Beauty & Evolution

Denis Dutton with stone ax (credit: Wiki-commons)

The ability of humans to appreciate beauty can be explained by Darwinian evolution. This fascinating perspective is offered by the late Denis Dutton to a TED conference audience. Dutton shows how the roots of all things 'bright and beautiful' can range from stone tools to musical notes. Neanderthal's drew impressive beasts in their expansive cave paintings in Europe while and Aboriginal Australians used pictographs to imagine how their Dreamtime landscapes appeared. Those early examples attest to an innate desire to express wonder, amazement, and beauty very early in human history.

We have greatly benefited from this ancient inherited sensibility. WHB

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