So my good friend has an interesting perspective on my previous posting Let's Get Physical? While I don't know that I completely agree, surprise that that may be, I thought it was important to offer up a different but well thought out point of view. Let me know what YOU think.
Firstly, humans are visual creatures. (1/3 or more of the human neo cortex is devoted to the processing, filtering and interpretation of visual input.) I don't think anyone can deny this fact and think it's illogical to think it hasn't innervated the process of mate selection, arguably our most primal function. I do think there are variances between the sexes though. Both sexes use visual scanning to search for a healthy partner. Proven many times over even to the degree where subtle asymmetries are noticed between two similar photos. But I think men favor child bearing and sustaining features while women look for strength, for work and protection, and intelligence.
I think all of these primal subtleties have been decimated by our more recently evolved need to attain status among peers. We all innately want the best we can have. We follow social factors established by a general consensus and choose based on which has the highest probability of impressing the most people....
NOW, that being said, I would like to expand on this by saying that looking isn't the issue here. It's what we're looking at and how we use that data. If I were blind, how would I know what cute or hot was? I argue the same superficial traits could apply to a blind person. If I speak to a woman and she has a great personality, is fun, funny and intelligent but when I reach out to touch her I feel greasy acne pitted skin, a hairy chest and 1/2 her head is bald and I suddenly realize where that cheese smell was coming from I may become turned off physically. If I ended the friendship based solely on this I think that would be superficial and wrong...I think all vision does is apply some efficiency to this process. We're simply looking for the best we can get.
This doesn't just apply to mates.. Picking clothes at the clothes store, a puppy at the pet store or produce at the food store, the same mechanisms are at play. Is it broken lame or bruised.. Is it superficial to want a good bannana er.. apple..
The problem with all this is that it's short term, short sighted and not encapsulating the big picture. I pick a good apple and then I eat the apple. That's it. End of my commitment. But, If I am going to keep the apple, rely on it for emotional support, sleep with it, go meet grandma smith and all her crab apple cousins should obviously take a few other things into account. But is it wrong to visually search for the type of apple you like and then check them for bruises and worms.
Anyway, In summation, I would like to say that while looks clearly aren't everything, if your talking about an intimate relationship it is certainly a factor. And I am acknowledging all others. However if it is a search parameter and we need to search through 100's or 1000's of candidates, It is a no brainier, the hands down easiest way to filter is visually. If we had telepathic powers like Powder or Professor Xavier we could use other senses efficiently. But we don't.... It's a product of our brains wanting to be efficient..
Please note I'm talking about intimate relationships only!! If you apply this to friends and family that's pathological and wrong.
Interesting point.. The degree of superficiality in our attitudes about anything seems to be proportional to the length of the intended relationship..
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