Assumptions

This post asks the question "Why are cartoon characters attractive?" and comes up with three explanations (symmetry, accentuated features and clear skin). i agree with his points, but the post reminded me of something i had thought of a while previously. In effect, what role do assumptions play in how we perceive the world around us and think about others? (full disclosure: if you know my dad you would know that i've thought about this question pretty much my whole life - it's a fun concept!) In my case, the question came up while at a conference for software developers/architects at Microsoft. In particular, one of the presenters was making some comments about what he does at home (something about WoW), and i automatically assumed that he has a great relationship with his wife. He had already made some comment about being married, so i wasn't assuming that part, but i'm not sure what led me to make any assumptions about his home life. i think i tend to substitute my own experience whenever i am faced with a lack of information, sometimes without realizing it (i behave differently when telling someone about something that i read, or even bother to think about it beyond the initial reading/hearing. In those cases, my truth filters are out in full force.). Another example is that i tend to assume people who blog generally tell the truth. In most cases, it doesn't matter because i read a lot of blogs about software, where the information can be easily verified, and most of the more personal blogs i read are from people i know (and trust). But what about other blogs, such as this one? Upon reading it a little more critically, it definitely seems that there is some artistic license going on. It annoys me, because i'd like to believe that his son talks as represented in the posts, but i can't be sure.

Back to cartoons. i think that one of the reasons we find cartoon characters attractive is that we assume that they are. We fill in details to suit what we think we should be seeing (or what we want to see). i'm pretty sure i do the same when i'm reading a book, in the absence of strong descriptions. If this is true, my assumptions should play a smaller role in some illustrations than others (Marvel Comics versus your average newspaper comic strip). In addition, the less data we have, the more likely we are to cast a character into an archetype (beautiful young woman, overall-wearing farmer, etc.) with the few visual cues we do have. Finally, our perception of the attractiveness of a character should change as we get to know them, since some of our original assumptions will be replaced with actual data. Maybe when Johnny Squarejaw turns out to be a back-stabbing liar, his looks become more of a shiny facade which is in the process of cracking. i have definitely found the reverse to be true in my personal relationships - the better i know someone, the more beautiful/attractive they appear to me (or the more i love them).

Those were my thoughts (along with some newer ones) from reading the original post, a half-year late.