How should one understand this quote?

I quote a the website linked below: “Beautiful appearance is a concern exclusive to homo sapiens…”
If this is true the what do we call what peacocks do? How are their behaviour different from a concern for a beautiful appearence?
Or is this quote actually not true at all?

It appears to be somewhat of an exaggeration when taken to the hilt.

Another way of considering human concern for beauty in comparision with how colors can attract certain beasts - is how the Human Beauty Industry is greater than 500 Billion USD per year.

That said: Re: Human Beauty - Scriptures say:


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Intellect and moral sense for attributes of humans, not other animals.

beauty, noun:
1. a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight; a combination of qualities that pleases the intellect or moral sense.
(Oxford Dictionaries)

Perhaps it’s getting at the fact that vanity is exclusive to humans. As rational beings with free will we may become consciously concerned with beauty whereas any other creature besides angels would be unconscious of it. Lucifer, as we know, became quite captivated by his own appearance.

Complete nonsense. What constitutes a beautiful appearance (when we refer to other people) is what we feel to be attractive. That which we are attracted to. And the reasons for that are generally sexual. And other creatures are likewise attracted to each other for the same reasons. We can appreciate a peacock’s beauty, as does tbe pea hen, but I doubt if we’d have any concept of what a dung beetle might be looking for in a mate.

What the peacock is doing has a functional purpose, to impress a potential mate. Humans are capable of abstract contemplation, like prehistoric humans painting their caves in order to somehow capture and transmit the beauty they saw outside. So it is different.


I would say it is not true because of your example.

Also, from what I understand, features like strength or colorful feathers signal health and vigor to a potential mate. It’s unclear whether there is a purpose to noticing these things outside of mating in the animal kingdom.

As a human being, I can see beauty in another woman, or handsomeness in a man without wanting to “mate” with them. I’m not sure animals register attractiveness outside of mating.

Also, people sometimes marry a person less attractive then themselves because of the person’s inner beauty—maybe they are courageous or kind or have a fun sense of humor.

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