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Old 09-25-2015, 05:15 PM
 
35 posts, read 70,980 times
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I know the text is huge! Sorry about that. If you don't feel like reading this whole thing feel free to just read the bolded parts. Of course by doing that you may end up missing a lot of the ideas behind my reasoning and conclusion but it's still better than going "oh my god this thing is huge" and just closing the thread.

Introduction
The basic concept in evolution is quite simple: create offspring that is better than yourself in living. I know that sounds absurdly vague but what I mean is the enemy of all living things is death and the whole point of evolution is battling that enemy. Death may come in the form of wild beasts, diseases,malicious people or even natural disasters but evolutions strives to defeat all of those. Following that logic when one is faced with finding the best potential mate they must look for qualities that will make their offspring better and this is the point in which things get a bit more complex. I will split my point into 2 big questions and 1 conclusion.

1. Why are looks attractive? Looking pretty doesn't increase your chances of survival when fighting a wild animal or disease.
The idea behind looks is actually pretty simple. Humans (no matter the gender) find symmetry attractive because having symmetry in one's face and body significantly increases the chances that person is healthy. Because of that if someone has a deformed facial feature they are immedietely flagged as unattractive (it may not be moral but it's how our mind works).

BEFORE: A tall, muscular (not talking unnaturally muscular) man's body is more attractive than that of an obese one because being obese increases chances of being poor in health and makes one inadequate in a survival situation(attacked by wild beasts, being attacked by another man etc.). Considering the hunter-gatherer types of lives people had before civilization having those qualities greatly increases both it's mate and their children's chances of survival and makes them the most logical and sought after mate.

NOW: Having good looks can lead to a lot of money and power (celebirities of any kind mostly singers and actors) but the ones that succeed are a very small portion of the ones that are capable so just having the looks doesn't give you that good of a chance of striking big. In the more normal types of jobs most people have looks are also a bonus because when you fail there is a good chance you will get less problems than people that don't look as good (not a moral thing but we all know people do turn a blind eye to the attractive employees's mistakes).

2. Why are brains attractive?
When I talk of brains I talk of a combination of knowledge(having the info) and intelligence(using that info to it's fullest potential). If one has a severe mental condition he is automatically flagged as unattractive for various quite logical reasons.

BEFORE: 10 000 years ago having a quick witt and knowledge could help one a lot but not as obviously as looks/physical prowess. An intelligent person can think of a better way to hunt or a smarter way to grow food thereby increasing his, his mate's and his children's survival chances greatly. While that is useful it still doesn't give as big of a chance of survival than that of having a physically fit mate that even stupidly and ineffectively is still able to provide food and shelter to his mate no matter what. We don't need 100 out of 100 farmers to be inventive and creative, we need 1 that can show the rest his ideas and make everyone's lives better.

NOW: The usefullness of intelligence has increased exponentially. Will it be in school, university or work being intelligent and knowledgeable can be an incredibly useful trait. People of great intelligence can achieve things faster and better than the rest thereby guaranteeing a better life for their mate and children and that is exactly what evolution has taught us to strive for. In the past physical work was a necessity will it be as a hunter, a farmer, a blacksmith etc. but today a huge percentage of all jobs don't require any physical activity whatsoever making a tall, muscular man just as effective in creating an excel spreadsheet as a short small-framed man.

Where brains and looks meet
Over the last couple of thousand of years the looks of a person and their physical prowess have been becoming less and less useful while their intelligence and knowledge have been becoming exponentially more and more useful. Considering evolution always pushes us towards the better candidate to ensure ours and our children's survival/development why hasn't intelligence become more attractive than looks? I know certain aspects of intelligence already are attractive but it can hardly compete with the feeling of seeing a very sexually attractive person of the opposite sex walking by you. Sure knowing stuff and having a fancy education is impressive but when a tall, fit man with perfect facial features shows up in the picture all that knowledge and intelligence stuff suddenly isn't as important as being with that other guy (talking sexual relations here, not marrying the guy). You can resist it because of your own intelligence but you will want him/her more than his/her less attractive but intelligent counterpart.

What happens if we take things to the maximum?
Things become even more weird when we start talking about very above average looks/intelligence. If a woman/girl's face and body are almost literally perfect(for example a lot of almost universally attractive actresses are out there) they logically become even more attractive than beautiful women/girls that still have some flaws (minor things like having a big nose or being a bit short). Simply put a 10/10 woman is more attractive than an 8/10 woman.
When we are talking brains things go in another direction entirely - if a person has above average intelligence/knowledge they are considered attractve but if they have absurdly high intelligence/knowledge (a genius for an example) that is often accompanied by social awkwardness and weird behavior - both considered unattractive. So in conclusion a lot of people would like to have an intelligent partner but having a genius one? Well a lot would say that's more of a burden than a good thing. How come in terms of looks 10/10 mates are more attractive than 8/10's but in terms of brains 8/10's are more attractive than 10/10? Isn't that very weird?

In conclusion
I think seeing someone (male or female) make a very intelligent observation should give us that arousing sexual feeling a lot more than seeing a beautiful model-looking woman walking by the street in a revealing dress and high heels. Sadly it doesn't and that is bugging me a lot. What do you think?
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