Where Does Our Perception of Beauty Come From?

1. Where Does Our Perception of Beauty Come From? By: Meaghan Palmiere **You will only need to click once (on this slide) to start the power point presentation. Every slide is timed and will advance automatically.**

2. Where does our perception of beauty come from? • I chose this topic because I feel it is a term so heavily used, but with little depth. You could call a person beautiful, but what is it that makes them beautiful? Are they only beautiful to you? I ask myself these questions almost every day and with much research, I found an answer.

3. Initially I thought beauty was learned. For example, celebrities coined "The Most Beautiful in America" set a precedent as to what we as Americans should look like in order to be "beautiful". I am guilty in thinking that if I don’t have my make-up and hair done like celebrities, I am not as beautiful.

4. As I thought about it more, I realized that anyone can look like a celebrity when they have a professional contouring their bodies and faces with make-up and airbrush tanning.

5. A different perspective involves evolution. “Evolutionary theory suggests that facial beauty signals the optimum reproductive status of the bearer; it thus dictates that we are drawn to those who are attractive in order to maximize our success in reproducing offspring with a strong chance of survival” (Senior, Beauty in the Brain of the Beholder) Apparently, with this theory, it means that we are able to look at other humans and know when they are at the peek of their reproducing state and thus will be most attracted to them. Although this theory makes sense, I don’t think it truly defines how we perceive beauty. Maybe in the cavemen days, this theory would oblige; but there is a more modern perception of beauty that I want to find.

6. The next thing I came across was about how a symmetrical face is considered the most ‘beautiful’ due to perfect balances within the face. “aesthetic judgments are known to be often guided by criteria of symmetry.”(Thomas Jacobson, Brain Correlates of AstheticJudement of Beauty) So then I began to believe my perception of beauty comes from the symmetry of someone’s face.

7. And when you look at the other half of the face, it’s still beautiful. So how can a perfectly symmetrical face be any more beautiful than an asymmetrical face? It isn’t.. But after watching a video by Richard Seymour, he pointed out a good fact. If you only look at half of the face, it’s beautiful, right?

8. As I began to research more, I found that beauty goes more deeply that what the eye can see. As I dove back into different research, I found that beauty is much more than what the eye can see.

9. A study that involved 21 different people participated in a brain-scanning experiment that used functional magnetic resonance imaging (otherwise known as MRI). They were asked to rate pictures and musical excerpts on a scale of 1-9, 9 being the most beautiful. The results showed that of all the activity in the brain, only one cortical area was active during the experience of beauty. This suggests that our brain is wired to determine beauty, rather than learning what beauty is.

10. A philosophical author, Edmund Burke, wrote that “Beauty is, for the greater part, some quality in bodies acting mechanically upon the human mind by the intervention of the senses.” This meant that although our brain is wired to a certain extent, our senses also play a part in what makes someone or something beautiful. I did not understand this until I saw an example in Richard Seymour’s video...

11. ***Please click here if you cannot see video: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=4101699078625&l=3735347683231620549

12. At this moment I realized that beauty is not based off of what someone looks like or what we see. It is wired in the brain and incorporates our emotions and senses as well. Beauty is something that is intangible that can be found in anyone or anything. My perception of beauty comes from the emotions I feel when my brain is recognizing something.

13. I now disagree that beauty is learned because I was never taught to ‘feel’ beauty. I was never taught to decide what was ugly or wasn’t ugly. It just happened. I am satisfied with my new answer to my perception of beauty because I have a meaning with depth to it that I understand and can grasp for all things, rather than just looking at a picture on a page. “Beauty is something that is intangible that can be found in anyone or anything. My perception of beauty comes from the emotions I feel when my brain is recognizing something.”

14. This connects to what another philosopher, David Hume, said: "Beauty is no quality in things themselves: It exists merely in the mind which contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty. One person may even perceive deformity, where another is sensible of beauty; and every individual ought to acquiesce in his own sentiment, without pretending to regulate those of others."

15. Personal Research • For my own research, I wanted to know other peoples’ perspectives on beauty. • On March 29, 2014 I went to the Providence Place Mall and asked 20 people to take this survey.

16. Results on Survey When I reflected upon the results, I found it interesting that the majority of the 20 people thought that their perception of beauty was learned. I noticed that the age bracket 18-30years agreed most with the learned option. I connected this to the fact that most people in that age generation watches more TV than the later generations. So maybe the 18-30years based their perception on that. I also found it interesting that only two people thought their senses were involved with beauty. Perhaps they think this way because they have found something they truly care about (such as love) and think that person is beautiful no matter what. Either way, I think that the younger generation claiming that beauty is learned is very predictable based upon how much the media, celebrities, TV, etc., effects their lives.

17. Bibliography • Pictures: • David Hume: "David Hume - Google Search." David Hume - Google Search. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. • Edmund Burke:"Edmund Burke - Google Search." Edmund Burke - Google Search. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. • Cortical Brain Image :"Cortical Brain Regions - Google Search." Cortical Brain Regions - Google Search. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. • Slide 4 Image: "Evolution of Beauty - Google Search." Evolution of Beauty - Google Search. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. • Acacemic Sources: • Slides 9 and 10:Ishizu T, Zeki S (2011) Toward A Brain-Based Theory of Beauty. PLoS ONE 6(7): e21852. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0021852 • Slide 5:Senior, Carl. "Neuron." Beauty in the Brain of the Beholder 38.4 (2003): 525-28. Science Direct. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. • Slide 6:Jacobson, Thomas. "NeuroImage." Brain Correlates of Aesthetic Judgment of Beauty 29.1 (2006): 276-85. ScienceDirect. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. • Slide 14: • Wyeth, Sharon Dennis. Something beautiful. Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 1998. • Popular Culture: • Slides 7 and 11: • Richard Seymour: How Beauty Feels. Perf. Richard Seymour. TEDtalks, 2011. YouTube. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiXd_9DFCOQ>. • Survey Location: Providence Place Mall / Time: March 29, 2014

18. The End! • Thank you!