Sunday, August 15, 2010

Symmetry of Lucy - Day 2

What is Beauty?  To answer this question,  philosophers have devoted a great deal of time to this conundrum. Plato wrote of so-called "golden proportions." Today, symmetry has been scientifically proven to be inherently attractive to the human eye. Babies spend more time staring at pictures of symmetric individuals than they do of asymmetric ones. Scientists say that the preference for symmetry is a highly evolved trait seen in many different animals. Female swallows, for example, prefer males with longer more symmetric tails, while female zebra finches mate with males with symmetrically colored leg bands.The rationale behind symmetry preference in both humans and animals is that symmetric individuals have a higher mate-value; scientists believe symmetry is equated with a strong immune system. Thus, beauty is indicative of more robust genes, improving the likelihood offspring will survive. This evolutionary theory is supported by research showing standards of attractiveness are similar across cultures.

Is this why I find Lucy beautiful? It very well may be! She has a balanced blaze with a perfectly symmetrical  "dove tail" running down the center.... or maybe she is beautiful because she just IS! 

No comments:

Post a Comment