Welcome to Sentivia

Alright, let's talk about what I've been working on, and what I presented to the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland back in 1878. As you all know, I am Sir Francis Galton, and while I might be known for various contributions across many different fields, the topic of this talk has become quite important to me lately. You see, I'm a polymath, someone fascinated by the world and all its intricacies – an explorer, an anthropologist, a sociologist, a psychologist, and a statistician. And yes, I am also a eugenist, and that plays into why I've started my research on this.

In this presentation, I discussed a novel technique of my own creation: composite photography. Imagine, if you will, being able to overlay different photographic portraits onto one another and from that, develop a "composite" face. My thought process behind this was that this method could prove useful in categorizing different types of people. It is my belief that if, for example, I were to combine photographs of known violent criminals, I would reveal a common thread amongst them and perhaps discover the very face of criminality itself. It's important work, I believe, because we need to try and find these things out.

What surprised me though, and what I discussed with the Institute, was what I discovered instead. The composite portraits I created, particularly those from the criminal faces, didn't reveal some grotesque visage as I expected. Rather, they were quite…beautiful. I know many of you in the audience that have heard me speak or read my work know I am a logical man, so I am always open to new ideas and changes to what I believe. This surprising finding led me to ask deeper questions: What truly *is* beauty? Why do specific arrangements of form, line, and color evoke such powerful sensations within us? For centuries, these questions have been debated through philosophical logic and speculation. But, as you know, I am a man of science and felt there must be another way, a logical explanation for why this happens, and why, for example, my composite images were beautiful.

Now, I understand this is probably not the most common of questions, but I felt that as a group we might be able to find an answer.

From a scientific viewpoint, I think that as we continue our scientific journey, we'll find that the answers to what we consider "beauty" are likely rooted in evolutionary processes and neurological mechanisms. It's these things that have shaped our perceptions and preferences in ways that have, and may still, contribute to the survival and adaptation of our species. It's not enough to just look at art or think about the aesthetics of things, we need to understand the *why*.

As I detailed in my talk, studies have shown that certain parameters contribute to what we find attractive. One of the key factors is the "average," or composite, face as I have previously mentioned. The fact that this is where the beauty came from in my study is a very interesting thought indeed. It's something that has been replicated many times over in subsequent studies. I have always felt that Average faces, as I found, represent the central tendencies of a group. These individuals may have features from different populations, indicating a richer genetic diversity and a greater capacity to adapt to a changing environment. It makes sense to me, that from an evolutionary standpoint, humans would be attracted to these things.

Another element is symmetry. Symmetric faces are generally regarded as more attractive than asymmetric faces. Asymmetry, I reasoned, can be associated with developmental anomalies and parasitic infections and that as a species, humans are wired to spot this. It's a signal of good health and genetic robustness.

And then there's the matter of hormones. While I am confining my comments to heterosexual norms here, the influence of estrogen and testosterone play crucial roles in shaping attractive features. Estrogen in women creates signals of fertility – full lips, high cheekbones, and large eyes – features that I believe are indicators of both youth and maturity that men find appealing. Testosterone, on the other hand, is what defines the more traditionally masculine look of heavier brows, thin cheeks and defined jaws.

It all comes back to science and a desire to understand the world around me, and the more research I do, the more I discover about the human race and our perceptions. I know what some might call an "obsession," but I am simply very passionate and determined to find logical scientific explanations for these things. It's what I hope that people in our Institute do too.