6.16.2007

.nostril symmetry.




i've been thinking a lot about symmetry in the past week. my thoughts started when i listened to an NPR feed about how symmetry defines beauty. the gentleman interviewed on the program claimed that he did a study showing that female peacocks choose their mate based on the symmetry of the male's tail feathers. he implied that this was the sole basis for peacock romance. but i bet there is a little more to wooing a mate than spreading a symmetrical deck of 3-foot blue-green fronds. (and i have a feeling it has to do with the eye do-hickey at the top of the feather).
so, in order to test whether symmetry is the sole definer of beauty, i chose to do a little experiment of my own. in this study, i photographed 4 pairs of nostrils from some very beautiful noses of people i know. and i said to myself, all of these noses are very aesthetically pleasing. they must be symmetrical. but how do i test symmetry without a surfeit of sophisticated software? well, i assumed that outward beauty is recapitulated within and thus a nose that is beautiful from the outside must have beautiful nostrils within. right?! soooo, my hypothesis here is that all four of these beautiful noses will have symmetrical nostrils.
what i find is that they are not all symmetrical! see for yourself! no ruler required.
i guess i have to say that the results of my test are inconclusive because my sample size was way small, i didn't measure totally accurately, and ...yadayadayada. the noses are beautiful yet not symmetrical!!!
what i am getting at here, is that i think (and have partially, sort-of proved) that beauty has way more to it than just symmetry. what about colors or healthy glows?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

If asymetry is the ticket, the pair at the upper left must belong to a fox!