The Beauty Pattern

All of us, no matter what age or culture, share a sense of physical beauty. That's because the human perception of what makes something beautiful is hardwired. We've evolved to seek out pattern, and in particular, we enjoy patterns with a mixture of order & chaos. Take for example honeycomb - it has overarching order but on closer inspection infinite variation in the details.

Research into the role of beauty in our lives shows beauty is a form of curiosity, a kind of learning signal helping us figure out what to pay attention to and what to ignore. The pleasure response to beauty is highest when the pattern has imperfection, unpredictability & incompleteness. When there's still a little mystery we want to see more - this is the true definition of beauty.

'Beauty is a particularly potent & intense form of curiosity.'
Jonah Lehrer