1. Beautiful Biology

2. What kinds of things do humans think are beautiful?

3. What kinds of things humans think are not beautiful?

4. Benjamin Okopnik. Spent most of my life fishing, and wasted the rest
“Much of what we consider "beauty" is a nearly-automatic evaluation of what we perceive as another person's, or creature's biological fitness. In the case of deep sea fishes, most of your evaluation criteria automatically and inevitably going to be wrong - so your "beauty meter" is going to slam the needle downwards. For me, the "beauty" of deep sea fish lies in their often-freaky appearance. That a creature can be so different from what I consider "normal" and yet be perfectly adapted to its environment has always filled me with deep interest.”

5. What humans look for when considering beauty.
1. Furry friends.
2. Baby face.
3. “They look fit”!

6. Furry Friends What type of organisms do we associate with most?
What type of organisms do we feel more comfortable around?

7. Kindchenschema

8. Activity
Look at the photos of the babies and give them a rating of 1-5 for how beautiful they look (1 being not beautiful and 5 being very beautiful).

9. Rate the baby Cutest? One you would most like to take care of?

10. Baby Schema Konrad Lorenz (ethologist – animal behaviour) 1903 – 1989.
Suggested that infantile characteristics are perceived as “cute”.

11. “Infantile” physical features
Large head
Round face
Big eyes
Chubby cheeks
Small nose

12. Baby schema study
Baby Schema in Infant Faces Induces Cuteness Perception and Motivation for Caretaking in Adults
Published in final edited form as:
Ethology Mar; 115(3): 257–263.
Melanie L. Glocker et al.

13. How it was done. Infant faces created using manipulated photos.
High schema (cute), no manipulation (had some cute and some not cute features) and low schema (not cute).
62 undergraduates asked to rate (on a scale of 1-5) photos of babies for their cuteness and 44 undergraduates for desire to take care after looking at each one for 60 seconds.

14. Results

15. Possible conclusions?
It is good to have high baby schema because adults will think you are “cute” and are more likely to take care of you. You will then survive to adulthood and pass on your genes.
If you are designing toys or cartoon characters remember to use baby schema.

16. Adult Facial Attractiveness
Facial preferences can influence the following;
Mate choice
Platonic relationship choice
Hiring decisions
Social exchange

17. Surprising fact for the day!
Natural Observations of the Links between Attractiveness and Initial Legal Judgments
A. Chris Downs, Phillip M. Lyons
First Published October 1, 1991 Research Article
Attractive individuals pay lower bail!

18. Functions of beauty – The evolutionary basis of attraction
Darwin is not quite right.
“It is certainly not true that there is in the mind of man any universal standards of beauty with respect to the human body.”
“Theoretically, preferences guide us to choose mates who will provide the best chance of our genes surviving”
Anthony C. Little et al in “Facial attractiveness: evolutionary based research” Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci Jun 12; 366(1571): 1638–1659.

19. Activity
Rate the faces in terms of how attractive you think they are. Again use 1-5, with 1 being not attractive and 5 being very attractive.

20. Rate the face.

21. Why is one more attractive than the other?
Symmetry
Symmetry suggests successful development despite environmental pressures.
Facial asymmetry can be a measure of variation in development, which could be a result of inbreeding, mutation, homozygosity on a genetic level or an indication of nutrient intake or parasite load.

22. Rate these faces.

23. Averageness C is a composite of images to increase its averageness.
Averageness is how closely the face resembles the majority of others in a population.
Alignment of features close to the population is linked to genetic diversity.
This is advantageous with regard to pathogens and immune response.

24. It is all about selection and evolution!
Faces reflect genotypes.
Genotypes that increase survival are advantageous.
Organisms that can recognise faces that have advantageous genotypes have a selective advantage.
These faces are “attractive” and the person is considered beautiful.

25. Why should animals have a sense of what is beautiful?