Beautiful Faces are Just "Average!"

[Mike Dura]

I always tell my man boots that his cliche's are holding him back like shackles.
The cliche "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder" is largely inacurate. Anway, seeing that we are bodybuilders it's obvious that our appearance is important to us. You ever wonder what attraction is exactly? We intuitively "know" it when we see it but if pressed could you put it into words?

I remember reading this article with a real eye-catcher of a title - that beautiful girls are just average faces (or something like that). What they were getting at is that physical attractiveness centers on symmetry and symetry conforms to a mathematical average (i.e., a mean; picture the symetry of a Gausian curve in statistics, it's a beautiful thing!). For example, if I were to randomly select twenty five woman from the general population and feed them into a computer and average the faces into one composite face, that face would be highly symmetrical with high cheek bones, large, spaced apart eyes and large lips. In fact, if you were to abstract a transparency that outlined the geometic planes of this composite (averaged) face, it would fit over the face of anyone considered attractive irrespective of culture or time. That means that physical attractiveness conforms to universal mathematical laws. Butterflies with the most symmetry also are preferred for mating. It runs across all life forms. Interesting huh? You bet it is!

That describes attraction but how is it explained? Darwinians say that an average face represents a good mix of Genes. This becomes clear when you consider the opposite of this, namely, in-breeding. What you notice about inbreads is prominant features and asymmetry (e.g., one eye smaller than the other). When you take a trip to visit your friend at school in the boondocks and you happen upon a man with six fingers and a cro-magnum man forehead ridge on his head - you see why brothers and sisters mating doesn't make for attractive children. Cultures developed incestual taboos because of this problem.

[Mizfit]

That's alot to take it.


There is a study that suggests beautiful people get treated better.. And even states parents are not as nice to their less good looking children..

[AnabolicAndre]

I remember reading this somewhere, also that babies tend to be more amiable to people with good looks

Its an innate quality we ALL pocess

I mean lets face it its hard to be nice to ugly people

[Mizfit]

I mean lets face it its hard to be nice to ugly people

correct..

Also it's alot easier in the world when your decent looking

[Myka]

this is something Ive been thinking about lately...it is amazing how differently Im treated based on small things like if my hair is done or just plain there...or what Im wearing...If I wear baggy clothes so no one can see my physique vs. fitting clothes...

ppl disgust me...I treat everyone the same regardless...

[Mizfit]

Parents would certainly deny it, but Canadian researchers have made a startling assertion: parents take better care of pretty children than they do ugly ones.

Do you think parents take better care of cute children than ugly ones?

Researchers at the University of Alberta carefully observed how parents treated their children during trips to the supermarket. They found that physical attractiveness made a big difference.

The researchers noted if the parents belted their youngsters into the grocery cart seat, how often the parents' attention lapsed and the number of times the children were allowed to engage in potentially dangerous activities like standing up in the shopping cart. They also rated each child's physical attractiveness on a 10-point scale.

The findings, not yet published, were presented at the Warren E. Kalbach Population Conference in Edmonton, Alberta.

When it came to buckling up, pretty and ugly children were treated in starkly different ways, with seat belt use increasing in direct proportion to attractiveness. When a woman was in charge, 4 percent of the homeliest children were strapped in compared with 13.3 percent of the most attractive children. The difference was even more acute when fathers led the shopping expedition - in those cases, none of the least attractive children were secured with seat belts, while 12.5 percent of the prettiest children were.

Homely children were also more often out of sight of their parents, and they were more often allowed to wander more than 10 feet away.

Age - of parent and child - also played a role. Younger adults were more likely to buckle their children into the seat, and younger children were more often buckled in. Older adults, in contrast, were inclined to let children wander out of sight and more likely to allow them to engage in physically dangerous activities.

Although the researchers were unsure why, good-looking boys were usually kept in closer proximity to the adults taking care of them than were pretty girls. The researchers speculated that girls might be considered more competent and better able to act independently than boys of the same age. The researchers made more than 400 observations of child-parent interactions in 14 supermarkets.

Dr. W. Andrew Harrell, executive director of the Population Research Laboratory at the University of Alberta and the leader of the research team, sees an evolutionary reason for the findings: pretty children, he says, represent the best genetic legacy, and therefore they get more care.

Not all experts agree. Dr. Frans de Waal, a professor of psychology at Emory University, said he was skeptical.

"The question," he said, "is whether ugly people have fewer offspring than handsome people. I doubt it very much. If the number of offspring are the same for these two categories, there's absolutely no evolutionary reason for parents to invest less in ugly kids."

