Why are we hardwired to respond to beauty?

I read this article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3917414 It basically proved people are more likely to help and want to be friends with beautiful people. Even babies stare longer at prettier than average faces. Why is that so? How come our genetics has forced us to assume that attractive people are more deserving of our help or friendship or love?Why are we hardwired to respond to beauty?
It's based in natural instinct for preserving the human species. People are instinctually attracted to those who appear the healthiest and strongest, which are traits you'd want to pass on to the next generation to ensure the species lives on. If our ancestors weren't strong enough to chase down prey, they'd starve and the species would die out. If women weren't strong enough or healthy enough to carry babies to term, then the species would die out.





Different people are attracted to different things in people, which ensures a genetic variety in the species which also helps ensure overall health.Why are we hardwired to respond to beauty?
i remember watching a little part of some discovery channel show that is similar to this subject. it was all about finding your ';soul mate'; and how when we see someone attractive, we see them as potential mates. and people who are more physically attractive have stronger genes, and usually better health, which would make for a healthy baby. so basically that show is saying, it all have to do with our mating instincts.





hope this helps..
Well first of all, beauty is not objective (think of the beholder). Some phenotypical features happen to be more effective for attracting mates, and consequently pass on those traits. These ';beautiful'; traits have a genetic advantage, and are conditioned in our minds as being superior.
The morphology of babies and other humans is naturally appealing to us because we need to take care of babies and be sexually attracted to other humans respectively. It's just an evolutionary psychological trait that is inherent.
because beautiful people tend to be more healthy than ugly people, just as smart people tend to live longer than dumb ones. symmetry in humans corresponds to greater health and people with symmetry are physically attractive.
Well humans are a visual species and are generally more attracted to 'pretty' things... We need to see past that to the inner beauty of people and other animals in nature. ^^