiful things.(although we might not agree on what's beautiful). Therefore there's probably a genetic component to it. As for the exact reason why we are genetically programmed to strive for beauty, I don't know. Possibly it has something to do with evolution.
Why do we like beautiful things? Who knows?
Comments (17)
I assume we are evolutionary programmed to value beauty for reproductive reasons and the appeal of symmetry, simplicity etc... seems to then somehow transcend the sexual domain and causes us to value beauty, symmetry in objects as well.
As for the reasons in empirical terms; we know “beauty” has a lot to do with symmetry and harmony. An interesting point here are the studies that have shown people don’t seek perfect symmetry and find that things that slightly off-set much more appealing than perfectly balanced items.
Of course there is the matter of defining what precisely you mean by “beauty,” but I’m taking the obvious meaning into account here in regards to aesthetics and sensibility.
You seem to be thinking that things are beautiful independent of an individual's assessment. I don't agree with that. "Beautiful" is one of the terms we use to describe things that appeal to us.
Quoting Terrapin Station
It is a term we each apply to what appeals to us. But "beauty" is also something that happens to each of us, an experience that can be compared with other peoples' experiences. One could agree with your statement as a matter of judgment but not think you have exhausted all there is to be said about it.
Yeah, I'm definitely not exhausting all there is to be said about it, haha. Just noting that it's not something different than a way we feel about particular things.
Quoting Purple Pond
That's putting the cart before the horse. We apply the word "beautiful" to all and only those things the contemplation of which gives us a certain kind of pleasure.
We consider things beautiful because we like them, not that we like them because they are beautiful. They please us in some way, we like them, we call them beautiful. :smile:
The Artistic Artificer is one of the classic Proofs Of God.
There is art because God created it.
We love art because God loves art.
We are like God in that respect.
The created-things are like their Creator.
No we are not, we do not always hide from our children.
God must have a good reason for hiding from us.
We should therefore trust in God and not blame or prejudge Him/Her/Them for what He/She/They do/does.
Hiding "things" from your children is not the same as hiding yourself.
Quoting hks
That is what most men that are taken to court for child maintenance say, "I had a good reason not to look after my kids".
Quoting hks
You would not trust your own father after he abandons you, so why would you even think about trusting something you have never even met?
Deism is the concept embraced for the Philosophy God of the Romantics.
Been there, done that, still not interested.
And I do know a little about the internet so I don't need you to tell me that I
Quoting hks
Quoting hks
I am wordless, that place is not on any intelligent person's list of places to find accurate information about anything.
Cosmetic surgery, anyone?