Beauty, Biology, and Society Essay -- Biology Essays Research Papers

Beauty, Biology, and Society What is beauty? How do human beings decide who is attractive and who is not? Society is full of messages telling us what is beautiful, but what are those definitions based on? Do we consciously decide whom we are attracted to, or is biology somehow involved? The issue of beauty and how we define it has been studied for centuries. Scholars from all fields of study have searched for the "formula" for beauty. Darwin in his book The Descent of Man wrote, "It is certainly not true that there is in the mind of man any universal standard of beauty with respect to the human body. It is however, possible that certain tastes in the course of time become inherited, though I have no evidence in favor of this belief." (1) Science has tried to look at beauty beyond the conscious level. It has tried to determine what roles biology plays in human attraction. Scientists have discovered that symmetry and scent play a role in defining human attraction. (3) But while this can begin to explain beauty on the most basic of levels, what accounts for variations in the standard of beauty? The idea of beauty varies within different societies and communities. Do these cultural preferences have a biological basis? What is the relationship between biology and society in relation to the idea of beauty? How do they relate to each other, and how do they differ? In particular what role does science play in the preference that many societies, (in particular South Asian, East Asian, and North American Cultures), have for fairer skin? Beauty is experienced through visual stimuli. The human being's intake of beauty is through both conscious and unconscious decisions. (4) (4) The question is what motivates our unconscious decisions... ...t/html/astrid/femphers.html 3) Evolutionary Psychology of Sexual Attraction https://cognet.mit.edu/login/?return_url=%2Flibrary%2Ferefs%2Fmitecs%2Fthornhill.html 4) The Biological Purpose of Beauty http://www.beautyworlds.com/beautybiological.htm 5) The Role of Afrocentric Features in Person Perception: Judging by Features and Categories , Journal of Personality and Social Psychology http://www.colorado.edu/~iblair/Blar_features.pdf 6) When Black Isn't Beautiful, , The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,3899316,00.html 7) What's In a Colour?. http://www.peak.sfu.ca/the-peak/98-2/issue1/colourbar.html1/ 8) The Colour Bar of Beauty http://www.peak.sfu.ca/the-peak/98-2/issue1/colourbar.html1/ 9) Races and Racism http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro02/web2/)%20http://www.geocities.com/pak_history/racism.html

A Movie Review: Girl with a Pearl Earring

The movie is Peter Webber's adaptation of a novel by Tracy Chevalier about the brilliant artist, Johannes Vermeer.Girl with a Pearl Earring is wonderfully crafted and captivating. Much credit should go to the production people behind it, as they successfully made each scene look like a painting. That way, they are being faithful not just to the book where the movie came from, but to the brilliant artist who once lived in the person of Johannes Vermeer. The movie in general was an impressive work of art and a fitting tribute to a remarkable artist.What I like the most about the movie is their choice of music, which is just appropriate for the 17th century Delft. It is also noteworthy that they had a girl in the cast, Grit (Scarlett Johansson), who was made to really look like Vermeer’s painting, as if destiny (and perhaps good cosmetics) had made it happen.The movie effectively shows Johannes Vermeer (Colin Firth)’s character as a generally silent man. He spent a lot of time just standing silently and studying his environment from different unnoticeable corners. This is perhaps symbolic of his innate traits as a man.In spite of his nature, Vermeer was coerced to attend grand gatherings for the purpose of his art recognition. However, he needed much solitude if he could only decide for himself. Except there was not a lot of choices for him. After all, he needed the pompous gatherings demanded by the elite Venetian society to earn a living for his family and himself. It is interesting to note that when he died in 1675, he already had eleven (11) children.Come 1665, Johannes Vermeer painted a mysterious masterpiece, a painting of an unidentified model who obviously posed for him. In the past, there had been a few guesses and detailed theories that settled on believing that the painting was that of one of Vermeer’s daughters. Nothing has been confirmed, though. This is where the movie spins with much interesting twists.Then Griet (Scarlett Johan sson) was introduced.Grit was lovely and attractive, and it shouldn’t be hard to imagine why an artist that is naturally drawn to beauty would be interested in her.Griet, like Vermeer, is one who is no stranger to solitude. But unlike the solitude of Vermeer, Griet’s solitude has a lot to do with her unfortunate status in the discriminating Delft caste system.Vermeer and Griet formed a bond, which culminated in his creating a painting of her. The scene where he shows her his work of art was moving. Both actors were very convincing and the lines they said were sensitive for the human mind.When Griet tells Vermeer, ‘You've seen into me,' the connection was more than exposed. It was celebrated.The film, overall, is remarkable and definitely worth watching. Some scenes — like when Vermeer was teaching Griet the trick of playing with the light for capturing realistic art — were unforgettable.The film’s cinematographer Eduardo Serra, production des igner Ben Van Os, and art director Christina Shaeffer, all deserve a round of applause for having created a moving picture out of the still paintings of a genius.

