

Denis Dutton: A Darwinian Theory Of Beauty - sthomps
http://blog.sokanu.com/denis-dutton-a-darwinian-theory-of-beauty

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Geee
I think that appreciation of beauty, in art, music etc. is just a glitch in
the brain's compression algorithm. It tends to reward novel patterns which are
also familiar, i.e., compressible in regards to learned information. For
example, music is boring when it's totally compressible repetitive pattern, or
when it's too novel or random and thus not compressible.

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maxklein
The correct summary is that "we find beauty in something done skillfully".
He's talking about art and such.

I also think it should be clear that people who are more handsome or beautiful
or have straighter teeth than others are better evolutionarily than other less
beautiful people.

They are less flawed.

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rgower
To be clear, it's not because they're less flawed per se, but less
symmetrical. Physical asymmetries indicate poorer genetic fitness, and we
interpret this potential genetic detriment as flaw.

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sliverstorm
Doesn't seem so crazy. I mean, just look at how popular musicians are with
women!

It doesn't entirely make sense to me from the female point of view, but from
the male point of view being artistic (in this case musical) makes a lot of
sense in Darwinian terms!

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fhe
indeed, the entire talk struck me as being overly male-centric, beginning with
the example of the peacock's tail. he needs to at least argue that sexual
selection works both ways to explain the many talented female
writers/musicians.

thing is, I don't even buy that musicians' popularity with the opposite sex is
a universal thing. For most of history in China (where I live) - if you want
to have a random sample of humanity and culture, can't quite ignore China can
you - being a musician is quite a lowly occupation. it's only in the last 50
years when they began to make big money that they became desirable as sexual
partners.

evolutionary biology no doubt determines what we look for in a mate. but it's
not as fixated on some notion of beauty as pure reproductive advantage.