Dr. Robert Sternberg, professor of psychology and education at Yale, said he saw problems in Dr. Harrell's method and conclusions, for example, not considering socioeconomic status.

"Wealthier parents can feed, clothe and take care of their children better due to greater resources," Dr. Sternberg said, possibly making them more attractive. "The link to evolutionary theory is speculative."

But Dr. Harrell said the importance of physical attractiveness "cuts across social class, income and education."

"Like lots of animals, we tend to parcel out our resources on the basis of value," he said. "Maybe we can't always articulate that, but in fact we do it. There are a lot of things that make a person more valuable, and physical attractiveness may be one of them."

[Mike Dura]

The physical attractiveness of my prospective mate was much more important when I was younger. Now I'm sometimes more curious about an average looking girl who most people wouldn't notice - she just kind of blends in. I like subtle beauty mixed with a twist of "sweetness" to the personality - the kindly girl next door who has a killer libido, an openess to experience and a "heart of gold." Where are you baby?! I also tend to have an attraction to short petite brunnettes with deep brown eyes and an impish smile! That's probably because I'm only 5'8" myself and I like trouble! Maybe it's a Napolian complex - that I have to tower over my mamacetas!

[Mizfit]

The physical attractiveness of my prospective mate was much more important when I was younger. Now I'm sometimes more curious about an average looking girl who most people wouldn't notice - she just kind of blends in. I like subtle beauty mixed with a twist of "sweetness" to the personality - the kindly girl next door who has a killer libido, an openess to experience and a "heart of gold." Where are you baby?! I also tend to have an attraction to short petite brunnettes with deep brown eyes and an impish smile! That's probably because I'm only 5'8" myself and I like trouble! Maybe it's a Napolian complex - that I have to tower over my mamacetas!

Well some would say that is your idea of beauty then...

Personally.. i would rather be ugly than plain.. when your plain it means u blend in and no one notices you.

At least if your ugly people will at least not be able to look past you. (my friends think im messed for this belief)

[Mike Dura]

Who cares about plain with that killer libido! A girl becomes pretty hot when she becomes rabid!!! And it's sometimes those quiet ones that don't draw attention to themselves that can sneak up on you! That's a pleasant surprise indeed!

Well some would say that is your idea of beauty then...

Personally.. i would rather be ugly than plain.. when your plain it means u blend in and no one notices you.

At least if your ugly people will at least not be able to look past you. (my friends think im messed for this belief)

[Mike Dura]

There's some logic to my taste. A girl who's been treated as beautiful all of her life really never had to dig deep. In my experience, the hot ones are kind of shallow because they really buy into their own hype (this isn't always the case). From the standpoint of personality that makes for a pretty shallow human experience. One tires quickly. After a while the guy looks for the substance behind the image. It's something a bit more elusive but worth the search.

[Mizfit]

There's some logic to my taste. A girl who's been treated as beautiful all of her life really never had to dig deep. In my experience, the hot ones are kind of shallow because they really buy into their own hype (this isn't always the case). From the standpoint of personality that makes for a pretty shallow human experience. One tires quickly. After a while the guy looks for the substance behind the image. It's something a bit more elusive but worth the search.

I guess you think im younger than i actually am (i'm 30)... because i do understand what your saying.

But attraction.. is stll key when you consider dating someone..

We all want substance, but it is initial attraction, what one see's that gets attenion first

[Mike Dura]

I remember your age. Your Bday just passed recently and you posted a thread reminding everyone to remember? Remember? Lol.

I would look at it this way. We all have defaults. We all, by default, are of an animal nature. Our defaults are located in the lower more basic brain regions. Being more basic and earlier this part of our brains are most salient within our experience and most influential to our behavior.

The neocortex came later in evolution but with sufficient will it allows us to possibly override our animal nature. To what extent this happens depends on the will and the learning of the person. Learning depends on motivation. We are mostly motivated by the need for acceptance. That encourages conformity. We conform to the pressure of the masses to be mindless but skilled within a niche. We are encouraged to be passive consumers of energy and information but little capacity for critical analysis of a persuasive message - one that often panders to your animal nature.

Mindlessness means no introspection. No introspection means default animal.
In such a culture, a person would most likely be swayed by symmetry or physical attractiveness. They are coming from their loins and not sensing the other with their whole body. There's much more to being beautiful than the symmetry of the face. When you give a person time to shine through than you see the more essencial beauty of a person. This rhelm is associated with "the spiritual." It's a deeper kind of love.

But the majority of people out there love like animals. So appearance factors in more. Maybe that's why we are fanatics about our appearances. We just really caved in to the influence of a mass culture to be accepted and maybe even worshiped. That would make us shallow right? Celebrities seem shallow to me. Shallow is how Americans are so preoccupied with their celebrities! I don't know what it's like up in Canada but I've heard it's much more liberal. If so I'd probably like it up there.

