- #1
TheStatutoryApe
- 296
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A post in another subforum brought to my mind the question of where artistry and the appreciation of it came from evolutionarily speaking. What is the biological impetus to find inanimate things pleasing to the senses?
So far the best I have been able to come up with is sexual selection. Many animals attract mates through "pleasing" of the visual and auditory senses. Early humans, finding themselves with dexterous hands, may have began creating decorations of various colours and patterns for their bodies to attract mates (I'm fairly certain there is plenty of evidence of this so "may have" is probably too weak). Those with greater talent for creating such decorations would have been fairly intelligent and possessed of greater skill sets so more capable of survival. Natural selection would then favour those with artistic talent and those who appreciated it.
Music is another art form that it took me a little while to think on. As animals may "sing" to one another to attract mates humans may have aswell. "Singing" was probably one of the earliest vocal means of communication. The more vocal articulation the greater the potential of the singer and the more vocal articulation the more advanced the capacity for communication.
Is anyone aware of any papers or articles with similar theories? And what does everyone think?
I find it an interesting idea that artistic talent and its appreciation could have been key in our species evolution.
So far the best I have been able to come up with is sexual selection. Many animals attract mates through "pleasing" of the visual and auditory senses. Early humans, finding themselves with dexterous hands, may have began creating decorations of various colours and patterns for their bodies to attract mates (I'm fairly certain there is plenty of evidence of this so "may have" is probably too weak). Those with greater talent for creating such decorations would have been fairly intelligent and possessed of greater skill sets so more capable of survival. Natural selection would then favour those with artistic talent and those who appreciated it.
Music is another art form that it took me a little while to think on. As animals may "sing" to one another to attract mates humans may have aswell. "Singing" was probably one of the earliest vocal means of communication. The more vocal articulation the greater the potential of the singer and the more vocal articulation the more advanced the capacity for communication.
Is anyone aware of any papers or articles with similar theories? And what does everyone think?
I find it an interesting idea that artistic talent and its appreciation could have been key in our species evolution.