Are looks and age important?

"Are looks and age important?". A friend posted this question in her facebook and attracted quite a number of responses from her friends (including yours truly).

The discussion that ensued got me thinking about the NATURAL BRAIN and the RATIONAL MIND again (a theme which I touched upon briefly in my previous blog post). Selected exchanges are set out below:

RL: Are looks and age important?

GN: Seriously no, that's why all guys are looking for old and ugly ladies.

RL: @ Gabor: Why are guys looking for "old and ugly"?

Lip Kee: Hmm...I suppose you didn't quite get what Gabor was trying to say...Imagine if he were to pose this question, "Are health and financial stability important?" and a lady friend of his answered, "Seriously no, that's why all gals are looking for sickly and dirt poor men". You get the drift now?

GN: LoL, thanks for clarifying! :)

Lip Kee: The human brain is wired for survival and procreation, hence the general preference for youth and beauty, as well as strength and wealth. The more aware we are to such natural inclinations in the natural brain, the more able we will be to override or adjust biases with the rational mind. It takes an educated and enlightened mind to appreciate and value beyond what the natural and instinctive brain sees and prefers.

GN: But...Why would we want to override the biases? Actually those biases are highly rational...e.g. I would never settle with a dumb but pretty girl (nor with a sharp and ugly one either)

Lip Kee: @Gabor. Your not wanting to settle with a "dumb but pretty girl" is an example of how you are using your RATIONAL MIND to override/adjust the preference of your NATURAL BRAIN. From a purely biological perspective, the prettiness or physical beauty of a girl is perceived by your NATURAL BRAIN as an indicator of health, vitality and child-bearing ability in the girl, and that causes you to like her (INSTINCTIVELY). But since you also possess an educated RATIONAL MIND, you do not just "settle" (to use your own word) for the girl just because she is pretty. You (RATIONALLY) would like her to be intelligent also. The more we utilize our RATIONAL MIND rather than soley rely on our NATURAL BRAIN in our decision-making and action taking process, the more we are considered to be cultured and civilized.

But we digressed. The original question was: "Are looks and age important?". I suppose my answer is: Idealistically speaking, looks and age should not matter. Generally speaking though, they do. How important they are to an individual would depend on the individual's personal philosophy, world view and value system.