There's something deeply satisfying about watching certain visuals that goes beyond simple entertainment. Research from UCLA psychology professor Ladan Shams examining multisensory perception suggests that watching something pleasing like a wooden bowl emerging from a spinning lathe works because numerous small discrete actions check off boxes that underlie what we perceive as pleasant.
Scientists are discovering that our visual preferences operate at levels we don't consciously recognize, but they profoundly shape what we find appealing. The appeal of satisfying videos is thought to lie in human preference for symmetry, patterns and repetition, along with interest in exploring material behavior. This isn't just about modern internet trends either.
Humans find symmetry pleasing due to its prevalence in nature and its association with health and efficiency, like in starfish, honeycombs and snowflakes, where asymmetry often signals danger or illness. Our brains evolved to recognize these patterns as indicators of safety and order in an often chaotic world.
Visual perception specialist Johan Wagemans notes that symmetry is not just a design principle of the outside world but also drives the self-organization of the brain itself. However, perfect symmetry can actually be boring. Research found that while perfectly symmetrical designs are more pleasing to the brain, they're not necessarily more beautiful, as both art novices and experts prefer an optimal level of stimulation that's not too complex, not too simple, not too chaotic and not too orderly.
The shapes themselves matter tremendously. Studies show that curvature is apparently better than straight and angular lines, perhaps because curves offer more in terms of complexity. Research confirms that participants rated curved stimuli as more pleasing and harmonious than angular stimuli across multiple experiments using everything from abstract shapes to interior design spaces and familiar objects. There's something about the flow of a curve that speaks to something fundamental in how our brains process visual information.
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Color plays an enormous role in visual satisfaction as well. Research shows average color preferences have a clear maximum around saturated blue and a clear minimum around dark yellow or greenish brown. Studies using electroencephalography found brain activation when a favorite color is present even before participants consciously focused on it, with attention captured subconsciously. This means colors can grab our interest and create pleasure responses before we're even aware we're looking at them.
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Scientists suggest an evolutionary explanation for why humans are preoccupied with aesthetic aspects of visual input, proposing that humans evolved to be swayed by feelings in the form of rewards and punishments, with the brain designed to offer rewards when a person focuses on certain types of visual stimuli. For instance, warm colors are typically pleasant because they're associated with edible fruits, while complex images appeal to our natural curiosity.
