Saturday, January 26, 2013

The indisputable law of cuteness

I have always had this random thought, that our idea of beauty is absurd. We find something attractive or pleasing to the eyes because we are what we are. Our human body gives us a specific idea of what is beautiful. For example we're bipedal and therefore look at other people's legs and specific shapes seem attractive to us. If as a race we had no legs, or a fishtail, or something entirely different, then the two legs we now admire and feel aroused by would seem as erotic to us as the gills of a fish, or the tail of a horse.

Then again, our eyes instinctively recognise harmony. The closer someone's facial and bodily analogies are to the golden ratio Φ, the more attractive they are to the rest of us. Symmetry is a sign of healthy genes and it is knowledge on a deeper level, even if someone has never heard of that ratio in their lives.

With that in mind please explain to me why I bumped my nose against the screen in a vain attempt to get closer to this: