:: wikimiki.org ::

Beauty

Beauty

Beauty is the phenomenon of the experience of pleasure, through the perception of balance and proportion of stimulus. It involves the cognition of a balanced form and structure that elicits attraction and appeal towards a person, animal, inanimate object, scene, music, idea, etc. The opposite of beauty is ugliness, the experience of displeasure at some stimulus.

Beauty and aesthetics

Understanding the nature and meaning of beauty is one of the key themes in the philosophical discipline known as aesthetics. The composer and critic Robert Schumann distinguished between two kinds of beauty, natural beauty and poetic beauty: the former being found in the contemplation of nature, the latter in man's conscious, creative intervention into nature. Schumann indicated that in music, or other art, both kinds of beauty appear, but the former is only sensual delight, while the latter begins where the former leaves off. A common theory says that beauty is the appearance of things and people that are good. This has many supporting examples. Most people judge physically attractive human beings to be good, both physically and on deeper levels. The phrase "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," however, suggests that beauty is wholly subjective. "Beauty as goodness" has many significant counterexamples with no agreed solution. These include such things as a glacier, or a ruggedly dry desert mountain range. Most people find beauty in nature, despite it sometimes being "red in tooth and claw" (Tennyson). Another type of counterexample are comic or sarcastic works of art, which can be good, but are rarely beautiful. It is well known that people's skills develop and change their sense of beauty. Carpenters may view an out-of-true building as ugly, and many master carpenters can see out-of-true angles as small as half a degree. Many musicians can likewise hear as dissonant a tone that's high or low by as little as two percent of the distance to the next note. Most people have similar aesthetics about the work or hobbies they've mastered.

Beauty and human appearance

Studies done largely in the US have found that facial symmetry may be important because it is evidence that the person grew up in a healthy way, without visible genetic defects. Other studies have also shown that the length and height of the cheekbones may contribute strongly to beauty. These studies were conducted by scientists who asked volunteers to rate a series of photographs on the basis of beauty. The attributes common to all images rated beautiful were then picked out. One traditional, subtle feature that is considered an indication of beautiful women of most cultures is a waist-to-hip ratio of about 70% (waist circumference that is 70% of the hips circumference.) The waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) theory was discovered by psychologist Dr. Devendra Singh of the University of Texas at Austin. Physiologists have shown that this ratio accurately indicates most women's fertility. See also: Physical attractiveness and Semiotics of Ideal Beauty

Theories of beauty

The earliest theory of beauty can be found in the works of early Greek philosophers from the pre-Socratic period, such as Pythagoras. The extant writings attributed to Pythagoras reveal that the Pythagorean school, if not Pythagoras himself, saw a strong connection between mathematics and beauty. In particular, they noted that objects proportioned according to the golden ratio seemed more attractive. Some modern research seems to confirm this, in that people whose facial features are symmetric and proportioned according the golden ratio are consistently ranked as more attractive than those whose faces are not. According to an ancient Indian definition, the beautiful is that which from moment to moment is always new. That is to say, it removes the mind from the world in which things grow old. But considering that the visual system allows us to see by extracting the stable, rather than changing, features of the environment on a momentary basis, this ancient definition seems hard to support. Even mathematical formulae can be considered beautiful.

e^ +1 = 0

is commonly considered one of the most beautiful theorems in mathematics (see Euler's identity). The poet Edna St. Vincent Millay wrote that "Euclid alone has looked on beauty bare" in an allusion to the austere beauty many people have found in the reasoning in the geometer Euclid's Elements. Another connection between mathematics and beauty which played a prominent role in Pythagoras' philosophy was the way in which musical tones can be arranged in mathematical sequences, which repeat at regular intervals called octaves. Different cultures have deified beauty, typically in female forms. Here is a list of the goddesses of beauty in three different mythologies.
- Aphrodite - Greek mythology
- Lakshmi - Hindu mythology
- Venus - Roman mythology Beauty contests claim to be able to judge beauty. The millihelen is sometimes jokingly defined as the scientific unit of human beauty. This derives from the legend of Helen of Troy as presented in Christopher Marlowe's The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, in which her beauty was said to have launched a thousand ships. The millihelen is therefore the degree of beauty that can launch one ship.

Effects of beauty in human society

A survey conducted by London Guildhall University of 11,000 people showed that (subjectively) good-looking people earn more. Less attractive people earned, on average, 13% less than more attractive people, while the penalty for overweight was around 5%. The term "beautiful people" is used to refer to those who closely follow trends in fashion, physical appearance, food, dining, wine, automobiles, and real estate, often at a considerable financial cost. Such people often mirror in appearance and consumer choices the characteristics and purchases of wealthy actors and actresses, models, or other celebrities. The term "beautiful people" originally referred to the musicians, actors and celebrities of the Californian "Flower Power" generation of the 1960s. The Beatles reference the original "beautiful people" in their 1967 song "Baby You're a Rich Man" on the Magical Mystery Tour album. With the close of the 1960s, the concept of beautiful people gradually came to encompass fashionistas and the "hip" people of New York City, expanding to its modern definition. Beautiful people usually enjoy an image-based and/or financially-based prestige which enhances their aura of success, power, and beauty.

External links

- [http://www.faceresearch.org/ FaceResearch] – Scientific research and online studies on facial beauty
- [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv1-28 Dictionary of the History of Ideas:] Theories of Beauty to the Mid-Nineteenth Century
- [http://www.uni-regensburg.de/Fakultaeten/phil_Fak_II/Psychologie/Psy_II/beautycheck/english/ Beautycheck.de] A large research project on facial attractiveness in German and English
- [http://art.net/~coffin/WRITINGS/BEAUTY/beauty.html The Symbol of Beauty] essay by Tom Coffin
- [http://www.onaantrekkelijk.be English and Dutch backgroundinformation about physical attractiveness] Category:Aesthetics als:Schönheit ja:美

Perception

In psychology and the cognitive sciences, perception is the process of acquiring, interpreting, selecting, and organizing sensory information. Methods of studying perception range from essentially biological or physiological approaches, through psychological approaches to the often abstract 'thought-experiments' of mental philosophy.

History of the study of perception

Perception is one of the oldest fields within scientific psychology, and there are correspondingly many theories about its underlying processes. The oldest quantitative law in psychology is the Weber-Fechner law, which quantifies the relationship between the intensity of physical stimuli and their perceptual effects. It was the study of perception that gave rise to the Gestalt school of psychology, with its emphasis on holistic approaches.

Perception and reality

Many cognitive psychologists hold that, as we move about in the world, we create a model of how the world works. That is, we sense the objective world, but our sensations map to percepts, and these percepts are provisional, in the same sense that scientific hypotheses are provisional (cf. in the scientific method). As we acquire new information, our percepts shift. Abraham Pais' biography refers to the 'esemplastic' nature of imagination. In the case of visual perception, some people can actually see the percept shift in their mind's eye. Others who are not picture thinkers, may not necessarily perceive the 'shape-shifting' as their world changes. The 'esemplastic' nature has been shown by experiment: an ambiguous image has multiple interpretations on the perceptual level. Just as one object can give rise to multiple percepts, so an object may fail to give rise to any percept at all: if the percept has no grounding in a person's experience, the person may literally not perceive it. This confusing ambiguity of perception is exploited in human technologies such as camouflage, and also in biological mimicry, for example by Peacock butterflies, whose wings bear eye markings that birds respond to as though they were the eyes of a dangerous predator. Cognitive theories of perception assume there is a poverty of stimulus. This (with reference to perception) is the claim that sensations are, by themselves, unable to provide a unique description of the world. Sensations require 'enriching', which is the role of the mental model. A different type of theory is the perceptual ecology approach of James J. Gibson. Gibson rejected the assumption of a poverty of stimulus by rejecting the notion that perception is based in sensations. Instead, he investigated what information is actually presented to the perceptual systems. He (and the psychologists who work within this paradigm) detailed how the world could be specified to a mobile, exploring organism via the lawful projection of information about the world into energy arrays. Specification is a 1:1 mapping of some aspect of the world into a perceptual array; given such a mapping, no enrichment is required and perception is direct.

