Hi, Bolder-dash.
Bolder-dash writes:
For instance, Brad Pitt and George Clooney are not attractive because they are symmetrical.
I think I can grant that symmetry is not the only factor influencing attractiveness.
Still, the most that can be made of this is that somebody slightly oversold their results. But, this is all part of the scientific process: when someone oversells their results, it stimulates debate and encourages other scientists to do more research.
For example, in the article you cited, the researchers overselling their results will lead skeptical scientists to study other aspects of attractiveness, to see if the results will still hold. If so, then we can confirm that there is a correlation between attractiveness and selfishness. If not, then we've identified exactly which components of attractiveness
are correlated with selfishness, and this will help refine the theory and improve our understanding.
-Bluejay (a.k.a. Mantis, Thylacosmilus)
Darwin loves you.
™ Version 4.2