外表，你有多重要？

Even though most of us recognize the 1)fallacy of placing too great a value on appearance， our desire for physical beauty is so 2)ingrained in us that we cannot disassociate ourselves from it. Why is physical beauty so important?

I 3)discard the easy answer that the media has 4)branded the idea on our minds. While magazines and television certainly heighten our consciousness of looks， they are merely 5)harping on insecurities that already exist. Our desire for physical beauty， while shaped and polished by the superficial media culture， actually has deeper roots in who we are.

Our desire for physical beauty is an original human feeling， like the desire for food， nurturing， or happiness. Just as those other things drive us toward survival， physical beauty is programmed into our brains as a means of staying alive and furthering our family line. After all， if males and females weren’t attracted to each other， none of us would even be here: humankind would be a fatally 6)flawed experiment. Instead， nature has given us impulses that drive us towards 7)procreation. Every creature， from the lowest organism to the most complex， desires sex. A natural 8)precursor to that desire， which also exists in every society， is 9)indicators of attraction. Dogs are attracted to each other’s smells. Peacocks are attracted to each others’ 10)plumages. Human beings are attracted to many things about each other—one of which is physical beauty.

Because of the natural role of appearance in human 11)courtship， I can say with certainty that physical beauty does have some objective importance. However， this conclusion does not justify our society’s obsession with looks， for appearance is only the first layer of attractiveness.

Once a superficial connection is made between two people， they then have the opportunity to display other characteristics that could positively or negatively affect the possibility of their union. After they have had enough experiences together， that first layer of beauty becomes far less important than the other， less visible layers of attraction. In fact， it seems as if our original set of human impulses guides us not just towards procreation， but also towards 12)compatibility.

Compatibility is essential to human survival in an absolute sense， for a positively-working team is better equipped to live than a negatively-working team. If physical beauty were the only important factor in bringing people together， the divorce rate would be much higher than it is today and people would be far less happy. Instead， physical beauty is actually only a small component of attractiveness， and in fact， those people who are good at being compatible have a distinct advantage against those people who possess beauty alone.

Physical beauty， in sum， maintains a marginal significance in our lives. Like all superficial things， it is a basis for immediate 13)appraisal; but like a diamond out of its setting， it requires context and compatibility in order to truly 14)instill it with value.

盡管我們大多數人都認同把外表看得過重是種謬誤，然而，對美的渴求根植于人心，我們難于擺脫。為何外表美如此重要？

“因為媒體把‘外貌非常重要’這一觀念烙進我們心底”，對這個簡單回答我是不能茍同的。雜志和電視的確讓我們更在意外表，但其反復玩捏的不過是我們的種種不安心理，而這些怯弱感是早已存在的。我們對外表美的渴求雖然受到膚淺的媒體文化影響和熏陶，但實際上有著更深的根源——我們的本性。

我們對外表美的渴求，如同對食物、養護或者快樂的渴求一樣，是人類的一種原始情愫。就如同我們其他生存本能一樣，外表美已作為一個生存及繁衍后代的方式，像程序一樣輸進了我們的腦子里。畢竟，如果男人和女人之間不相互吸引，我們現在誰也不會得以存在：人類會成為帶有致命缺陷的實驗品。然而，大自然賦予了我們生育繁衍的動力。每一種生物，下至微生物，上至最復雜的有機體，都有性欲。性欲受引發的前提自然是誘人魅力的具體形表，這在任何一種社會里都一樣。狗因相互間的氣味相吸引，孔雀因各自的羽毛相吸引，人類因相互間的種種相吸引——外表美就是其中一個因素。

由于外貌在人類求愛過程中扮演的自然角色，我可以肯定地說，外表美確實有其客觀的重要性。然而，這個結論并不能合理解釋我們社會對外在美的癡迷，因為外表只是魅力的第一層面。

一旦兩個人之間因一種淺層因素聯系在一起，接下來他們就有機會展示自身的其他特征，而那些特征或有助他們結合或促使他們分開。……