Stimulus

The term "stimulus" (plural: stimuli) has several related meanings:
- In physiology, a stimulus is something external that elicits or influences a physiological or psychological activity or response.
- In psychology, anything effectively impinging upon any of the sensory apparatuses of a living organism, including physical phenomena both internal and external to the body.
- In other fields, a stimulus is anything that may have an impact on a system; an input to the system. (E.g., an economic stimulus.) In most contexts, a stimulus can be described as "stimulating", thereby causing "stimulation" or "over-stimulation". Although related, the word's meaning is distinct from that of "stimulant."

Cognition

The term cognition is used in several different loosely related ways. In psychology it is used to refer to the mental processes of an individual, with particular relation to a view that argues that the mind has internal mental states (such as beliefs, desires and intentions) and can be understood in terms of information processing, especially when a lot of abstraction or concretization is involved, or processes such as involving knowledge, expertise or learning for example are at work. It is also used in a wider sense to mean the act of knowing or knowledge, and may be interpreted in a social or cultural sense to describe the emergent development of knowledge and concepts within a group that culminate in both thought and action.

Cognition in mainstream psychology

The sort of mental processes described as cognitive or cognitive processes are largely influenced by research which has successfully used this paradigm in the past. Consequently this description tends to apply to processes such as memory, attention, perception, action, problem solving and mental imagery. Traditionally emotion was not thought of as a cognitive process. This division is now regarded as largely artificial, and much research is currently being undertaken to examine the cognitive psychology of emotion; research also includes one's awareness of strategies and methods of cognition, known as metacognition. Empirical research into cognition is usually scientific and quantitative, or involves creating models to describe or explain certain behaviours. While few people would deny that cognitive processes are the responsibility of the brain, a cognitive theory will not necessarily make any reference to the brain or any other biological process (compare neurocognitive). It may purely describe behaviour in terms of information flow or function. Relatively recent fields of study such as cognitive science and neuropsychology aim to bridge this gap, using cognitive paradigms to understand how the brain implements these information processing functions (see also cognitive neuroscience), or how pure information processing systems (e.g. computers) can simulate cognition (see also artificial intelligence). The branch of psychology which studies brain injury to infer normal cognitive function is called cognitive neuropsychology. The links of cognition to evolutionary demands are studied through the investigation of animal cognition. And conversly, evolutionary-based perspectives can inform hypotheses about cognitive functional systems evolutionary psychology. The theoretical school of thought derived from the cognitive approach is often called cognitivism. The phenomenal success of the cognitive approach can be seen by its current dominance as the core model in contemporary psychology (usurping behaviorism in the late 1950s).

Influence and influences

This success has led to it being applied in a wide range of areas:
- Psychology (particularly cognitive psychology), cognitive science and psychophysics
- Cognitive neuroscience, neurology and neuropsychology
- Behavioral economics and Behavioral finance
- Artificial intelligence and cybernetics
- Ergonomics and user interface design
- Philosophy of mind
- Linguistics, especially psycholinguistics and cognitive linguistics
- Economics, especially experimental economics
- Learning styles and Learning In its widest sense, the field is quite eclectic and draws from a number of areas, such as:
- Computer science and information theory, where attempts at artificial intelligence, collective intelligence and robotics focus on mimicking living beings' capacities for cognition, or applying the experience gathered in one place by one being to actions by another being elsewhere.
- Philosophy, epistemology and ontology
- Moral philosophy where it deals with the problem of ignorance, often seen as the opposite of cognition.
- Biology and neuroscience
- Mathematics and probability
- Physics, where observer effects are studied in depth mathematically.

Cognitive ontology

On an individual being level, these questions are studied by the separate fields above, but are also more integrated into cognitive ontology of various kinds. This challenges the older linguistically-dependent views of ontology, wherein one could debate being, perceiving, and doing, with no cognizance of innate human limits, varying human lifeways, and loyalties that may let a being "know" something (see qualia) that for others remains very much in doubt. On the level of an individual mind, an emergent behavior might be the formation of a new concept, 'bubbling up' from below the conscious level of the mind. A simple way of stating this is that beings preserve their own attention and are at every level concerned with avoiding interruption and distraction. Such cognitive specialization can be observed in particular in language, with adults markedly less able to hear or say distinctions made in languages to which they were not exposed in youth.

Cognition as compression

By the 1980s, researchers in the Engineering departments of the University of Leeds, UK hypothesized that 'Cognition is a form of compression', i.e., cognition was an economic, not just a philosophical or a psychological process; in other words, skill in the process of cognition confers a competitive advantage. An implication of this view is that choices about what to cognize are being made at all levels from the neurological expression up to species-wide priority setting; in other words, the compression process is a form of optimization. This is a force for self-organizing behavior; thus we have the opportunity to see samples of emergent behavior at each successive level, from individual, to groups of individuals, to formal organizations, to societies.

Cognition as a social process

In multiple observations, some dating back to antiquity, language acquisition in human children, fails to emerge unless the children are exposed to language. Thus 'language acquisition' is an example of an 'emergent behavior', which in fact requires a narrow, yet evolutionarily reliably occurring, set of inputs. In this case, the individual is made up of a set of mechanisms 'expecting' such input form the social world. In education, for instance, which has the explicit task in society of developing child cognition, choices are made regarding the environment and permitted action that lead to a formed experience. This is in turn affected by the risk or cost of providing these, for instance, those associated with a playground or swimming pool or field trip. The macro-choices made by the political economy in effect will be extremely influential on the micro-choices made by the teachers or children. So at least on this level, there is feedback between the economic choice and the psychology of the activity. In social cognition, face perception in human babies emerges by the age of two months.

Cognition in a cultural context

face perception One famous image, Earthrise, taken during Apollo 8, the first Apollo mission to the Moon, shows planet Earth in a single photograph. Earthrise is now the icon for Earth Day, which did not arise until after the image became widespread. At this level, an example of an 'emergent behavior' might be concern for Spaceship Earth, as encouraged by the development of orbiting space observatories etc. Other concepts which seem to have arisen only recently (in the last century) include increased expectations for human rights. In this case, an example of an 'emergent behavior' might perhaps be the use of the mass media to publicize inequities in the human condition, perhaps using highly portable cameras and telephones.

Example of emergent organization

It is possible to find other examples of critical mass necessary to develop a concept. For example a nascent coalition of individuals might fail in the implementation of some agreement among them; but in the words of Ward Cunningham, the inventor of the Wiki-wiki Web: :I thought there would be failure modes, but I wasn't surprised that communities found ways around them. I thought it was important that when the organization proved to be wrong, people could reorganize on their own, that organization could emerge. In other words, when the organization adapted, the concept adapted and survived the incipient failure mode.

Summary

Cognition is a diffuse term and is used in radically different ways by different disciplines. In psychology, it refers to an information processing view of an individual's psychological functions. Wider interpretations of the meaning of cognition link it to the development of concepts; individual minds, groups, organizations, and even larger coalitions of entities can be modelled as societies which cooperate to form concepts. The autonomous elements of each 'society' would have the opportunity to demonstrate emergent behavior in the face of some crisis or opportunity.

External links

- [http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/cognit Cognition] An international journal publishing theoretical and experimental papers on the study of the mind.
- [http://www.hum.uva.nl/mmm/ Information on music cognition, University of Amsterdam]
- Emotional and Decision Making Lab, Carnegie Mellon, [http://computing.hss.cmu.edu/lernerlab/home.php EDM Lab]
- [http://www.insead.edu/CALT/Encyclopedia/ComputerSciences/AI/cognition.htm cognition] in the CALT encyclopedia category:Psychology Category:Philosophy of mind ja:認識

Animal

:For the Muppet Show character, see Animal (Muppet). For the professional wrestler, see Joseph Laurinaitis.

