Why is their beauty so appealing to humans? If this beauty has been evolved then for which purpose?
What’s the benefit of so much beauty in nature like ocean waves, sunset, flowers, etc? Is this the objectivity or universality of beauty that everyone can find the stars in the sky and sunset beautiful?
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In general humans view things as esthetically pleasing because they display patterns that would have been useful for our ancestors to notice in nature.
Flowers are plant parts that are used to attract pollinators (and fruits are plant parts that are used to attract seed dispersers like early humans) humans arguably share similiar senses as these pollinators.
Let’s dissect what makes a flower pretty:
1. Colors.
Humans have evolved to distinguish colors to know things like “when a fruit is ripe”, pollinators have similarly evolved to distinguish colors in order to find flower. Plants grow fruits in different colors to attract herbivores in a specific time, flowers have evolved colors to attract pollinators, flowers often also become colorful fruits. arguably we like the colors of flowers because they remind us of fruits.
2. Symmetry.
Flowers are symmetrical and have neat patterns. symmetry of a plant is also often correlated with a healthy plamt (where lack of symmetry implies a plant is sick or wilting). Also symmetrical faces are a sign that a human mate has a healthy immune system.
It does not seem so far to assume pollinators also check for symmetry in flowers, seeing as many flowers are clearly symmetrical.
3. Fractals.
Arguably some plants grow flowers in fractal patterns. Fractal patterns are often esthetically pleasing to humans. This is arguably because looking at natural phenomena like clouds and waves was useful for early humans.
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