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Asked by jay132009 to Michelle on 17 Jun 2010 in Categories: General.
Question: how does the brain recognise good looks or something that we think is nice, and how does it recognise something we dont like :D x-
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Michelle Murphy answered on 17 Jun 2010:
In most cases we learn from experiences we know smiles tend to mean is person is happy and that is probably a more attractive quality than some one who is red in the face and frowning as they might be angry. Likewise cream cakes look good because we associate them with tasting good in comparison to boiled cabbage.
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Comments
Jane commented on :
People generally rate people who are more symmetrical as better looking. Symmetry is associated with good health so this may be sensible. There are also certain proportions of a face that some scientists claim are more likely to be rated as attractive in most cultures. We think things are nice that we have found to be nice by try and error in the past, eg sweets. The brain recognises something it does like by association with some similar unpleasant experience in the past, like injections. With people it seems as pheromones which we smell unconsciously are as important as well as looks. Experiments show we are more likely to be attracted to those whose smell indicates to our brains that they are different enough to be the most beneficial mates, most likely to give any children healthier immune systems. The interesting thing about this is that our minds never realise this is going on consciously. It happens unconsciously.