- Porifera (sponges)
- Ctenophora (comb jellies)
- Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anenomes)
- Placozoa (trichoplax)
- Subregnum Bilateria (bilateral symmetry)
- Acoelomorpha (basal)
- Orthonectida (flatworms, echinoderms, etc.)
- Rhombozoa (dicyemids)
- Myxozoa (slime animals)
- Superphylum Deuterostomia (blastopore becomes anus)
- Chordata (vertebrates, etc.)
- Hemichordata (acorn worms)
- Echinodermata (starfish, urchins)
- Chaetognatha (arrow worms)
- Superphylum Ecdysozoa (shed exoskeleton)
- Kinorhyncha (mud dragons)
- Loricifera
- Priapulida (priapulid worms)
- Nematoda (roundworms)
- Nematomorpha (horsehair worms)
- Onychophora (velvet worms)
- Tardigrada (water bears)
- Arthropoda (insects, etc.)
- Superphylum Platyzoa
- Platyhelminthes (flatworms)
- Gastrotricha (gastrotrichs)
- Rotifera (rotifers)
- Acanthocephala (acanthocephalans)
- Gnathostomulida (jaw worms)
- Micrognathozoa (limnognathia)
- Cycliophora (pandora)
- Superphylum Lophotrochozoa (trochophore larvae / lophophores)
- Sipuncula (peanut worms)
- Nemertea (ribbon worms)
- Phoronida (horseshoe worms)
- Ectoprocta (moss animals)
- Entoprocta (goblet worms)
- Brachiopoda (brachipods)
- Mollusca (mollusks)
- Annelida (segmented worms) Animals are a major group of organisms, classified as the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. In general they are multicellular, capable of locomotion and responsive to their environment, and feed by consuming other organisms. Their body plan becomes fixed as they develop, usually early on in their development as embryos, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on. Along with sponges, gastropods, emus, dolphins and all other animals, Homo sapiens sapiens meet all the criteria above for membership in the group of organisms known as animals and they do not meet the criteria of the other groups. Some humans often consider themselves separate from animals, not on the grounds of biology, but through the use of "other contexts". Whilst self-delusion may be a unique characteristic of the human species it is not cause for exclusion from the Kingdom Animalia. The name animal comes from the Latin word animal, of which animalia is the plural, and ultimately from anima, meaning vital breath or soul.

Characteristics

Aristotle divided the living world between animals and plants, and this was followed by Carolus Linnaeus in the first hierarchical classification. Since then biologists have begun emphasizing evolutionary relationships, and so these groups have been restricted somewhat. For instance, microscopic protozoa were originally considered animals because they move, but are now treated separately. Kingdom Animalia has several characteristics that set it apart from other living things. First, animals are eukaryotic. This separates them from the Kingdom Monera. Second, animals are multicellular, which separates them from Kingdom Protista. Third, they are heterotrophic, setting them apart from Kingdom Plantae and several plant-like protists. Finally, Kingdom Animalia consists of organisms without cell walls, which makes it unique compared to Kingdom Plantae, algae, and Kingdom Fungi.

Structure

With a few exceptions, most notably the sponges (Phylum Porifera), animals have bodies differentiated into separate tissues. These include muscles, which are able to contract and control locomotion, and a nervous system, which sends and processes signals. There is also typically an internal digestive chamber, with one or two openings. Animals with this sort of organization are called metazoans, or eumetazoans when the former is used for animals in general. All animals have eukaryotic cells, surrounded by a characteristic extracellular matrix composed of collagen and elastic glycoproteins. This may be calcified to form structures like shells, bones, and spicules. During development it forms a relatively flexible framework upon which cells can move about and be reorganized, making complex structures possible. In contrast, other multicellular organisms like plants and fungi have cells held in place by cell walls, so develop by progressive growth. Also, unique to animal cells are the following intercellular junctions: tight junctions, gap junctions, and desmosomes.

Reproduction and development

Nearly all animals undergo some form of sexual reproduction. Adults are diploid or occasionally polyploid. They have a few specialized reproductive cells, which undergo meiosis to produce smaller motile spermatozoa or larger non-motile ova. These fuse to form zygotes, which develop into new individuals. Many animals are also capable of asexual reproduction. This may take place through parthenogenesis, where fertile eggs are produced without mating, or in some cases through fragmentation. A zygote initially develops into a hollow sphere, called a blastula, which undergoes rearrangement and differentiation. In sponges, blastula larvae swim to a new location and develop into a new sponge. In most other groups, the blastula undergoes more complicated rearrangement. It first invaginates to form a gastrula with a digestive chamber, and two separate germ layers - an external ectoderm and an internal endoderm. In most cases, a mesoderm also develops between them. These germ layers then differentiate to form tissues and organs. Animals grow by indirectly using the energy of sunlight. Plants use this energy to turn air into simple sugars using a process known as photosynthesis. These sugars are then used as the building blocks which allow the plant to grow. When animals eat these plants (or eat other animals which have eaten plants), the sugars produced by the plant are used by the animal. They are either used directly to help the animal grow, or broken down, releasing stored solar energy, and giving the animal the energy required for motion. This process is known as glycolysis.

Origin and fossil record

Animals are generally considered to have evolved from flagellate protozoa. Their closest living relatives are the choanoflagellates, collared flagellates that have the same structure as certain sponge cells do. Molecular studies place them in a supergroup called the opisthokonts, which also include the fungi and a few small parasitic protists. The name comes from the posterior location of the flagellum in motile cells, such as most animal sperm, whereas other eukaryotes tend to have anterior flagella. The first fossils that might represent animals appear towards the end of the Precambrian, around 600 million years ago, and are known as the Vendian biota. These are difficult to relate to later fossils, however. Some may represent precursors of modern phyla, but they may be separate groups, and it is possible they are not really animals at all. Aside from them, most animal phyla with known phyla make a more or less simultaneous appearance during the Cambrian period, about 570 million years ago. It is still disputed whether this event, called the Cambrian explosion, represents a rapid divergence between different groups or a change in conditions that made fossilization possible.

Groups of animals

The sponges (Porifera) diverged from other animals early. As mentioned, they lack the complex organization found in most other phyla. Their cells are differentiated, but not organized into distinct tissues. Sponges are sessile and typically feed by drawing in water through pores all over the body, which is supported by a skeleton typically divided into spicules. The extinct Archaeocyatha, which have fused skeletons, may represent sponges or a separate phylum. Among the eumetazoan phyla, two are radially symmetric and have digestive chambers with a single opening, which serves as both the mouth and the anus. These are the Cnidaria, which include anemones, corals, and jellyfish, and the Ctenophora or comb jellies. Both have distinct tissues, but they are not organized into organs. There are only two main germ layers, the ectoderm and endoderm, with only scattered cells between them. As such, these animals are sometimes called diploblastic. The tiny phylum Placozoa is similar, but individuals do not have a permanent digestive chamber. The remaining animals form a monophyletic group called the Bilateria. For the most part, they are bilaterally symmetric, and often have a specialized head with feeding and sensory organs. The body is triploblastic, i.e. all three germ layers are well-developed, and tissues form distinct organs. The digestive chamber has two openings, a mouth and an anus, and there is also an internal body cavity called a coelom or pseudocoelom. There are exceptions to each of these characteristics, however - for instance adult echinoderms are radially symmetric, and certain parasitic worms have extremely simplified body structures. Genetic studies have considerably changed our understanding of the relationships within the Bilateria. Most appear to belong to four major lineages: # Deuterostomes # Ecdysozoa # Platyzoa # Lophotrochozoa In addition to these, there are a few small groups of bilaterians with relatively similar structure that appear to have diverged before these major groups. These include the Acoelomorpha, Rhombozoa, and Orthonectida. The Myxozoa, single-celled parasites that were originally considered Protozoa, are now believed to have developed from the Bilateria as well.

Deuterostomes

Deuterostomes differ from the other Bilateria, called protostomes, in several ways. In both cases there is a complete digestive tract. However, in protostomes the initial opening (the archenteron) develops into the mouth, and an anus forms separately. In deuterostomes this is reversed. In most protostomes cells simply fill in the interior of the gastrula to form the mesoderm, called schizocoelous development, but in deuterostomes it forms through evagination of the endoderm, called enterocoelic pouching. Deuterostomes also have a dorsal, rather than a ventral, nerve chord and their embryos undergo different cleavage. All this suggests the deuterostomes and protostomes are separate, monophyletic lineages. The main phyla of deuterostomes are the Echinodermata and Chordata. The former are radially symmetric and exclusively marine, such as sea stars, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers. The latter are dominated by the vertebrates, animals with backbones. These include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. In addition to these, the deuterostomes also include the Hemichordata or acorn worms. Although they are not especially prominent today, the important fossil graptolites may belong to this group. The Chaetognatha or arrow worms may also be deuterostomes, but this is less certain.

