What is the Link Between Symmetry and Beauty?
Do we innately prefer symmetry or is it just a purely subjective cultural construct?
There is an old Latin maxim, “De gustibus non est disputandum”, which means that with regards to matters of taste, there can be no disputes.
A lot of people say that everyone has different tastes, but is this for certain? Could it in fact be possible that the opposite is true? That in reality most people have very similar tastes?
Of course there are always those outliers on the bell curve spectrum who can surprise us all with their different predispositions. But surely if there are so many inherent characteristics we all share, is it so surprising that one of them could be our attraction to the natural appeal of symmetry?
Symmetry
With regards to symmetry being an important component in how we judge physical beauty, there is no doubt. Actually this is an extremely old concept that goes back all the way to the beginning of history.
In more modern times scientists attempted to prove the long held theory empirically. They did this by performing the following experiment:
They took a selection of similar looking male birds and placed a combination of red and blue coloured socks on each of the birds feet. The male bird that had both a red sock on one foot and a blue sock on the other was found to be considerably less attractive to a potential female mate. If both socks were either red or blue the male was found to be just as attractive to the female. It made no difference what colour the socks were; just that they were both the same colour.
Is Beauty Subjective or Objective?
Can we presume that humans behave in the same way as birds?
Personally, I think there is little doubt.
Even just a little asymmetry in the way someone looks can be somehow disturbing and unattractive to others. For example, if someone has a really crooked nose or one of their ears protrudes more than the other we notice it immediately and factor it into our assessment of their ‘looks’ accordingly.
And we do it without even thinking about it!
Anyway, these are my thoughts on this fascinating subject. Be interested to hear what you all think?
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There must be some correlation between symmetry and perceived health. It's all about finding the mate with the best genes whether we like it or not :-)
I think there is..I agree
Great question.
Makes me wonder at what level we're able to perceive symmetry, specifically if you think of it in terms of fractals. My unscientific understanding is that if you zoom in far enough, you can find symmetry where it was not perceived to exist.