I guess you think im younger than i actually am (i'm 30)... because i do understand what your saying.

But attraction.. is stll key when you consider dating someone..

We all want substance, but it is initial attraction, what one see's that gets attenion first

[Superhuman]

I guess you think im younger than i actually am (i'm 30)... because i do understand what your saying.

But attraction.. is stll key when you consider dating someone..

We all want substance, but it is initial attraction, what one see's that gets attenion first

i agree, and you must have a very symmetrical face!

[Pooks]

I'm really not too sure how it all works.
I think it might have more to do with confidence than looks when it comes to dating, and how you are treated.

Alot of very good looking doods couldnt get a date if their life depended on it, while on the other hand, u have some high energy below average joe, who makes chicks smile and he plays them left n right.

[Mike Dura]

Well read the post! That's how it works. People are attracted to symmetry. Of course there's more to it than that. If your a weird acting good looking person that's not going to get you too far. But the most salient initial stimulus is visual for human beings.

I'm really not too sure how it all works.
I think it might have more to do with confidence than looks when it comes to dating, and how you are treated.

Alot of very good looking doods couldnt get a date if their life depended on it, while on the other hand, u have some high energy below average joe, who makes chicks smile and he plays them left n right.

[Pooks]

true first impressions. Based all on looks n clothes, n what you're doing.

[Mizfit]

true first impressions. Based all on looks n clothes, n what you're doing.

I agree

[farrebarre]

That's alot to take it.


There is a study that suggests beautiful people get treated better.. And even states parents are not as nice to their less good looking children..

i finally found out why everyone are so nice to me and why my parents love me so much

[Theatrix]

i finally found out why everyone are so nice to me and why my parents love me so much

[D7M]

There's some logic to my taste. A girl who's been treated as beautiful all of her life really never had to dig deep. In my experience, the hot ones are kind of shallow because they really buy into their own hype (this isn't always the case). From the standpoint of personality that makes for a pretty shallow human experience. One tires quickly. After a while the guy looks for the substance behind the image. It's something a bit more elusive but worth the search.

I completely agree with this, dura. after some years, the other factors you mentioned weigh more than just looks

[Mizfit]

But you can't generalize and say anyone who was considered atttractive is shallow..

Damn this burns my ASS

[Mike Dura]

Lol. I know that........yah sillies!

But you can't generalize and say anyone who was considered atttractive is shallow..

Damn this burns my ASS

[crossroad..]

looks can be decieving..

[Mizfit]

what you really gotta watch out for is the one's that look pretty with make up on.. but ocne they take it off.. Wooow mama!

[Mike Dura]

Interestingly, good looking people also cheat more often which has implications. The implications are..... those who moralize about monogamy and fidelity been beaten by the ugly stick and their moralizing is just a vain act that excuses their lack of opportunity and their envy for those who have and take advantage of opportunity.

[farrebarre]

Interestingly, good looking people also cheat more often which has implications. The implications are..... those who moralize about monogamy and fidelity been beaten by the ugly stick and their moralizing is just a vain act that excuses their lack of opportunity and their envy for those who have and take advantage of opportunity.

true that my brotha

[Mizfit]

U think beautiful people cheat more?

Or maybe you just don't hear bout the uglier ones doin it

[farrebarre]

U think beautiful people cheat more?

Or maybe you just don't hear bout the uglier ones doin it

we (beatiful ppl) do it with class lol

[Mizfit]

we (beatiful ppl) do it with class lol

I must be pretty ugly than because i never thought cheating was classy

[farrebarre]

I must be pretty ugly than because i never thought cheating was classy

well now u know :P

[Raven8264]

Yep, but it's those times and how you act that truly define you as a person.

I mean lets face it its hard to be nice to ugly people

[farrebarre]

Yep, but it's those times and how you act that truly define you as a person.

who needs personality when u have the look of an angle haha

[Mike Dura]

Well, this is what I read in an article in a social science journal. I'm thinking it was based on a survey. It makes sense intuitively. Physically attractive people get more opportunity therefore it must happen more often.

U think beautiful people cheat more?

Or maybe you just don't hear bout the uglier ones doin it

[Mike Dura]

And interestingly, did you know, all things being equal (qualificationwise) physically attractive people get better salaries. This too is supported by labaratory experiments.

[Mizfit]

And interestingly, did you know, all things being equal (qualificationwise) physically attractive people get better salaries. This too is supported by labaratory experiments.

I agree with this one a 100%