Why Is Beauty Important to Us?

Why Is Beauty Important to Us?

WE ASKED WRITERS, SCIENTISTS(ˈsīəntist), ACTORS, DESIGNERS AND OTHERS TO EXPLAIN THE INDISPENSABILITY(ˌindəˌspensəˈbilədē) OF BEAUTY IN OUR EVERYDAY LIVES.

Humans have engaged(enˈgājd) with the concept(ˈkänˌsept) of beauty for millennia(məˈlenēə), trying to define it while being defined by it.

Plato(ˈplādō) thought that merely(ˈmi(ə)rlē) contemplating(ˈkän(t)əmˌplāt) beauty caused “the soul to grow wings(wiNG).” Ralph(ralf) Waldo(ˈwôldō) Emerson(ˈemərsən) found beauty in Raphael’s(ˈrafēəl,ˈrā-,ˈrāfēəl,ˌräfīˈel) “The Transfiguration(transˌfigyəˈrāSHən),” writing that “a calm(kä(l)m) benignant(bəˈniɡnənt) beauty shines(SHīn) over all this picture, and goes directly to the heart.” In “My Skin,” Lizzo sings: “The most beautiful thing that you ever seen is even bigger than what we think it means.”

We asked a group of artists, scientists, writers and thinkers to answer this simple question: Why is beauty, however defined, so important in our lives? Here are their responses.

Neil Degrasse Tyson
ASTROPHYSICIST(ˌastrōˈfizisəst)

Who wouldn’t argue that some things are objectively beautiful? Much of what we can see in the natural world would surely qualify(ˈkwäləˌfī): sunsets, snow-capped mountains, waterfalls, wildflowers. Images of these scenes(sēn), which please(plēz) and soothe(so͞oT͟H) our senses(sens), are among the most reproduced(ˌrēprəˈd(y)o͞os) in all of civilization(ˌsivələˈzāSHən).

It’s true, of course, that we’re not the only creatures attracted to flowers. Bees and butterflies can’t resist(rəˈzist) them either — but that’s because they need flowers to survive(sərˈvīv).

Lying(ˈlī-iNG) at the opposite(ˈäpəzət) end of the beauty spectrum(ˈspektrəm) are reptiles(ˈreptəl,ˈrepˌtīl). They’ve had it pretty bad. Across decades of science fiction(ˈfikSHən), their countenance(ˈkountn-əns) has served as the model for a long line of ugly(ˈəglē) monsters, from Godzilla(gädˈzilə) to the Creature in the “Creature From the Black Lagoon(ləˈgo͞on)” to the Gorn in “Star Trek(trek).”

There may be a good reason for our instinctive(inˈstiNG(k)tiv) attraction to some things and distaste(disˈtāst) for others. If our mammalian(məˈmālēən) ancestors(ˈanˌsestər), running underfoot, hadn’t feared reptilian(-ˈtilyən,repˈtilēən) dinosaurs(ˈdīnəˌsôr) they would have been swiftly eaten. Similarly, nearly everyone would agree that the harmless butterfly is more beautiful than the stinger(ˈstiNGər)-equipped bee — with the possible exception of beekeepers.

Risk of bodily(ˈbädl-ē) harm appears to matter greatly in our collective assessment(əˈsesmənt) of what is or is not beautiful. Beauty could very well be a way for our senses to reassure(ˌrēəˈSHo͝or) us when we feel safe in a dangerous universe.

If so, I can’t help but wonder(ˈwəndər) how much beauty lies just out of reach, hidden(ˈhidn) in plain(plān) sight(sīt), simply because we have no more than five senses with which to experience the world.

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https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/07/opinion/elizabeth-blackburn-why-is-beauty-important.html