He or she is a ten

When someone says something like he or she is a ‘ten’ or he/she is perfect, how do they know? Science answers this question. The apple of the beholder’s eye is not a ten but rather exhibits the ratio 1.618 all over their bodies including the face.

1.618… is called by many names, Phi, the magic number, golden ratio, divine proportion, God’s number, chemistry, “it.”

Nerd alert: Say a line is 1.618 inches. Tag it at the 1 inch mark. Science has discovered that 1 inch plus 0.618 inches is as 1 inch is to 0.618 inches. What? Take a look at the nautilus shell with its constantly smaller shells (all of the same ratio) as an example. Or Audrey Hepburn’s face. Or the hand (0.618) compared to the hand and forearm (1.618). Or check out Leonardo Da Vinci’s studies.

Somehow people sense nature’s simple design and admire or are attracted to it. Maybe it is in our DNA. No, stop. The length of DNA to the width is 1.618.

You might say, what about Samoans where girth is revered or the Kayan people with neck rings distorting their necks? All cultures, when shown women with various hip/body proportions will pick the divine proportion as the most desirable. Note they are not shown a woman who’s original figure is hidden by weight.

What does this mean to the writer of romance? If we can’t explain in some way why there is an initial attraction we may have missed an opportunity. Of course, there is way more to picking a mate than Godly perfection. There’s his/her heart, sense of humor, loving nature, nurturing, etc. Also, a person who feels they are a “6” may try for another “6” or try to get a “7.” Sometimes when two people meet there seems to be a nuclear meltdown.

Still, how do we know what perfection is if we don’t have a piece of God within us?

Also, important to us nerds, is Phi chemistry, biology or physics?