15 Jan 2012, Posted by yohami in thoughts, 12 Comments.

Bias, testosterone and facial screening

Inspired by HUS

Look at these two faces and answer the following questions:

Who of these dudes has 10 kids more than the other?
Who has read 10 times more books?
Who has more street´s smarts?
Who is more in contact with his emotions?
Who would you trust to carry a gun?
Who do you think is better with finances?
Who is better with large groups of people?
Who would make a better chef?
Who would make a better business owner?
Who of these two dudes is a painter?
Who is a celebrity?
Who is more submissive?
Who has a better sense of duty?
Who is better at magic?
Who eats more?
Who cries more?
Who is more stable?
Who is more empathetic?
Who is healthier?
Who has more to prove?
Who is an established architect?
Who is better with his hands?
Who has a bigger cock?

Assuming your gut works like mine you´ve been zigzagging from left to right and back. I think this stuff is biological, a screening-bias that is mostly right every time.

Each of these dudes can be *attractive* but they play on different ladders and at different strengths. The dude on the left has a high testosterone, manly face. The dude at the right has the opposite. Each face carries with a set of N traits. They will be attractive to people screening for such traits, like characters in a casting for a movie.

The dude at the left is more manly and will prevail when nature is though, when there´s competition and strong hierarchies. The dude at the right is less manly, and will survive when mental gymnastics are required.

When things are rough natural selection is more important. Having a lot of offspring is important. Sex is more important. Gender and differentiation are more important. You can picture the dude on the left fucking, fighting, breeding, owning.

When there are tons of resources and the species are safe, natural selecion ceases to work, sex is less important, having offspring is less important. Conservation of resources / inertia is whats important. You can picture the guy on the right daydreaming, playing some supportive role.

Another thing involved here is horizontality and verticality.

We associate all things vertical with “higher order” things, spirituality, intellect etc. Long faces look wiser. Think of every elf-looking character ever.

Then we associate all things horizontal with “earth-mundane” things, body, eating, fucking, fighting, etc. Wide faces look more earthgrounded. Look at every troll-dwarf character ever.

The guy on the left could play either the criminal gang boss or the tough cop who chases him.

The guy on the right could play the detail-obsessed serial killer, or the shy reporter investigating the story.

And that ends our facial-traits recognition session for today.