Ideas worth spreading

A Darwinian theory of beauty

2,665,193 views | Denis Dutton • TED2010

TED collaborates with animator Andrew Park to illustrate Denis Dutton's provocative theory on beauty -- that art, music and other beautiful things, far from being simply "in the eye of the beholder," are a core part of human nature with deep evolutionary origins.

TED collaborates with animator Andrew Park to illustrate Denis Dutton's provocative theory on beauty -- that art, music and other beautiful things, far from being simply "in the eye of the beholder," are a core part of human nature with deep evolutionary origins.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

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Denis Dutton was a philosophy professor and the editor of Arts & Letters Daily. In his book The Art Instinct, he suggested that humans are hard-wired to seek beauty.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.