Re: Interesting Video On Being Beautiful

philsproof — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 05:58:15 -0000

This is an interesting topic for discussion, JDog. I think you hit right on the mark when you said,

> She has no frame of reference

Relativity is a tricky philosophical viewpoint, but we should all be aware of the fact that things like beauty and intelligence are indeed subject to relativistic viewpoints. The above poster points out that that there are people who struggle to get their lives in order and to live from paycheck-to-paycheck---what is that in comparison to the tribulations of someone who has to deal with being beautiful?

But then again, this criticism falls into the same sort that your mother used to tell you -- you know, about how you should eat your brussels sprouts because kids in Africa are starving every day? How well did that one work?

You can turn Mr. Arkenton's criticism right back and say, "Well, what are your troubles compared to someone in a third-world country who has to deal with the real prospect of starvation?"

Or take high school teens. Teenage angst and acne, for example, seems so insignificant compared to the problems of a single working parent, trying frantically to get through college -- but then again, try explaining that one to the average high school student.

Empathy is hard to pass around. It really IS a problem with a biased perspective, as you point out. We are who we are. We all have problems, and we all think our problems are as severe as the next guy (or girls).

But enough philosophizing.

The point of your post was to demonstrate that beautiful people are subject to similar insecurities and problems, and I would agree. Very few beautiful people walk through life thinking, "Gee, life is awesome because I'm awesome."

JDog, thanks for the interesting topic. Judging by your reading list, you're interested in philosophy. I think this whole discourse would fall into the field of standpoint theory or to a very general extent, postmodernism. It's very interesting!

Disqus - Latest Comments for ptrinh

Re: Interesting Video On Being Beautiful