Balance and symmetry

In kindergarten today we talked about the line of symmetry.  These little guys got it!  Using a stick, or a line on the white board they demonstrated how one thing after another was either symmetrical or not symmetrical and that can get pretty complicated when you look at something that is symmetrical in up to four different ways.

It's not a concept I remember learning in school and yet I think it might be one of the biggest ones to grasp when talking about beauty.

Someone once did a scientific test using human faces.  They showed the same faces to people from different cultures all over the world, asking them which faces they thought were beautiful.  Symmetry was the common denominator across the board.  Those faces that were the most symmetrical were considered the most beautiful.

We like things to be balanced.  It makes us comfortable.  We feel more secure.

Why?

I don't know.  Maybe because we are bipedal creatures.  We have two of almost everything.  It takes two of us to have a child.  We like it when there are two of us to rear a child.  Two children is a nice number.  After that there aren't enough arms to go around and life gets complicated!

Children love to fold paper in half and cut out things like butterflies, or hearts, or snowflakes!  As long as they are symmetrical they are appealing.  They like stories with good guys and bad guys, white hats and black hats, day and night. They like balanced rhymes and songs.  Marching is a big thing when you are small.  One  foot follows the other foot, balance, symmetry....

Most of us never really outgrow the comfort of it.