Beauty is a very flexible word, seemingly. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." What I find beautiful you make think ugly, and vice versa. Yet the word is even more flexible than that: It can mean appearance, character, or analogy.

An ugly appearing woman can be beautiful in character, a beautiful looking woman can be nasty in character. A situation itself may remind us of how we feel toward seeing beauty; for example, generousity is seen as beautiful (yet it has neither an appearance nor character/integrity -- it is a characteristic).

I believe that beauty reflects what you value. If I value integrity and honesty, and I find a woman with those characteristics, I will find her beautiful in that respect. If you emphasize a driving passion for people, you will find anyone beautiful who bears that quality -- though you may not appreciate everything about that person, you will find that part beautiful.

Likewise, on a more chemical and psychological association level, what I see as attractive shows what I value -- do I value someone who looks a lot like familiar friends, or a lot like my mother? Do I not even pay attention to the crooked nose, or the thin eyebrows?

You may value an intimate relationship, you may value altruism, you may value passion, and you will find that love to be beautiful accordingly.

[Claim] I am one who thinks that as far as one has a choice over his field of interest, he has just enough ability to choose what is beautiful to him. There will be chemical predispositions, there will be psychological factors, and there will be the effort that he puts into that interest to demonstrate value and therefore beauty.

As in, you can choose who and what you find beautiful.

Example from experience about looks
I found a girl kinda meh in the looks department -- to what I had found beautiful. The more I stressed her inner qualities that I valued, the more I found her beautiful. The more time I spent with her, the more I thought she looked attractive. Eventually, I thought to myself "She is attractive" which was directly contra what I thought a year before.

Another example from experience about looks
I found a girl that I thought looked attractive to me (probably an INTJ) -- though not to society -- and after meeting her well, it wasn't too great of an experience. Kinda cold, unresponsive, etc. I saw her profile picture on facebook the other day and I thought to myself "Yeah, I exaggerated her looks." [though it could've been an awkward angle]

So rephrased:
What you find beautiful is a reflection of what you value.
You choose what you value.
:. You choose what you find beautiful.

I had a few other points, but please discuss.

I do agree that what we value is what we find beautiful. The stereotypical Hollywood standard of beauty values people who are young and sexy, who have pretty faces and hot bodies.

I see beauty more from the inward characteristics of a person. I definitely think that when someone is kind, considerate, careful toward others, loving, gentle, giving, generous, just and wise, it adds a dimension of beauty to them. When someone is completely consumed with courage, faith, devotion, and vision, they are so enticing to me. For instance, Mother Teresa wasn't young and glamorous, but she had such a passion for people that she seems lovely to me. I think that is what makes someone beautiful.

Beauty (to me) is ... a kind heart, an unselfish act, a child sleeping.

I agree (as I am sure many do) with the personality being a tremendous part of what makes a person beautiful or not.

Do you agree with my claim? If so or not, could you tell me why?

Claim:

What you find beautiful is a reflection of what you value.
You can choose what you find valueable (just as much as you choose what interests you, like computers or drawing or shopping)
:. Therefore, you can choose what you find beautiful (just as much as you can choose interests)

Do you agree with my claim? If so or not, could you tell me why?

Claim:

What you find beautiful is a reflection of what you value.
You can choose what you find valueable (just as much as you choose what interests you, like computers or drawing or shopping)
:. Therefore, you can choose what you find beautiful (just as much as you can choose interests)


I agree..

I was just gonna post something similar..

Beauty is what people make it to be. so therefore beauty can be anything and/or everything.

Jonathan, I agree with what you said.

beauty is in the eye of the beholder... now that is deep, but true.

you description jonathan, is really good.

Do you agree with my claim? If so or not, could you tell me why?

Claim:

What you find beautiful is a reflection of what you value.
You can choose what you find valueable (just as much as you choose what interests you, like computers or drawing or shopping)
:. Therefore, you can choose what you find beautiful (just as much as you can choose interests)

Yes, most definately. How could someone find beautiful what they do not value? If you do not value it, if it is not important to you in one way or another there is no way to see even the true beauty in it.

Maybe is this one way of reading Jesus' "casting pearls before swines, lest they trample them underfoot"

Swines dont see the value of whats being offered to them, so its not beautiful.

i beleive that beauty is worshiping Jesus freely, and being nice, and generous, and all that stuff, but not nesessarely physical beauty. and intelegence is nice too....

beauty is in the eye of the beholder... now that is deep, but true.



I agree.
We will never know what true beauty is. Everyone has his/hers idea what beauty is--however, we have hundreds of billions of different notions on the subject.

way to narrow it down:finding what God's idea of beauty is.

I like the threads where everyone seems to be agreeing ;) Another example of what was said in the first post, is that when you're younger (i found it usually around jr high or even high school) the girl (or in a girls case the guy) you like or are more interested in would look attractive on the outside, but then if you go out and break up, that outward beauty has lessened if not gone totally even though their body didn't change at all.

that's why you don't date someone based solely on that...

You know what I like about this thread... not one person has identified outward looks as the sole reasoning for beauty. It just goes to show how wrong modern day society has become.

Hollywood and the most recent teen mags direct beauty as a "thin model who looks anorexic" and to me that is so wrong. I have three daughters and my eldest is now getting to the stage where she is concerned about her looks and how her peers see her. My wife and I are trying to redirect her thoughts from the outward thing to the inward where true beauty lies.

I like that all of you recognise true beauty as an inner trait, based on characteristics not looks.

The only reason we need to be concerned with our outward appearance is when it affects our health, other than that we are exactly as Christ created us.

I used to be very concerned with not making strides about my appearence, because I didn't want to look vain. But I realize that I was caring alot about what others thought about me, and striving for a reputation. There's nothing wrong with(oh, I dunno) brushing my hair very smooth, or anything.

When it becomes an obsession, than there's something wrong.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And it may be necessary at times to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye."
-Miss Piggy

Sorry...I thought that was funny. *back on topic*

I agree with your claim, as I have a (kind of) similair experience with the friend and looks.
When I first started going to this school, there was a girl at the lunch table that I sat at that wasn't so pretty, was kinda chubby, and just looked boring. I kinda thought to myself that I probably wouldn't be friends with her.
Then I got to know her. She is one of the craziest, nicest, sweetest people I have met in a long time. Now I don't notice the "blah" part about her...I know she isn't, and so to me, that part of her that I "saw" isn't there. Now I see how beautiful she truly is.

When I think of some as being beautiful it means that there personality is really great, which i know isnt the norm for most guys but its me. And I like people more for there personality then for what they look like, and i tell my g/f she is beautiful, since i don't think girls want to hear that there Sexy, Hot?

I like to think of beauty as what's there when there's no make up left. Like if you take off the makeup and you're just...there...then you totally depend on the makeup to make you beautiful. But if you can look good without the makeup on, then there's beauty.

I guess it depends on your aesthetic

I guess it depends on your aesthetic
The OP's claim was "Whatever you value is what you find you beautiful."

I agree with this claim. I value everything to a certain extent and therefore find beauty in even the most unlikely things.

But also, Everything has beauty, and everything has ugliness, to me it is what side we choose to look at that determines what we find beautiful. And moreover, it is what kind of person we are that determines what side we look at that determines what we find beautiful. In all, you're completely right. :P