10 replies to this topic

[caston]

I was thinking today that often very attractive people (providing they survive the hard knocks and fierce competition of life) still look quit attractive as they age and often live long life spans. I bet that many of the supercentenerians were quite a good looking lot in their youth. As we age the inner swan in us dies and we lose much of our beauty. Could people that stay beautiful longer have better DNA repair, better HSPs, chaperones, proteins resistant to oxidative damage and so on?

Perhaps not just for reasons of maintaining the soma but also for the benefit of the germline which has to continue forever.

So there is selection for longevity even without forcing late life reproduction.

Edited by caston, 17 July 2008 - 09:07 AM.

[zoolander]

This has been said so many times...beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I'm not talking about the optic nerve either.

[caston]

This has been said so many times...beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I'm not talking about the optic nerve either.

There are lots of things that make someone attractive to someone else. Some of those traits could be things such as robust DNA repair.

[zoolander]

Let me get this straight....are they wearing gemstones?

[Prometheus]

Could people that stay beautiful longer have better DNA repair, better HSPs, chaperones, proteins resistant to oxidative damage and so on?

Yep.

[niner]

Could people that stay beautiful longer have better DNA repair, better HSPs, chaperones, proteins resistant to oxidative damage and so on?

Yes, they could, at least in principle. Certainly those things might help you stay younger looking. However, there are other factors as well. For example, men with lower levels of certain androgens will keep their hair longer and have less acne. People with more melanin will deal with sun better, so their skin will sustain less photodamage. Further, one might speculate that life being easier for the physically attractive, they would experience lower levels of stress with less attendant damage.

[Nova]

Could people that stay beautiful longer have better DNA repair, better HSPs, chaperones, proteins resistant to oxidative damage and so on?

Yes, they could, at least in principle. Certainly those things might help you stay younger looking. However, there are other factors as well. For example, men with lower levels of certain androgens will keep their hair longer and have less acne. People with more melanin will deal with sun better, so their skin will sustain less photodamage. Further, one might speculate that life being easier for the physically attractive, they would experience lower levels of stress with less attendant damage.

Means in all hormones are guilty

Weak nerves are too most.

Genes are guilty.

[StoneKitten]

Interesting..... I've pondered this myself.
I haven't had an easy stressfree life by any means, but appear younger than my age.
In my family's maternal history my great grandmother was very attractive and lived to 103.
My maternal Gmother 95 and she drove a car until 94 and was active.
She was running around, broke her back and that took her 'early'
Her Grandfather was very handsome man and lived to 99.
Robust health to the end...

[Shepard]

As we age the inner swan in us dies and we lose much of our beauty.

I'm actually more interested in this swan thing. Is it a black swan?

I'm not even finished with the post and I'm already ashamed of that one.

Anyway, if we accept that symmetry is important to general attractiveness, it wouldn't necessarily mean that the attractive are blessed from a longevity perspective. But, it wouldn't really surprise me if something along these lines were true. Attractive people seem to be favorable from a reproductive perspective.

That said, my bloodline keeps going until the triple digits and I'm downright gorgeous.

Edited by shepard, 12 November 2008 - 06:05 AM.

[forever freedom]

Well maybe it's because the person is aging more slowly, he looks younger and therefore more attractive than the average of people his age?

[treonsverdery]

first the humor:

attractive mammal seeks attractive creosote bush for lovin' good times Must be over 10,000 years old but have springtime fresh leaves

dainty 200 year old rockfish seeks smooth skinned elderly tortoise for interspecies romp

then the It Might Be Science

Woody guthrie had huntington's disease caused from a number of single gene repeats Woody had between 7 to 9 children huntington's is characterized as causing a roving character plus hypersexuality (wikipedia)

There is a theory with an actual name that suggests that humans live a long time as they are actually kind of fetal looking compared with other primates lifespan goes with a gradual development program

Are you talking physical appearance or youthful physiologic aspect literally conversation bounce rate or subtle things like strides per minute

also there is a study on youtube that says people with whiter teeth have 44 pt higher approval ratings; having teeth is kind of a measure of dietary sufficiency thus it is possible that overcompensating dietary deficit with more metabolic resources placed at appearance attracts mates Kind of the opposite of camoflouge There is evolutionary pressure to look healthier than one is

New scientist notes that The Nobel prize-winning ethologist Konrad Lorenz once suggested that baby-faced features evoke a nurturing response Other research shows that when people get proper nutrition when young they are healthier

New scientist sponsored a study noting that faces effectively communicate character among women

From this it seems that women's faces give away far more than men. An impressive 70 per cent of people were able to correctly identify the lucky face, and 73 per cent correctly identified the religious one. In line with past research, the female composite associated with trustworthiness was also accurately identified, with a statistically significant 54 per cent success rate. Only one of the female composites was not correctly identified - the one from the women who assessed themselves as humorous.