WingColors

When you first meet somebody, you won't know their personality and therefore you have to play everything off appearance. The longer you know somebody, the more you know about their personality.

As for the dog world, people do value pure breeds but they also recognise that they're more likely to have genetic defects from inbreeding. It's a strange world.

I think about this a fair amount and last night I was feeling it again. I was listening to the radio and someone was talking about the doors that open for beautiful people because of their attractiveness. I had a brief feeling about how unfair that is, and then I thought about all of the doors that have opened for me in life because I'm smart.

I think we are all socially obsessed with image because of media. Because we all know that we all consume the media, it starts to feed on itself as a kind of truth from our group awareness of our group consumption. There was an island in SE Asia that didn't have American T.V. until about a decade ago, which was the same time that their eating disorders appeared. It's a tipping point. At some point people start to value something simply because enough other people do.

Last night I started thinking how lame it was that I would envy someone else's gifts, which in this case was beauty. I've felt this many times before, but the message was feeling particularly poignant. The moments in my life where I was the most powerful were the times that I, personally, stopped caring about the beauty quotient. It doesn't mean that gorgeous people around me still don't have opportunities from their attractiveness that are not available to me at times (and I'm not an unattractive person either). I do notice that if I focus on what I don't get from what I don't have, then I miss out on all of the great things I do get from what I do have.

Dogs, on the other hand, are possessions and it is therefore all about money. People value pure breeds because they are more rare, and scarcity is the foundation of economics.

This is one of the things I love about the internet. I've met some of my best friends online, and I actually got to know their personality before seeing them physically. By the time I met them, I could have cared less what they looked like.

One thing I tend not to do is go with the crowd. Either I like something or I don't but there have been many times when my friends/family/society was "really" into something and I did my own thing.

As far as the dog, I would pick the puppy that responded to me the best. The one that felt "right" when I held it. The truth is, I would probably go to a shelter and pick a puppy instead of a pet store.

it's like with business - there are good startups, who can do the service faster and better, but people more likely will choose the good old brand, etc.
in short - we're doomed ;)

Having spent some time with some very aesthetically pleasing but dull witted people people I would say I don't.

Hi Oli - So true about it taking time for a personality to shine through. I think it's interesting though that we often try to hide away from the fact that we do judge at least initially by appearance...the world is an interesting place.

Hi Justin - Very interesting points you raise, particularly regarding the different opportunities which present themselves to those gifted with beauty as opposed to those gifted with brains. I guess it's all about focussing on the positive rather than looking at what we don't have or what others have more of.

Hi Tyme - That is definitely one of the great things about the internet... the ability to meet and make friends with people based almost primarily on their personality. It's a very liberating experience once you're freed up from all the appearance stuff.

Hi Guigo - I've never much understood that phenomenon, but you're right, it's all around us. People will go with the tried and tested rather than what may in actual fact be better.

Hi Cooper - Me too!! Pretty people can be entertaining for a while, but more substance is eventually required otherwise the experience is just too frustrating!!

I'm definitely in the camp that doesn't count appearance more than personality, or quality, or whatever. I've known people that were fabulous to look at, with nothing else to recommend them whatsoever. This note brought my recent experience with a pure-breed cat to mind though, and it's a perfect example of the phenomenon:

My whole family has always had mutt cats and we've loved every one of them (and there have been many cat family members over the years!) and I've been no exception until recently. For various reasons that I won't bore anyone with, I ended up purchasing an Ocicat, after researching temperament and feeling that this breed of cat would be a good match for our family. The Ocicat is a stunning looking breed in all its variations, being the only pure breed to carry spots and looking like a miniature Ocelot (hence the name).

To make the long story short, he is far and away the worst cat we've ever had in the house! His personality sucks, and he's generally just a pain in the ass constantly. There are no huge misbehaviors here that would require finding a new home, just general high maintenance issues, and a personality and temperament that is in no way relative to the price we paid for this brat. We're stuck with him for years, probably.

Obviously, looks aren't everything, in cats, dogs, people, or even things. Here's another question though: can this idea go too far the other way? As in, looking at pretty people and assuming there's nothing of value there otherwise. Just a thought...

thank you Dreamweaver.

I am not too sure about pets since I generally dislike pets on a whole.

On the appearance and personality part, I think if you do not like the appearance of a person, the personality will not even have any time to shine.

That's probably the deciding factor in anything.

I have friends that I love to death that arent attractive (in the least) but they are still my friends. SO i would say NO appearance doesnt affect my relationships.