LessWrong (30+ Karma) “Not Loving Liking What You See” by Tomás B.
Mar 10, 2026
A witty look at a Ted Chiang story and a prank that circulated online. Discussion of a fictional condition that erases aesthetic reactions and its effects on sex, memory, and cultural attitudes toward the body. Arguments about evolutionary consequences, social tradeoffs, and radical alternatives like universal beauty enhancement.
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Nootropics Prank Quoted Ted Chiang's Understand
- Tom Smith recounts a nootropics forum prank where someone posted passages from Ted Chiang's Understand as if boosted by a synaptogenic drug.
- The prank highlighted internet culture's appetite for 'intelligence porn' and produced one of the funniest moments Smith has seen online.
Beauty Signals Underpin Evolutionary Selection
- Tom Smith argues Ted Chiang's 'Liking What You See' underestimates beauty by treating physical attraction as merely shallow and replaceable by personality.
- He claims beauty signals health and fertility, so removing aesthetic valence (calliognosia) risks long-term societal decline in health and fecundity.
Eliminating Aesthetic Valence Shifts Selection Pressures
- Smith warns universal adoption of calliognosia would gradually erode bodily beauty rather than just perceptions, producing unhealthy, unattractive outcomes.
- He views Chiang's characters as failing to confront how selection pressures would shift when aesthetic valence is removed.
