Beauty is Culturally Conditioned : Reflection

For my reflection piece, I would like to go all the way back to the beginning of the semester. During the first few week of this class, we got very deep into the issue free will and thing being apart of our genes. I found this one of the most interesting arguments and discussions we have had. This brought together almost all of the major issues and topics in this class. The piece I remember the most from all this was the TED Talk from Denis Dutton about how everything we think it pretty and beautiful is apart of our genes and how it has been pasted on through generations. He ties in Darwinism, which I love. As Dutton says, “Beauty is in the Culturally Conditioned eye of the beholder.” He ties this into evolution and natural selection. The great example he gave was the teardrop shape; what it meant back in the day as a weapon, why it represented skills and wealth, and all the way up to today and why we find it “beautiful”. The argument that he presents in the talk goes along well with the piece we read from Steven Pinker.

I found this TED Talk not only interesting but surprising. I know that we watched this a long time ago, but since viewing it, I do think about how we perceive beauty differently and question myself more. I think the part that intrigues me the most is that everything I had though was beautiful could not actually be what I think, but a trend of beauty that has been passed from generations to generations. I makes me question everything I like and think is pretty. Do I like it because I am thinking for myself and have free will, or do I think it is pretty because generations upon generations have deemed it to be, because it is in my genes to like it? This is a deep question and it makes me conflicted. I am a science person so I love all the science that went into the TED Talk and how it can be proved that maybe it is all in our genes. But the part of me that is independent and like to make decisions is telling me that I have free will and can decide for myself what I like, directly conflicting with the science part of me.

I will be taking a lot from this class. From this specific example I discussed above, I am taking away that things aren’t always clear cut. A theory or idea can be wrong and right for different reasons. Being an engineer, this drives me crazy. I want things to be right or wrong completely. Examples like this help me realize that sometimes this isn’t how it works. When you get into issues such as free will, genes, rights, and so on, things get very messy and right and wrong becomes mixed. When we discussed this in class, there was definitely a few mixed opinions and thoughts. This proves that things aren’t always clear cut. Another thing that this class has make me do this question myself more. Am I thinking clearly, how do my genes affect me and my actions, how does technology and social media tie into this? I think this help me to open up my mind more to other thoughts and possibilities I maybe wouldn’t normally see, such as beauty being culturally conditioned.

Thank you Robin and Brendan for a fun semester!