intelligence and beauty

Colleges & Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>why does it seem that these two are inversely proportional?</p>

2

<p>speak for yourself… fortunately, i have both. lmao :P</p>

3

<p>Intelligence is beautiful, in my opinion. Beauty comes in many forms; don’t limit it to physical appearance.</p>

4

<p>They are not mutually exclusive qualities. On the other hand, it is completely valid to argue that some individuals simply have different priorities.</p>

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<p>That is a fair assessment.</p>

6

<p>I was reading one of the Taste articles in the WSJ last Friday, and apparently, there is, to some degree, a direct relationship (shocker, I know) between beauty and intelligence, but less beautiful intelligent people use their intelligence more while more beautiful intelligent people enjoy partying.</p>

<p>In my experience, it’s totally true.</p>

<p>It took me like an hour, but I found the article: [A</a> Pretty Dumb Hypothesis on Good Looks: Can Sexism Make a Smart Woman Stupid? - WSJ.com](<a href=“A Pretty Dumb Hypothesis on Good Looks: Can Sexism Make a Smart Woman Stupid? - WSJ”>A Pretty Dumb Hypothesis on Good Looks: Can Sexism Make a Smart Woman Stupid? - WSJ)</p>

7

<p>I’ve seen many, many gorgeous individuals at Ivy League institutions. To address the question, though, since both are scarce qualities, the probability of both occurring in one person is rather rare. They’re not inversely proportional by any means; it simply appears that way.</p>

<p>But, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, and I honestly consider intelligence as more attractive than physical looks.</p>

8

<p>Strictly speaking, they aren’t correllated. However, let’s look at this from a probabilistic standpoint. Only the top 1% or so is smart or beautiful enough to catch attention. Square 1%, and you’ll see that only one out of 10,000 people will be smart and beautiful.</p>

9

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<p>Evolutionarily, that bodes well for the future.</p>

10

<p>Uh. You can’t quantify beauty. There’s a reason why my friends and I have such different tastes in guys; we all find different things about different people attractive. And yes, we all agree that a model or whatever is gorgeous, but realistically, you can find someone who you think is beautiful/handsome AND smart.</p>

11

<p>^For the majority of people, the same things are beautiful, because perception of beauty is based on physical markers for ability to reproduce healthy and fertile offspring. Facial symmetry and waist to hip ratio are quantifiers of beauty.</p>

12

<p>intelligence and beauty are not inversely proportional. maybe you find dumb girls attractive…?</p>

13

<p>^ 0.o that is almost literally word for word what my other friend (who’s a science/evolution geek) told me when we had this discussion about beauty the other day.</p>

<p>and yes, sure. to some extent beauty does rely on facial markers. but maybe I’m weird, but certain aspects of “beauty” will always matter more to some people than to others. IE, I tend to admire torsos/legs/etc. more so than facial features, on the whole. but there are people who feel the opposite way.</p>

<p>either way, I still stand by the fact that a) beauty is societally constructed and WILL change - especially hip to waist ratios! and b) it’s ephemeral anyways.</p>

14

<p>Warning: I am not intending to make any sort of sweeping generalization. Just pointing out what may have caused I pattern that I’ve noticed.</p>

<p>I would bet that there is actually a recognizable (not necessarily strong, but recognizable) correlation, a noticeable part of which could be explained by vision. I would argue that perhaps young kids with poor vision have poorer hand-eye coordination and are thus less likely to be good at sports and, consequently, less likely to be friends with athletes, who are typically more attractive (and care more about their appearance) than the general population (and do more social and “beautiful people” stuff than most) from what I’ve noticed. instead, these kids might ed up being picked on for wearing glasses and be more likely to prefer doing “smart” things alone (like reading) to other social activities, and would be more likely to care less about their appearance. </p>

<p>I would expect that something similar goes for left-handed kids (although this has no correlation to beauty, a disproportionate number of smart people are left handed</p>

<p>I know that there are LOTS of data points that would not follow this pattern. Still, I wouldn’t be saying it if I didn’t think it were at least somewhat plausible.</p>

<p>Just a theory.</p>

15

<p>A point I’ve made on this forum before: There’s no inverse correlation between looks and academic attainment - in fact, there may be a positive correlation. Inherited looks are normally distributed within the Harvard undergraduate population just as they are anywhere else, which means that there are the same percentage of potentially attractive people of either sex there. Inherited attractiveness can then be enhanced or diminished by the physical condition in which one keeps oneself, and on that criterion, Harvard students - and other highly intelligent people - are noticeably more fit than what I perceive to be the norm. After all, Harvard students got there through self-control, work ethic, awareness of the long-term consequences of decisions, etc., so that’s probably not surprising.</p>

<p>The basic package of inherited looks and physical fitness can be adjusted up or down by how fastidious one is about one’s appearance - attire, hair, grooming, etc. Among more intelligent women, high-maintenance may be viewed as shallowness, so those beautiful, intelligent girls might have you fooled with their sweatpants and hoodies.</p>

16

<p>“Uh. You can’t quantify beauty.”</p>

<p>Sure you can. The unit of measurement is called the millihelen, which is defined as the quantity of beauty required to launch one ship.</p>

17

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<p>Hahaha. Quality post.</p>

18

<p>Isn’t Natalie Portman a Harvard alumnus?</p>

19

<p>She is, but there are not very many examples like that.
For me, people’s accomplishments make them attractive no matter what they look like. My point is, I would have loved to be Einstein’s girlfriend :D</p>

20

<p>Here are some real Harvard College alumnae. Decide for yourself:</p>

<p>Class of 1989:
<a href=“http://mudpreacher.files.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2008/11/sorvino_mira2.jpg[/url]”>http://mudpreacher.files.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2008/11/sorvino_mira2.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Class of 1997:
<a href=“http://chethondo.files.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2009/03/rashida-jones-lollipop.jpg[/url]”>http://chethondo.files.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2009/03/rashida-jones-lollipop.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Class of 2000:
<a href=“http://por-img.cimcontent.net/api/assets/bin-200911/9273eb5e9d5e4bb35e64b1d4ddf7b7c6.jpg[/url]”>http://por-img.cimcontent.net/api/assets/bin-200911/9273eb5e9d5e4bb35e64b1d4ddf7b7c6.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Class of 2003:
<a href=“http://chud.com/articles/content_images/5/natalieportman.jpg[/url]”>http://chud.com/articles/content_images/5/natalieportman.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Class of 2006:
[Corina’s</a> web page](<a href=“http://www.math.harvard.edu/~corina/index.html]Corina’s”>http://www.math.harvard.edu/~corina/index.html)</p>