Ecdysozoa

The Ecdysozoa are protostomes, named after the common trait of growth by moulting or ecdysis. The largest animal phylum belongs here, the Arthropoda, including insects, spiders, crabs, and their kin. All these organisms have a body divided into repeating segments, typically with paired appendages. Two smaller phyla, the Onychophora and Tardigrada, are close relatives of the arthropods and share these traits. The ecdysozoans also include the Nematoda or roundworms, the second largest animal phylum. Roundworms are typically microscopic, and occur in nearly every environment where there is water. A number are important parasites. Smaller phyla related to them are the Nematomorpha or horsehair worms, which are visible to the unaided eye, and the Kinorhyncha, Priapulida, and Loricifera, which are all microscopic. These groups have a reduced coelom, called a pseudocoelom. The remaining two groups of protostomes are sometimes grouped together as the Spiralia, since in both embryos develop with spiral cleavage.

Platyzoa

The Platyzoa include the phylum Platyhelminthes, the flatworms. These were originally considered some of the most primitive Bilateria, but it now appears they developed from more complex ancestors. A number of parasites are included in this group, such as the flukes and tapeworms. Flatworms lack a coelom, as do their closest relatives, the microscopic Gastrotricha. The other platyzoan phyla are microscopic and pseudocoelomate. The most prominent are the Rotifera or rotifers, which are common in aqueous environments. They also include the Acanthocephala or spiny-headed worms, the Gnathostomulida, Micrognathozoa, and possibly the Cycliophora. These groups share the presence of complex jaws, from which they are called the Gnathifera.

Lophotrochozoa

The Lophotrochozoa include two of the most successful animal phyla, the Mollusca and Annelida. The former includes animals such as snails, clams, and squids, and the latter comprises the segmented worms, such as earthworms and leeches. These two groups have long been considered close relatives because of the common presence of trochophore larvae, but the annelids were considered closer to the arthropods, because they are both segmented. Now this is generally considered convergent evolution, owing to many morphological and genetic differences between the two phyla. The Lophotrochozoa also include the Nemertea or ribbon worms, the Sipuncula, and several phyla that have a fan of cilia around the mouth, called a lophophore. These were traditionally grouped together as the lophophorates, but it now appears they are paraphyletic, some closer to the Nemertea and some to the Mollusca and Annelida. They include the Brachiopoda or lamp shells, which are prominent in the fossil record, the Entoprocta, the Phoronida, and possibly the Ectoprocta or moss animals.

History of classification

In Linnaeus' original scheme, the animals were one of three kingdoms, divided into the classes of Vermes, Insecta, Pisces, Amphibia, Aves, and Mammalia. Since then the last four have all been subsumed into a single phylum, the Chordata, whereas the various other forms have been separated out. The above lists represent our current understanding of the group, though there is some variation from source to source.

Usage of the word animal

In everyday usage animal refers to any member of the animal kingdom that is not a human being, and sometimes excludes insects (although including such arthropods as crabs). This confusion stems primarily from the familiarity with zoo animals, farm animals and pets, not from an analytical distinction between insects, humans and the rest of the animal kingdom.

Examples

Some well-known types of animals, listed by their common names:
- alpaca, ant, antelope, badger, bat, bear, bee, beetle, bird, bison, butterfly, cat, chicken, cockroach, coral, cow, deer, dinosaur, dog, dolphin, earthworm, elephant, elk, fish, fly, fox, frog, giraffe, goat, gorilla, hippopotamus, horse, human, iguana, jellyfish, kangaroo, lion, lizard, llama, lynx, monkey, mouse, nightingale, octopus, owl, ox, parrot, penguin, pig, quail, rabbit, rat, rhinoceros, salamander, scorpion, seahorse, shark, sheep, sloth, snake, spider, squid, starfish, tiger, turtle, urial, vole, whale, wolf, yak, zebra

References

External links

- [http://www.animool.com/animals/index.jsp Animals Search Engine]
- [http://www.wikianimals.com wikianimals.com] - Documenting the animal kingdom
- [http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Animals&contgroup=Eukaryotes Tree of Life]
- [http://www.arkive.org A Multimedia Database of Various UK or Endangered Species]
- [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~wakefield/animals.html Animals and Birds Names] - Large table of words: animal, collective, male, female, young, & home
- [http://www273.pair.com/med/words/animal_adjectives.htm English Animal Adjectives]
- [http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/ballc/animals/animals.html Sounds of the World's Animals] - animal sounds in many languages
- [http://www.findsounds.com/ FindSounds - Search the Web for Sounds] - sound files including animal sound files
- [http://www.australianfauna.com/ Australian Animals]
- [http://www.animalreviews.com AnimalReviews] - animals reviewed and evaluated
- [http://animals.timduru.org/ The animal photo archive] - Photos of animals
- [http://www.wildlife-photo.org Photo gallery of animals pictures from the entire world.]
- [http://www.wildlife-photo.org/birds_list.htm Birds Name Check List in Latin, English, Russian and Hebrew.]
- [http://www.wildanimalsonline.com Wild Animals Online] - an online encyclopedia of wild animals - facts, photos Category:Animals zh-min-nan:Tōng-bu̍t ko:동물 ms:Haiwan ja:動物 simple:Animal th:สัตว์

Robert Schumann

Robert Schumann (June 8, 1810 – July 29, 1856) was a German composer and pianist. He was one of the most famous Romantic composers of the first half of the 19th century. An intellectual as well as an aesthete, his music, more than any other composer, reflects the deep personal nature of Romanticism. Introspective and often whimsical, his early music was an attempt to break with the tradition of classical forms and structure which he thought too restrictive. Little understood in his lifetime, much of his music is now regarded as daringly original in harmony, rhythm and form. He stands in the front rank of German Romantics. German Romantics

Biographical Information

Early life

He was born on June 8 1810 in Zwickau in Saxony. His father was a publisher, and it was in the cultivation of literature quite as much as in that of music that his boyhood was spent. He himself tells us that he began to compose before his seventh year. At fourteen he wrote an essay on the aesthetics of music and also contributed to a volume edited by his father and entitled Portraits of Famous Men. While still at school in Zwickau he read, besides Schiller and Goethe, Byron (whose Beppo and Childe Harold had been translated by his father) and the Greek tragedians. But the most powerful as well as the most permanent of the literary influences exercised upon him, however, was undoubtedly that of Jean Paul Richter. This influence may clearly be seen in his youthful novels Juniusabende and Selene, of which the first only was completed (1826). In 1828 he left school, and after a tour, during which he met Heine at Munich, he went to Leipzig to study law. His interest in music had been stimulated when he was a child by hearing Moscheles play at Carlsbad, and in 1827 his enthusiasm had been further excited by the works of Franz Schubert and Felix Mendelssohn. But his father, who had encouraged the boy's musical aspirations, had died in 1826, and neither his mother nor his guardian approved of a musical career for him. The question seemed to be set at rest by Schumann's expressed intention to study law, but both at Leipzig and at Heidelberg, whither he went in 1829, he neglected the law for the philosophers, and though—to use his own words—"but Nature's pupil pure and simple" began composing songs.

