WEBVTT - Why Do We Find Symmetry So Pleasing?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogel bomb here. Think of a pair of synchronized divers,

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<v Speaker 1>or the wings on a butterfly, or the vaulted ceiling

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<v Speaker 1>of a cathedral. These are some of the things that

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<v Speaker 1>most people find visually very pleasing. But why. The answer

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<v Speaker 1>has to do with symmetry. Most objects in the real

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<v Speaker 1>world are symmetrical. This is particularly true of nature, the

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<v Speaker 1>radial symmetry of a starfish or flower petals, the symmetrical

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<v Speaker 1>efficiency of a hexagonal honeycomb, or the uniquely symmetrical crystal

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<v Speaker 1>patterns of a snowflake. In fact, asymmetry is often a

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<v Speaker 1>sign of illness or danger in the natural world, and

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<v Speaker 1>of course, human beings are symmetrical, at least mostly and

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<v Speaker 1>on the outside. You know, some internal organs like the

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<v Speaker 1>heart and liver are off center. Decades of research into

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<v Speaker 1>sexual attraction have proven that both men and women find

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<v Speaker 1>symmetrical faces sexier than asymmetrical ones. The leading explanation is

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<v Speaker 1>the physical symmetry is an outward sign of good health,

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<v Speaker 1>although large scale studies have shown no significant health differences

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<v Speaker 1>in people with symmetrical or asymmetrical faces. Since severe physical

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<v Speaker 1>asymmetries are strong indicators of genetic disorders. Our brains might

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<v Speaker 1>just be overreacting. The simple explanation for our attraction to

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<v Speaker 1>symmetry is that it's familiar symmetrical objects and images played

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<v Speaker 1>by the rules that our brains are programmed to recognize easily.

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<v Speaker 1>Physicist Alan Lightman wrote about this in his book The

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<v Speaker 1>Accidental Universe The World You Thought You Knew. He wrote,

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<v Speaker 1>I would claim that symmetry represents order, and we crave

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<v Speaker 1>order in this strange universe. We find ourselves in the

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<v Speaker 1>search for symmetry, and the emotional pleasure we derive when

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<v Speaker 1>we find it must help us make sense of the

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<v Speaker 1>world around us, just as we find satisfaction in the

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<v Speaker 1>repetition of the seasons and in the reliability of friendships.

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<v Speaker 1>Symmetry is also economy. Symmetry is simplicity, Symmetry is elegance.

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<v Speaker 1>At the esoteric end of the explanation spectrum, Lightment is

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<v Speaker 1>saying that the satisfaction we feel at seeing a creatively

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<v Speaker 1>symmetrical work of art or a perfectly stacked display of

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<v Speaker 1>soup cans at the grocery store is that the stuff

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<v Speaker 1>of our brains is inseparable from the stuff of nature.

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<v Speaker 1>The neurons and synapses in our brains and the processes

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<v Speaker 1>by which they communicate, connect, and conjure thoughts evolved in

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<v Speaker 1>parallel to snowflakes and starfish. If nature is symmetrical, then

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<v Speaker 1>so are our minds. On the more basic end, the

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<v Speaker 1>pleasure we get from symmetry could simply be due to

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<v Speaker 1>our minds need to find patterns and attempt to make

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<v Speaker 1>sense of things, especially quickly and with a limited data set.

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<v Speaker 1>Considered the Stalt psychology, named after an influential school of

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<v Speaker 1>visual perception born in Germany in the nineteen twenties. The

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<v Speaker 1>famous and famously mistranslated gives Stalt motto is the whole

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<v Speaker 1>is other than the sum of its parts, not the

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<v Speaker 1>whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Our

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<v Speaker 1>brain is more than a calculator adding up the details

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<v Speaker 1>of a scene. It's primed to recognize signs of order

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<v Speaker 1>in the accidental chaos and to follow certain rules or

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<v Speaker 1>shortcuts to make sense of the world. Symmetry is one

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<v Speaker 1>of those short cuts. We spoke with Mary Peterson, a

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<v Speaker 1>psychology professor and director of the Visual Perception Laboratory at

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<v Speaker 1>the University of Arizona. As she says, the brain doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>like things that are accidental. We either learn or born

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<v Speaker 1>with certain priors or shortcuts that help our brains quickly

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<v Speaker 1>determined that we're looking at one particular object or another.

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<v Speaker 1>We also spoke with Johann vachu Launch, an experimental psychologist

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<v Speaker 1>from Belgium who specializes in visual perception and how our

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<v Speaker 1>brains organized the constant incoming flow of information. He agrees

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<v Speaker 1>as symmetry is not just a design principle of the

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<v Speaker 1>outside world. He said, you can also see symmetry as

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<v Speaker 1>one of these major principles driving the self organization of

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<v Speaker 1>the brain. All these tendencies toward good organization and simple

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<v Speaker 1>organization are also principles of symmetry in the dynamics of

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<v Speaker 1>the brain itself. But on the other hand, too much

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<v Speaker 1>symmetry can be a tad boring. While perfectly symmetrical designs

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<v Speaker 1>are more pleasing to the brain, they're not necessarily more beautiful.

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<v Speaker 1>Both art novices and experts prefer art that strikes, says

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<v Speaker 1>vocumons an optimal level of stimulation, not too complex, not

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<v Speaker 1>too simple, not too chaotic, and not too orderly. Indeed,

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<v Speaker 1>the Japanese have an esthetic principle called quinsey, which is

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<v Speaker 1>all about creating balance in a composition using asymmetry or irregularity.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Dave Rouse and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tristan McNeil. For more on this and tons of other

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<v Speaker 1>brainy topics, visit our home planet, how stuff works dot com.