Why do we like beautiful things?
  • Wheatley
    2.3k
    Humans attempt to achieve beauty in many ways. Not only do we want us and our partners to be beautiful, we also want our environment to be beautiful. We spend time and money on grooming ourselves. We spend time making our homes look beautiful. We go to museums to look at beautiful things. We purchase beautiful items. But why all this effort?

    What do we need to live? Food, water, and shelter. However beauty is something extra, something that we want, not necessarily something that we need. Life could go on just fine if we never strive for beauty. But beauty is one of the pleasures of life, and there is no reason to deny it.

    Why does beauty give us pleasure? It seems universal that we like beautiful things.(although we might not agree on what's beautiful). Therefore there's probably a genetic component to it. As for the exact reason why we are genetically programmed to strive for beauty, I don't know. Possibly it has something to do with evolution.

    Why do we like beautiful things? Who knows?
    Wheatley Options
  • Devans99
    2.7k
    We pay a price for beauty; it's a constant battle against the 2nd law of thermodynamics keeping stuff clean and tidy. I'm a bit lazy around the house; I exchange beauty for free time. Works for me.

    I assume we are evolutionary programmed to value beauty for reproductive reasons and the appeal of symmetry, simplicity etc... seems to then somehow transcend the sexual domain and causes us to value beauty, symmetry in objects as well.
    Devans99 Options
  • I like sushi
    4.3k
    I am don’t think we can live without “beauty.” I’ll come straight out and say it is a prerequisite to wanting anything.

    As for the reasons in empirical terms; we know “beauty” has a lot to do with symmetry and harmony. An interesting point here are the studies that have shown people don’t seek perfect symmetry and find that things that slightly off-set much more appealing than perfectly balanced items.

    Of course there is the matter of defining what precisely you mean by “beauty,” but I’m taking the obvious meaning into account here in regards to aesthetics and sensibility.
    I like sushi Options
  • Terrapin Station
    13.8k
    Why does beauty give us pleasure? — Purple Pond

    You seem to be thinking that things are beautiful independent of an individual's assessment. I don't agree with that. "Beautiful" is one of the terms we use to describe things that appeal to us.
    Terrapin Station Options
  • Valentinus
    1.6k
    ↪Terrapin Station

    You seem to be thinking that things are beautiful independent of an individual's assessment. I don't agree with that. "Beautiful" is one of the terms we use to describe things that appeal to us. — Terrapin Station

    It is a term we each apply to what appeals to us. But "beauty" is also something that happens to each of us, an experience that can be compared with other peoples' experiences. One could agree with your statement as a matter of judgment but not think you have exhausted all there is to be said about it.
    Valentinus Options
  • Terrapin Station
    13.8k
    One could agree with your statement as a matter of judgment but not think you have exhausted all there is to be said about it. — Valentinus

    Yeah, I'm definitely not exhausting all there is to be said about it, haha. Just noting that it's not something different than a way we feel about particular things.
    Terrapin Station Options
  • BC
    13.2k
    ↪Purple Pond
    Because beautiful is better than hideous, the same way good food is better than bad food, and a good musician is better than a bad musician.
    BC Options
  • Herg
    212
    Why does beauty give us pleasure? — Purple Pond

    That's putting the cart before the horse. We apply the word "beautiful" to all and only those things the contemplation of which gives us a certain kind of pleasure.
    Herg Options
  • Kippo
    130
    I'm not sure many people are tuned in to "beauty". Most people fill their houses with things even they don't find beautiful.
    Kippo Options
  • Sir2u
    3.2k
    Why do we like beautiful things? — Purple Pond

    We consider things beautiful because we like them, not that we like them because they are beautiful. They please us in some way, we like them, we call them beautiful. :smile:
    Sir2u Options
  • hks
    171
    ↪Purple Pond
    To live we need air, physical warmth, liquids (water is for baptism), foods, safety, and a purpose.

    The Artistic Artificer is one of the classic Proofs Of God.

    There is art because God created it.

    We love art because God loves art.

    We are like God in that respect.

    The created-things are like their Creator.
    hks Options
  • Sir2u
    3.2k
    The created-things are like their Creator. — hks

    No we are not, we do not always hide from our children.
    Sir2u Options
  • hks
    171
    ↪Sir2u
    Sometimes it is necessary to hide things from your children actually.

    God must have a good reason for hiding from us.

    We should therefore trust in God and not blame or prejudge Him/Her/Them for what He/She/They do/does.
    hks Options
  • Sir2u
    3.2k
    Sometimes it is necessary to hide things from your children actually. — hks

    Hiding "things" from your children is not the same as hiding yourself.

    God must have a good reason for hiding from us. — hks

    That is what most men that are taken to court for child maintenance say, "I had a good reason not to look after my kids".

    We should therefore trust in God and not blame or prejudge Him/Her/Them for what He/She/They do/does. — hks

    You would not trust your own father after he abandons you, so why would you even think about trusting something you have never even met?
    Sir2u Options
  • hks
    171
    ↪Sir2u
    You @sir2u should look into Deism. You can google it. Wiki has a great explanation.

    Deism is the concept embraced for the Philosophy God of the Romantics.
    hks Options
  • Sir2u
    3.2k
    You sir2u should look into Deism. — hks

    Been there, done that, still not interested.

    And I do know a little about the internet so I don't need you to tell me that I
    can google it — hks

    Wiki has a great explanation. — hks

    I am wordless, that place is not on any intelligent person's list of places to find accurate information about anything.
    Sir2u Options
  • Lif3r
    387
    Could we say that in terms of art, beauty is a depiction of the process of learning?
    Lif3r Options
  • Agent Smith
    9.5k
    We can change minds (can make them beautiful) but we can't change bodies (can't make them beautiful). We like beautiful bodies hence.

    Cosmetic surgery, anyone?
    Agent Smith Options
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