Notes

I think its a bit strange that the Greeks believed in a mathematical basis for beauty. Everyone has different opinions, so not everyone is going to think that, the perfect mathematical facial structure or overall appearance of a person, is actually their own standard for beauty. I'm glad that I actually learned what The Golden Ratio is, because I remember seeing it put over other images a couple of months ago and didn't look up what it actually was. From the PowerPoint it seems that attractiveness is indicated by fertility, good genes, and age, which I think is weird because no one is thinking about a persons fertility when they see someone. I thought that the study with both genders wearing sexually neutral outfits, was very interesting because we got to see how the subjects viewed how they thought was the most attractive. At the end of the study that the subjects found someone around the same attractiveness rating as themselves, which I found particularly interesting as its so strange how each subject just happened to choose someone in the same attractiveness rating as themselves. Overall I thought this was a very interesting, but strange lesson as I don't think about the scientific explanation for beauty and attractiveness.

Sexual Development is very important. It allows new genetic combinations to form, thus resulting in higher diversity among a population. High genetic diversity can result in higher survivability as a species. For example, if a disease were to spread among a population of organisms with the same genetic code, and killed them, then that population would be wiped out entirely. If this disease were to spread among a population with some genetic diversity, only a few people would die as some of them may be immune, or have a resistance to the disease. People cannot see what kinds of genes another has, but they can see favorable traits in one another. I found it interesting that a large part of what people find attractive is generally the same from person to person, and that many of these signs of attraction go unnoticed. Attraction goes beyond sight, which was partially shocking to me as well. Smells and sounds, along with the visuals create the most complete form of attraction that I can now imagine but would have never considered it before. All in all, attraction provides a foundation for sexual reproduction, and thus the foundation for diversity in a population, resulting in the higher survivability of a species.