1830-1839

The restless spirit by which he was pursued is disclosed in his letters of the period. At Easter 1830 he heard Paganini at Frankfurt. In July in this year he wrote to his mother, "My whole life has been a struggle between Poetry and Prose, or call it Music and Law," and by Christmas he was once more in Leipzig, taking piano lessons with his old master, Friedrich Wieck. In his anxiety to accelerate the process by which he could acquire a perfect execution he permanently injured his right hand. Other authority states that the right-hand disability was caused by syphillis medication. Those who claim the former state that he attempted a radical surgical procedure to separate the tendons of the fourth finger from those of the third (the ring finger musculature is linked to that of the third finger, thus making it the "weakest" finger). Regardless, his ambitions as a pianist being suddenly ruined, he determined to devote himself entirely to composition, and began a course of theory under Heinrich Dorn, conductor of the Leipzig opera. About this time he contemplated an opera on the subject of Hamlet. The fusion of the literary idea with its musical illustration, which may be said to have first taken shape in Papillons (op. 2), is foreshadowed to some extent in the first criticism by Schumann, an essay on Chopin's variations on a theme from Don Juan, which appeared in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung in 1831. Here the work is discussed by the imaginary characters Florestan and Eusebius (the counterparts of Vult and Walt in Jean Paul's novel Flegeljahre), and Meister Raro (representing either the composer himself or Wieck) is called upon for his opinion. By the time, however, that Schumann had written Papillons (1831) he had gone a step further. The scenes and characters of his favourite novelist had now passed definitely and consciously into the written music, and in a letter from Leipzig (April 1832) he bids his brothers "read the last scene in Jean Paul's Flegeljahre as soon as possible, because the Papillons are intended as a musical representation of that masquerade." In the winter of 1832 Schumann visited his relations at Zwickau and Schneeberg, in both of which places was performed the first movement of his symphony in G minor, which remains unpublished. In Zwickau the music was played at a concert given by Wieck's daughter Clara, who was then only thirteen. The death of his brother Julius as well as that of his sister-in-law Rosalie in 1833 seems to have affected Schumann with a profound melancholy. By the spring of 1834, however, he had sufficiently recovered to be able to start Die neue Zeitschrift für Musik, the paper in which appeared the greater part of his critical writings. The first number was published on the April 3 1834. It effected a revolution in the taste of the time, when Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven and Carl Maria von Weber were being neglected for the shallow works of men whose names are now forgotten. To bestow praise on Frederic Chopin and Hector Berlioz in those days was to court the charge of eccentricity in taste, yet the genius of both these masters was appreciated and openly proclaimed in the new journal. Schumann's editorial duties, which kept him closely occupied during the summer of 1834, were interrupted by his relations with Ernestine von Fricken, a girl of sixteen, to whom he became engaged. She was the adopted daughter of a rich Bohemian, from whose variations on a theme Schumann constructed his own Symphonic Etudes. The engagement was broken off by Schumann, for reasons which have remained obscure. In the Carnaval (op. 9, 1834), one of his most genial and most characteristic pianoforte works, Schumann commenced nearly all the sections of which it is composed with the musical notes signified in German by the letters that spell Asch (A, E-flat, C, and B, or alternatively A-flat, C, and B), the town in which Ernestine was born, which also are the musical letters in Schumann's own name. By the sub-title "Estrella" to one of the sections in the Carnaval, Ernestine is meant, and by the sub-title "Chiarina" Clara Wieck. Eusebius and Florestan, the imaginary figures appearing so often in his critical writings, also occur, besides brilliant imitations of Chopin and Paganini, and the work comes to a close with a march of the Davidsbündler-- the league of the men of David against the Philistines in which may be heard the clear accents of truth in contest with the dull clamour of falsehood. In the Carnaval Schumann went farther than in Papillons, for in it he himself conceived the story of which it was the musical illustration. On the October 3 1835 Schumann met Mendelssohn at Wieck's house in Leipzig, and his appreciation of his great contemporary was shown with the same generous freedom that distinguished him in all his relations to other musicians, and which later enabled him to recognize the genius of Brahms when he was still obscure. In 1836 Schumann's acquaintance with Clara Wieck, already famous as a pianist, ripened into love, and a year later he asked her father's consent to their marriage, but was met with a refusal. In the series Fantasiestücke for the piano (op. 12) he once more gives a sublime illustration of the fusion of literary and musical ideas as embodied conceptions in such pieces as Warum and In der Nacht. After he had written the latter of these two he detected in the music the fanciful suggestion of a series of episodes from the story of Hero and Leander. The Kreisleriana, which he regarded as one of his most successful works, was written in 1838, and in this the composer's realism is again carried a step further. Kreisler, the romantic poet brought into contact with the real world, was a character drawn from life by the poet E. T. A. Hoffmann (q.v.), and Schumann utilized him as an imaginary mouthpiece for the recital in music of his own personal experiences. The Phantasie in C (op. 17), written in the summer of 1836, is a work of the highest quality of passion. With the Faschingschwank aus Wien, his most pictorial work for the piano, written in 1839, after a visit to Vienna (during which he discovered a previously unknown symphony by Schubert), this period of his life comes to an end. As Wieck still withheld his consent to their marriage, Robert and Clara at last dispensed with it, and were married on the September 12 at Schönefeld near Leipzig.

1840-1849

The year 1840 may be said to have yielded the most extraordinary results in Schumann's career. Until now he had written almost solely for the pianoforte, but in this one year he wrote about a hundred and fifty songs. Schumann's biographers represent him as caught in a tempest of song, the sweetness, the doubt and the despair of which are all to be attributed to varying emotions aroused by his love for Clara. Yet it would be idle to ascribe to this influence alone the lyrical perfection of such songs as Frühlingsnacht, Im wunderschönen Monat Mai and Schöne Wiege meiner Leiden. His chief song-cycles of this period were his settings of the Liederkreis of J. von Eichendorff (op. 39), the Frauenliebe und Leben of Chamisso (op. 42), the Dichterliebe of Heine (op. 48) and Myrthen, a collection of songs, including poems by Goethe, Rückert, Heine, Byron, Burns and Moore. The songs Belsatzar (op. 57) and Die beiden Grenadiere (op. 49), each to Heine's words, show Schumann at his best as a ballad writer, though the dramatic ballad is less congenial to him than the introspective lyric. As Grillparzer said, "He has made himself a new ideal world in which he moves almost as he wills." Yet it was not until long afterwards that he met with adequate recognition. In his lifetime the sole tokens of honour bestowed upon Schumann were the degree of Doctor by the University of Jena In 1840, and in 1843 a professorship in the Conservatorium of Leipzig. Probably no composer ever rivaled Schumann in concentrating his energies on one form of music at a time. At first all his creative impulses were translated into pianoforte music, then followed the miraculous year of the songs. In 1841 he wrote two of his four symphonies. The year 1842 was devoted to the composition of chamber music, and includes the pianoforte quintet (op. 44), now one of his best known and most admired works. In 1843 he wrote Paradise and the Pen, his first essay at concerted vocal music. He had now mastered the separate forms, and from this time forward his compositions are not confined during any particular period to any one of them. In Schumann, above all musicians, the acquisition of technical knowledge was closely bound up with the growth of his own experience and the impulse to express it. The stage in his life when he was deeply engaged in his music to Goethe's Faust (1844-1853) was a critical one for his health. The first half of the year 1844 had been spent with his wife in Russia. On returning to Germany he had abandoned his editorial work, and left Leipzig for Dresden, where he suffered from persistent nervous prostration. As soon as he began to work he was seized with fits of shivering, and an apprehension of death which was exhibited in an abhorrence for high places, for all metal instruments (even keys) and for drugs. He suffered perpetually also from imagining that he had the note A sounding in his ears. In 1846 he had recovered and in the winter revisited Vienna, travelling to Prague and Berlin in the spring of 1847 and in the summer to Zwickau, where he was received with enthusiasm, gratifying because Dresden and Leipzig were the only large cities in which his fame was at this time appreciated. To 1848 belongs his only opera, Genoveva (op. 81), a work containing much beautiful music, but lacking dramatic force. It is interesting for its attempt to abolish the recitative, which Schumann regarded as an interruption to the musical flow. The subject of Genoveva, based on Tieck and Hebbel, was in itself not a particularly happy choice; but it is worth remembering that as early as 1842 the possibilities of German opera had been keenly realized by Schumann, who wrote, "Do you know my prayer as an artist, night and morning? It is called 'German Opera.' Here is a real field for enterprise . . . something simple, profound, German." And in his notebook of suggestions for the text of operas are found amongst others: Nibelungen, Lohengrin and Till Eulenspiegel. The music to Byron's Manfred is pre-eminent in a year (1849) in which he wrote more than in any other. The insurrection of Dresden caused Schumann to move to Kreischa, a little village a few miles outside the city. In the August of this year, on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of Goethe's birth, such scenes of Schumann's Faust as were already completed were performed in Dresden, Leipzig and Weimar, Liszt, as always giving unwearied assistance and encouragement. The rest of the work was written in the latter part of the year, and the overture in 1853.