Essay on Definition of Knowledge - 1036 Words

Definition of Knowledge Truth is the essence of all knowledge. Our Knowledge is justified true belief. Everyday people hear and experience things and then choose whether or not to believe them. It is the justification of the knowledge that we acquire that makes something believable to a person or not. The justification for our knowledge allows us to decide whether to believe something is true or not. People tend to use things like scientific evidence, first hand experiences, word of mouth, logic, faith and many other things everyday of their life to determine whether something is truthful or not. Before continuing, it is important that it is stated that nothing should be taken for truth†¦show more content†¦Rather than trusting the opinion of another you can go out into the world and prove something for yourself. A first hand account is often the best proof of anyting. Science is a form of empirialism. It is the search of truth based on experience. Scientists aspire to prove theories based on other truths that have already been proven. The truths of science should be agreed upon by any thinkers in the universe that observe the same regular phenomena. This is because scientific knowledge must be based on solid evidence. Scientists seek to prove a hypothesis through the experience of experiments and observation. The goal of science is to discover patterns in nature, and has a very effective way of acquiring knowledge from observations of those patterns. Facts acquired from scientific experiments seem to be very strong evidence of truth. But these facts are only useful in a small branch of knowledge. Faith is a common way of knowing for people all around the world. It is not unnatural for people to believe that there is a superior being or that death is not the end. There is no way to prove that this is true or not true, yet the idea seems to be enough for most people to believe it. Faith is belief without doubt based on revelation, faith based on experience is not faith. So, without any experience orShow MoreRelatedTheaetetus : An Analysis Of Platos Definitions Of Knowledge2057 Words   |  9 Pagesasking is â€Å"what is knowledge?† Theaetetus gives four definitions to the question â€Å"what is knowledge?† The first being that knowledge is arts and sciences, the second being knowledge is sense-perception, the third that knowledge is true judgment, and the fourth being knowledge is true judgment with an account. But Socrates was able to disprove all of the definitions in regards to the question, â€Å"what is knowledge?† given by Theaetetus. Theaetetus’ first attempt to define knowledge was that he stated:Read MoreKnowledge Is The Measure Of All Things Essay848 Words   |  4 PagesOctober 2015 Is Knowledge Possible? First, Theaetetus arrived at a definition that knowledge is the skills, abilities, and activities that allow people to understand the whole discipline (6). 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It is also probable to assume that Socrates knew that there was no true definition of Piety, and that his overall quest to find the universal of piety was used more as an example. He may have been expressing critical thought and encouraging society to understand the variation of individual perception, and the distinction of humanRead More The Ontological Argument Essay1446 Words   |  6 PagesGod actually exists. In other words, it assumes the point it is supposed to prove, primarily because is assumes that existence is a great-making quality, and for God to be truly great, he must exist. I disagree with Rowes point that Anselms definition of God invalidates his argument because it later helps to prove Anselms argument. I agree with Anselms assumption that existence is a great-making quality. Therefore, I take the stance that Anselms Argument is a valid one. nbsp; There areRead MorePlato s Meno As A Socratic Discussion On Human Sexuality And Age1686 Words   |  7 PagesPlato s Meno is a Socratic discussion on the definition of human virtues where the main participants are Socrates and Meno. Other speakers in the dialogue include an Athenian politician, one of Meno s slaves, and Socrates’ prosecutor Anytus, who is a friend to Meno. Meno wants to understand the broad definition of human virtues and while visiting Athens he initiates the dialogue on virtues with Socrates. The discussion begins with Meno inquiring from Socrates whether virtues can be learned. MenoRead MoreAspects of Research793 Words   |  4 Pagesthe various definitions of research to see some similarities regarding what research seems to address. It must also be taken into consideration that there are types of research that exist for example historical research, artistic research, and scientific research (Wikipedia, 2010). To look into the definitions of research, we would start with the recommended book for this module – Projects in Computing and Information Systems (second edition) by Christian Dawson (2009). The definition found in thisRead MoreThe Meno, Socrates And Meno1586 Words   |  7 Pagesacquiring knowledge, and also the concept of the teachability of virtue. Throughout the text, Meno suggests many varying definitions for virtue, all of which Socrates is able to dismantle. The point is also raised that it may be impossible to know about something that was not previously understood, because the searcher would have no idea what to be looking for. To dispute this, Socrates makes a point that all knowledge is innate, and the process of â€Å"learning† is really just recollecting knowledge thatRead MoreEdmund Gettier s Argument That Justified True Belief867 Words   |  4 Pagesbelief is not a sufficient definition for knowledge is correct. There are many scenarios in which the c onditions for justified true belief are met but cannot be said to qualify as knowledge; therefore justified true belief is not a sufficient definition for knowledge. Gettier’s argument follows something like this: †¢ It is possible to be justified in believing a false proposition. †¢ Designed scenarios showing belief in false but sufficient JTB’s †¢ While JTB was met, knowledge was not actually possessed