DAE feel that the world prefers beauty to brains?

I'd say so, but I also think it's more nuanced than that.

I dunno how to say this without sounding like a narcissistic douche, but I know that I'm fairly intelligent, and I've been told I'm pretty attractive.

I'm also fairly introverted, so I don't tend to flaunt either, but in my experience beauty generates stronger, faster, more noticeable reactions. Intelligence takes longer for people to appreciate, and when they do like it they aren't going to react the same as they do with beauty. In fact, they might not really address it at all; you aren't really going to get compliments saying how smart you are most of the time. The only times I've noticed that intelligence gets recognized is when you can demonstrate it by applying it to something practical. Fix something, or help someone with a problem, or whatever. For the sake of giving examples, I went to the beach two weeks ago and when I was walking to my car I passed in front of two girls who didn't think I could see them... one wasn't paying attention and her friend bumped her with her arm and gestured toward me... intelligence doesn't get those kinds of reactions. But then this weekend I had an extended conversation with a friend about books, and she mentioned how much she enjoyed talking to someone who was passionate about the subject... that seems to me to be closer to how recognition of intellect generally works.

In the long run, though, people get used to beauty. It's most valuable when you first meet someone. That's when you form your first impressions, that's when they haven't gotten used to the idea that you look how you look. You know anyone long enough, coworker, friend, acquaintance, whoever, and eventually what they look like begins to matter a lot less.

Intellect, to some extent, will be what sustains someone's interest in maintaining a relationship with you. If you're clever, or funny, or whatever (I associate those traits with intelligence), those traits have more of a lasting impact in relationships.

**tl;dr: Being pretty helps you get what you want faster, being intelligent helps you keep it, or acquire it if you're willing to work for it. I've had some friends who were ugly as sin but smart as a whip and charismatic as fuck, and they pulled some of the most attractive women I've ever seen, so... I think it's largely about how you use what you've got.

/r/DoesAnybodyElse Thread