Seth Walsh
Iconoclast
Contributor
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2020
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Symmetry, youth markers, clear skin, robust, sharp jawline, low body fat, harmony & height ≥ 75th percentile: the hard currency.
Halo effect: attractive = competent, trustworthy, higher pay; ugliness = inverse penalty.
Online dating: top 5 % of men get 95 % of female swipes; bottom 80 % get ≤ 10 % at best (with good photos). Nothing otherwise.
Hiring bias: +10 % wage premium per beauty SD; unattractive face = hidden tax equal to a formal demotion.
Social capital: good‑looking people form networks faster; others orbit or get excluded.
Neurobiology: faces appraised in 40 ms; post‑hoc traits rationalized later.
Plasticity minimal after 25—gym, grooming, orthodontics, surgery are marginal upgrades, not parity creators.
Net: in visible markets, aesthetics decide access; skill and character fill in only after the door’s already opened.
Halo effect: attractive = competent, trustworthy, higher pay; ugliness = inverse penalty.
Online dating: top 5 % of men get 95 % of female swipes; bottom 80 % get ≤ 10 % at best (with good photos). Nothing otherwise.
Hiring bias: +10 % wage premium per beauty SD; unattractive face = hidden tax equal to a formal demotion.
Social capital: good‑looking people form networks faster; others orbit or get excluded.
Neurobiology: faces appraised in 40 ms; post‑hoc traits rationalized later.
Plasticity minimal after 25—gym, grooming, orthodontics, surgery are marginal upgrades, not parity creators.
Net: in visible markets, aesthetics decide access; skill and character fill in only after the door’s already opened.
