They don’t get it, but what else is new?
From Nobel Laureate Frank Wilczek, “Why Physics is Beautiful”:
The beauty of physical law is too impressive to be accidental. It has led people throughout history to believe that some tasteful higher being created us, and that we inhabit a consciously designed world, like our notional Super Mario. But this is an extravagant hypothesis, which goes far beyond the facts it is meant to explain. Before adopting it, we should explore more economical alternatives.
The answer likely lies within us. Beautiful things are those in which we find pleasure and seek out. They are, in neurobiological terms, things that stimulate our reward system. That explains why parents tend to find their young children beautiful, and adults are attracted to nubile models and their images. It makes evolutionary sense to reward such feelings.
This makes no sense at all. To whom or what does it make “evolutionary sense” to reward such feelings?
What about the many people who take pleasure in appalling and ugly things?
Guy should stick to physics.
See also: Bedrock tales from evolutionary psychology