After 1850

From 1850 to 1854 the text of Schumann's works is extremely varied. In 1850 he succeeded Ferdinand Hiller as musical director at Düsseldorf; in 1851-1853 he visited Switzerland and Belgium as well as Leipzig. In January 1854 Schumann went to Hannover, where he heard a performance of his Paradise and the Peri. Soon after his return to Düsseldorf, where he was engaged in editing his complete works and making an anthology on the subject of music, a renewal of the symptoms that had threatened him before showed itself. Besides the single note he now imagined that voices sounded in his ear. One night he suddenly left his bed, saying that Schubert and Mendelssohn had sent him a theme which he must write down, and on this theme he wrote five variations for the pianoforte, his last work. On February 27 1854 he threw himself into the Rhine. He was rescued by some boatmen, but when brought to land was determined to be quite insane. Although early biographers concluded that Schumann's behavior was due to syphilis, later research has shown this to be unlikely. Schumann showed symptoms of mental illness as a young man, well before tertiary syphilis (the stage at which neurological symptoms are present) was likely to have developed. Furthermore, many of his symptoms, including bouts of sustained, manic activity alternating with periods of deep depression, point to bipolar disorder. He was taken to a private asylum in Endenich near Bonn, and remained there until his death on July 29 1856. He was buried at Bonn, and in 1880 a statue by A. Donndorf was erected on his tomb (Alter Friedhof/old cemetery Bonn). From the time of her husband's death, Clara devoted herself principally to the interpretation of her husband's works, but when in 1856 she first visited England the critics received Schumann's music with a chorus of disapprobation. She returned to London in 1865 and continued her visits annually, with the exception of four seasons, until 1882; and from 1885 to 1888 she appeared each year. She became the authoritative editor of her husband's works for Breitkopf und Härtel. She and her good friend, Johannes Brahms destroyed many of Schumann's later works that they thought to be tainted by his madness. See Clara Schumann.

Compositions

- List of compositions by Robert Schumann.
- :Category:Compositions by Robert Schumann

External links

- [http://www.carolinaclassical.com/schumann/index.html Robert Schumann (1810-1856)]
- [http://www.classical.net/music/composer/works/schumann/ Complete list of works]
- [http://www.pianosociety.com/index.php?id=56 Piano Society.com - Schumann] (A short biography and some recordings. Also includes an essay on the Kreisleriana op.16 by Koji Attwood)
- [http://members.aol.com/schumannga/englisch/geselle.htm Robert Schumann Society, Düsseldorf]
- [http://members.aol.com/buendler The Davidsbündler]
- [http://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/make-table.cgi?Composer=SchumannR&preview=1 Schumann's Scores] by Mutopia Project
- [http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1368793 Musical Rules at Home and in Life] - Text by Robert Schumann
- [http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/variations/scores/song.html Indiana University Online Artsong Archive] Contains, among others, three volumes of Schumann's songs.
- [http://classyclassical.blogspot.com/2005/10/robert-schumanns-symphonic-etudes.html Robert Schumann's Symphonic Etudes] Analysis and description of Robert Schumann's Symphonic Etudes
- [http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?query=schumann%2C+robert&queryType=%40attr+1%3D1 Schumann cylinder recordings], from the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.
- Schumann, Robert Schumann, Robert Schumann, Robert Schumann, Robert Schumann Schumann ko:로베르트 슈만 ja:ロベルト・シューマン nb:Robert Schumann th:โรเบิร์ต อะเล็กซานเดอร์ ชูมันน์

Goodness

For the philosophical concept of goodness see Goodness and value theory. Goodness were a rock band from Seattle, Washington (U.S.), led by Carrie Akre, formerly of Hammerbox and now a solo artist and member of the rock band The Rockfords. Goodness did a version of "Electricity, Electricity" for the Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks tribute disc. As of 2005, Garth Reeves of Goodness is playing with Darren Loucas (of Juke) and Jeff Fiedler of Sunday Morning Music in an acoustic trio, The Unfaithful Servants of Song.

External links

- [http://www.carrieakre.com Carrie Akre official page]
- [http://www.therockfords.com The Rockfords official page]

Physical attractiveness

Physical attractiveness is the perception of the physical traits of an individual human person or a group, race, or type of people, as attractive or beautiful. Such beauty or attractiveness can include many various implications, including but not limited to sexual attractiveness, "cuteness", and strength. Some aspects of how physical traits are judged attractive are universal to all human cultures, while others are restricted to particular cultures/societies or time periods. Physical attractiveness can have a significant effect on how people are judged, in terms of employment or social opportunities, friendship, sexual behavior, and marriage. In many cases humans attribute positive characteristics, such as intelligence and honesty, to attractive people without consciously realizing it. Certain aspects of such attribution behavior have achieved scientific documentation. Physical attractiveness is distinct from, but can include, sexual attractiveness. For example, humans often regard children and young individuals — both human and animal — as being highly attractive or "cute" for various reasons, but without sexual attraction.

Perception of physical attractiveness

Cultural, social, or time period environments can have a strong effect on the degree to which people determine certain traits to be attractive. As part of the socialization process, children typically learn what their culture or time period considers attractive. Media, including written as well as visual forms, such as films and cartoons, for example, frequently portray "villains" or "bad" individual as less attractive, while protagonists are frequently depicted as attractive. This often leads to the perception that beauty can be equated with goodness or virtue in certain ways and certain time periods or cultures. Indeed, the term for "beautiful" or "attractive" in many languages, is literally that the person "looks good". Children are shown examples of what is considered beautiful in the form of dolls and pictures on magazine covers. Perception of what is considered as attractive and appealing is also very heavily influenced by other dominant cultures and the impact of their value systems.

Universal correlates of beauty

Despite significant variation, there nonetheless exists a tremendous degree of agreement among cultures as to what is perceived as attractive. There is a strong correlation between judgements of attractiveness between cultures. Furthermore, infants, who presumably have not yet been affected by culture, tend to prefer the same faces considered attractive by adults. Some experiments have been done in recent years in America to back up this finding. This implies that a large part of attractiveness is determined by inborn human nature, not nurture. Strong correlations between attractiveness and particular physical properties have been found, across cultures. One of the more important properties is symmetry, which is also associated with physical health. Large, clear eyes are also important. Large eyes are often considered to mark a high degree of attractiveness in East Asia, perhaps because some Asians consider large eyes relatively more rare in Asian populations, and are often spoken about in Asian culture; Asian culture often notes ethnic non-Asians for the size of their eyes. (Nose size and structure can also be determinant in attractiveness, especially in Asian cultures.)

Facial symmetry and the golden ratio

Facial symmetry is seen as a universal determinant of health and therefore of beauty. A person of either gender who is considered as attractive in various cultures has been found to have facial symmetry based on the golden ratio of 1:1.618. Plastic surgeon Stephen Marquardt developed an ideal beauty mask marked with various outlines of facial features based on the golden ratio. The faces that are judged as most attractive are found to fit the mask.

Olfactory factors

Olfactory signals, or smell, can influence the perception of attractiveness. Almost universally, the heavy body odor emitted by those with strongly smelling sweat or those who have not frequently bathed is considered unattractive (with the occasional exception of certain fetishes). However, the smell of the human body, that is, insofar as it has not reached the unpleasant degree of body odor, is often considered a sexually attractive factor. Indeed, organisms, including humans, emit pheromones, which frequently cause them to be perceived as sexually attractive to others. Moreover, many human cultures favor the use of fragrant substances, such as perfume or cologne, or of fragrant soaps and body products. Individuals using such fragrances are typically considered attractive in such cultures, and not exclusively sexually. Additionally, individuals who have freshly bathed, including young children, can often be considered highly "pleasant", "clean", or "beautiful".

