re: #155 Obdicut

Physical beauty is certainly a commoner attribute than an incisive mind.

However, studies on attractiveness as a decisive attribute in the workplace have actually shown that, while attractive people do get paid more, intelligence levels are actually the best indicator:

[Link: www.telegraph.co.uk…]

Intelligence is, of course, a largely inborn component as well. I feel a lot worse for a beautiful, less-bright person than I do a plain, sharp person.

Intelligence remains the most useful thing in the world— as long as you’ve got some social intelligence too.

My mother was an odd kid. She was agoraphobic (afraid to leave the house) and bulimic. She used to have fainting spells. There are some reasons for it… but anyway, she was a beautiful girl, the twin of Rita Hayworth. She used to tell me, “Thank goodness I was pretty or I would have been a basket case.” She was so terrified of other people, but because of her looks, people naturally came up to her. Had she not been good looking, no one would have had anything to do with her.

It’s a sad commentary and that wasn’t lost on her, but her looks really saved her life.