Determinants of male physical attractiveness

Sexual attraction for males on the part of females is determined largely by the height of the man. Males at least a few inches/centimeters taller than prospective female partners are more likely to be perceived as handsome. It would be preferable if the man is at least a little above the average in height in the given population of males. This implies that women look for signs of dominance and power as factors that determine male beauty. Other properties that enhance perception of male attractiveness are a slightly larger chest than the average, and an erect posture. Women seem more receptive to an erect posture than men, though both prefer it as an element of beauty; this fact appears correlated to the preference for males who demonstrate confidence, physical strength and a powerful bearing. During the social revolutions following the Second World War, the concept of male beauty became increasingly accepted by mainstream male populations in the West (previously, the idea of a man being preoccupied with his appearance was considered slightly abnormal; there are still some proscriptions in many societies of the world, including that of China, where the term choumei still has some strength). The beginning of the rise of the gay movement in the late-twentieth century Western world began to influence consideration of what was physically attractive in men. Today, certain characteristics are generally accepted throughout the Western world as signs of physical attractiveness. These are, of course, far from universal:

Physique

The attractiveness of a muscular physique largely arose as a social backlash against effeminate homosexual men - in order to set themselves apart, many straight and gay men built muscular bodies as a symbol of their masculinity. Today, muscular physiques are generally desired by most men in the West, but extreme over-development can be viewed as undesirable to some women. This stems from the differing reasons for homosexual men versus heterosexual women to prefer muscular physiques. Gay men consider muscularity attractive for the above cultural reasons. Heterosexual women, in the United States, tend to prefer muscularity because of its association with a working class occupation. (It is important to note that, while women in Western societies prefer wealthy men, they can be attracted to lower class personality and physical traits.)

Hair

The popularity of particular hairstyles changes constantly. Hairstyles are very easy to alter, are generally the least conformist expression of individuality, and as a result men can be regarded as attractive regardless of the form of their hair. Differentiation line between forehead and hair-mass is an indication of masculinity. A hair-line with a degree of protrusion over the temples is typical of masculinity. In certain cultures, like India, having a big forehead is considered a sign of good fortune.

Facial structure

In Western societies, men and women of all races often agree that a face with pronounced cheekbones and often a heavily-set jaw is physically attractive. These are currently viewed as indicative of a "masculine personality". These skeletal features in addition to a slightly elongated face can make the masculinity more heightened and the male much more attractive.

Determinants of female physical attractiveness

The determinants of female physical attractiveness include those aspects that display health and fitness for reproduction and sustainance. These include correlates of fertility such as the waist-hip-ratio, mid upper arm circumference, Body mass proportion and facial symmetry.

Waist-hip ratio

Scientists have discovered that the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is a significant factor in judging female attractiveness. Women with a 0.7 WHR (waist circumference that is 70% of the hip circumference) are invariably rated as more attractive by men, regardless of their culture. Such diverse beauty icons as Marilyn Monroe, Twiggy, Sophia Loren, Kate Moss, and the Venus de Milo all have ratios around 0.7. The ratio signals fertility—as they age, women's waists thicken as their fertility declines.

Proportion of body mass to body structure

The Body Mass Index (BMI) is another important universal determinant to the perception of beauty. The BMI refers to the proportion of the body mass to the body structure. However, in various cultures, the optimal body proportion is interpreted differently due to cultural learnings and traditions. The Western ideal considers a slim and slender body mass as optimal while many ancient traditions consider an [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Embonpoint embonpoint] or plump body-mass as appealing. In either case the underlying rule applied in determining beauty is the BMI and hence displays how cultural differences of beauty operate on universal principles of human evolution. The slim ideal does not consider an emaciated body as attractive, just as the full-rounded ideal does not celebrate the over-weight or the obese. The cultural leanings are therefore just social emphasis on specific phenotypes within a parameter of optimal BMI. The attraction for a proportionate body also influences an appeal for erect posture. As with males, a slightly larger chest in females is considered in many cultures to be an attractive sign of reproductive fitness.

Prototypicality as beauty

Besides biology and culture, there are other factors determining physical attractiveness. The more familiar a face seems, the more highly it is judged, an example of the mere exposure effect. It is seen that when many faces are combined into a composite image (through computer morphing), people find the resultant image as familiar and attractive, and even more beautiful than the faces that went into it. One interpretation is that this shows an inherent human preference for prototypicality. That is, the resultant face emerges with the salient features shared by most faces and hence becomes the prototype. The prototypical face and features is therefore perceived as symmetrical and familiar. This reveals an "underlying preference for the familiar and safe over the unfamiliar and potentially dangerous" (Berscheid and Reis, 1998). However, critics of this interpretation point out that compositing computer images also has the effect of removing skin blemishes such as scars and generally softens sharp facial features. Classical conceptions of beauty are essentially a celebration of this prototypicality. It celebrates the extra-ordinary (from the latin root meaning over or extremely-ordinary) as the prototype or most beautiful. The phenotype of one's own mother during the early years of childhood becomes the basis for the perception of optimal body mass index (BMI). This shows the importance of prototypicality in the judgment of beauty, and also explains the emergence of similarity of the perception of attractiveness within a community or society, which shares a gene pool.

Skin tone

Another feature is the degree of skin complexion on the spectrum of dark to light. This factor also plays a role in determining male attractiveness, but has historically been more prevalent as a determinant of female attractiveness, although by the 20th century this had begun to change. It is inconsistent between cultures whether darker skin or lighter skin will be favored: in some, lighter tones are preferred, while in others, tanned or darker skin is preferred. In the 20th and 21st century Western world, tanned skin has been considered highly attractive for both men and women. A theory for why this is so is that sometime during the 20th century it became possible for those with higher incomes to travel around the world. Many of these people would travel to the French Riviera, and upon returning, would have a nice tan. Thus, the tan became a symbol of status. Another reason that tan are now favored (especially to Western Society) is that tanning will give a glow and "make skin shinier", which is more appealing to the skin that is pasty (rather than pale), rough (dry), not "glowing". Prior to this, lighter skin was preferred, as this was considered a marker of a more "cultured" individual or "gentlewoman" who could spend time indoors or undershade, and did not engage in outdoor labor. Also, racism was involved in this situation as a lot of people associated darker skin tone with negative impact such as "dirty" and "low-status', etc. One example is the segregation between "White" people and the "Coloured" people in the United States in the early years. In Eastern part of Asia, including South East Asia, this preference for lighter skin remains prevalent [http://english.people.com.cn/200503/09/eng20050309_176167.html]. (However, certain sub-cultures, such as the ganguro of Japan, indicate preference for a darker-skinned ideal as an ironic version of the California beach girl and anti Japanese standard of beauty). In Asia (esp Eastern part of Asia), white skin is associated with youth (since most babies are born with light skin which becomes darker as they age), just like American/European societies prefer females with blonde hair and blue eyes because these feature are associated with children (neoteny). Skin whitening products make a significant profit in Asian markets.

Other determinants of female beauty

Although it is said that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", studies have shown that there are many other universal or near-universal qualities which make human females attractive to males. In addition to the predictors of good health and reproductive fitness, these include facial features which resemble those of human infants, whose cuteness is appealing to most members of both genders. Among these other determinants are:
- Symmetry of features: healthy
- Large, widely spaced eyes: cute
- Clear complexion: healthy
- Contrasting colors and features: such as well-delineated eyebrows, dark lashes, dark eyes/light face or light eyes/dark face; these heighten the features of attraction, perhaps a holdover from primitive forebears with less acute vision
- Large, white teeth: healthy (non-universal; see Ohaguro)
- Dimples: cute
- Prominent zygomas (cheek bones), especially with a blush of color
- Large Breasts
- Thick, vivid lips
- Upturned nose revealing nostril openings: cute
- Ovoid face, small chin, lack of facial hair: cute
- Thick, lustrous hair: healthy
- High forehead

Historical variations

Breasts, small mouth (favored in some societies) and chin, and neotenic features (e.g. small hands)]] Human perceptions of attractiveness have differed between cultures and across historical periods. In Mediterranean societies such as Ancient Egypt, men with muscular physiques were considered attractive as it was thought to be the natural state of the male body. However, being fat was considered more attractive, as it indicated that the person was rich enough to afford a lot of food and avoid physical labor. During the Middle Ages in Europe, having tanned skin was considered deeply unattractive amongst men and women, as it was a sign that the person had to work outside in the fields. Consequently, rich men and women sought to maintain very pale skin (to the extent that they would completely cover their skin when outdoors) as a way of showing that they were wealthy and could avoid working outside. Traditionally, some Japanese people dyed their teeth black (ohaguro). It was thought that the blacker the teeth are, the more beautiful; a view which died out in the early Meiji period. A similar phenomenon occurred in Renaissance Europe - sugar was very expensive and only the rich could afford it, thus serving sugary food become a major status symbol. Contemporary accounts reveal that people were aware of sugar's ability to rot the teeth, and as a result many rich, fashion-conscious Renaissance people (particularly English women) took to deliberately blackening their teeth to prove how much sugar they could afford. In nineteenth-century Germany, it was considered attractive to be somewhat overweight (again as a symbol of wealth), whilst young men often participated in duels simply in order to gain facial scars, which were viewed as symbols of masculinity.

Variations in perceptions of male attractiveness

At certain periods in history, emphasis has been focused on a particular area of the male body. In Renaissance Europe, the codpiece, a popular fashion accessory, led to emphasis on the thighs, and fashion-conscious men strove to maintain muscular thighs. From the sixteenth to the late eighteenth century, the popularity of stockings led to men striving to attain muscular calves. In more recent times, a growing acceptance of displaying large areas of flesh has led to appreciation focusing on developed pectoral muscles, biceps and triceps, and abdominal muscles, which enjoyed popular appreciation in 1990s Western nations. Different societies generally have significantly different perceptions of male beauty:
- In pre-industrial societies, having a muscular physique and tanned skin was attractive, but signified that the man had to work in the fields all day, and was consequently likely poor and uneducated. Having pale skin and/or a fatter physique was considered highly attractive, as a symbol that the man was rich or educated enough to avoid manual labour in the field.
- In industrial societies, having a pale body was considered unattractive, as it was a sign that the person worked in a factory and lived in dense, polluted urban areas with weakened sunlight. Being tanned and muscularly-defined instead of fat or undeveloped muscularly became attractive, as a symbol that the man lived in the countryside, which was far healthier than the cities, and performed "good honest" agricultural labour as opposed to working shifts in a factory.
- In post-industrial societies, being pale and/or fat or especially thin may be viewed as a sign that the person has little regard for his physical state or health. Having tanned skin is viewed as attractive in many cultures (predominantly Western), and is a potential sign that the person has had opportunity to travel or has significant enough leisure to develop such a tan, often a marker of socio-economic status. False tans, however, can be the subject of humour. Having a fit or muscular physique is considered highly attractive, as a sign that the person takes care of his body and health, and has the time, money, and self-discipline to frequent a gym. However, having especially large, highly-developed muscles is viewed by some as naturally unattractive, and possibly indicating undesirable aggressiveness or obsession with muscles. In recent decades, a backlash against social stereotypes of male physical attractiveness has increased variation in physiques, hairstyles, fashion trends, etc, often as an expression of individuality in place of conformity to arbitrary stereotypes.

Social effects of attractiveness

When a person is seen as attractive or unattractive, a whole set of assumptions are brought into play. Across cultures, what is beautiful is assumed to be good. Attractive people are assumed to be more extroverted, popular, and happy. There is truth in this — attractive people do tend to have these characteristics. However, this is probably due to self-fulfilling prophecy; from a young age attractive people receive more attention that helps them develop positive characteristics. Physical attractiveness can have very real effects. A survey conducted by London Guildhall University of 11,000 people showed that those that subjectively describe themselves as physically attractive earn more than others that describe themselves as less attractive. Less attractive people earned, on average, 13% less than more attractive people, while the penalty for being overweight was around 5%. This can be viewed, however, as result of the increased self-confidence likely to be enjoyed by people who earn more than average. Many have asserted that certain advantages tend to come to those that are perceived as being more attractive, including the ability to get better jobs and promotions, receiving better treatment from authorities and the legal system, having more choices in romantic partners and therefore more power in relationships, and marrying into families with more money. Some even argue that the possession of a certain level of attractiveness (generally recognised as such) should be considered a form of privilege, akin to that of social class or race. Interestingly, cultures differ in the details of how attractive people are seen. In capitalist cultures that value individuality, attractive people are seen as assertive and strong, while in some more collectivistic Asian cultures, attractive people are seen as being more sensitive and understanding. Both men and women use physical attractiveness as a measure of how 'good' another person is. Men often tend to value attractiveness more than women, and in fMRI brain scans published in 2004 by Rutgers University evolutionary anthropologist Helen Fisher, in the early intense stages of falling in love, there were clear differences in male and female brains. Men, on average, tended to show more activity in two regions in the brain: one was associated with the integration of visual stimuli and the second was with penile erection. Conversely, women in these early stages exhibited increased activity in several regions of the brain associated with memory recall. Fisher speculated the evolutionary source was in the need for females to identify males whose behavior over time suggested they would help the female raise her offspring.[http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2004/01/27/fisher/index.html] However, in terms of behavior, some studies suggest little difference between men and women.

Bibliography

- Ellen Berscheid and Harry T. Reis. "Attraction and Close Relationships". In Daniel T. Gilbert, Susan T. Fiske, and Gardner Lindzey, editors, Handbook of Social Psychology, pages 193-281. New York: McGrawHill, 1998.
- Harper, B. "Beauty, Statute and the Labour Market: A British Cohort Study", Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 62, December 2000, pp773-802. [http://www.shortsupport.org/News/0301.html Press release and summary]
- Fink, B. & Penton-Voak, I.S. (2002). Evolutionary Psychology of Facial Attractiveness. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11(5). 154-158.
- Grammer, K., Fink, B., Møller, A.P. & Thornhill, R. (2003). Darwinian Aesthetics: Sexual Selection and the Biology of Beauty. Biological Reviews, 78(3), 385-407.
- Fisher, Helen. Why We Love : The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love, Henry Holt and Co., February 4, 2004
- Cash, T.F; Gillen, B; & Burns, D.S; (1977) "Sexism and 'beautyism' in personnel consultant decision making." Journal of Applied Psychology, 62, 301-310.
- Clark, M.S; & Mills, J. (1979) "Interpersonal attraction in exchange and communal relationships." Journal of Personality and social psychology, 37, 12-24.
- Cunningham, M.R. (1990) "What do women want." Journal of personality & social psychology, 59, 61-72.
- Singh, D; (1993) "Adaptive significance of female physical attractiveness: role of waist - to - hip ratio". Journal of personality and social psychology, 65, 293 - 307
- Cunningham, M.R; Roberts, A.R; Barbee, A. P; Duren P.B; & Wu, C.H; (1995) "Their ideas of beauty are, on the whole, the same as ours: Consistency and Variability in the cross cultural perception of female physical attractiveness". Journal of Personality & social psychology, 68, 261 - 279.
- De Santi

Beauty

Beauty and aesthetics

Beauty and human appearance

Theories of beauty

Effects of beauty in human society

See also

External links

Perception

History of the study of perception

Perception and reality

See also

Stimulus

See also

Cognition

Cognition in mainstream psychology

Influence and influences

Cognitive ontology

Cognition as compression

Cognition as a social process

Cognition in a cultural context

Example of emergent organization

Summary

Related fields

See also

External links

Animal

Characteristics

Structure

Reproduction and development

Origin and fossil record

Groups of animals

Deuterostomes

Ecdysozoa

Platyzoa

Lophotrochozoa

History of classification

Usage of the word animal

Examples

See also

References

External links

Robert Schumann

Biographical Information

Early life

1830-1839

1840-1849

After 1850

Compositions

External links

Goodness

External links

Physical attractiveness

Perception of physical attractiveness

Universal correlates of beauty

Facial symmetry and the golden ratio

Olfactory factors

Determinants of male physical attractiveness

Physique

Hair

Facial structure

Determinants of female physical attractiveness

Waist-hip ratio

Proportion of body mass to body structure

Prototypicality as beauty

Skin tone

Other determinants of female beauty

Historical variations

Variations in perceptions of male attractiveness

Social effects of attractiveness

Bibliography