Clever or good looking? Clever in a heartbeat. What "looks good" is subjective and cannot be universal. A person can be good looking to one person and as ugly as a pair of mutilated, rotting feet to the next. There is no person that everyone on Earth will agree looks "good." Also, what looks good is determined by society, so what is deemed aesthetically pleasing will naturally differ between cultures, races and ethnicities. However, for the sake of debate we will assume that the hypothetical good looking person being discussed is only being compared to and judged by others in his or her social realm of existence, to somewhat provide a sense of objectivity and narrow the field of this debate. Or, better yet, let us go out on a limb and hypothetically assume that there exists an objective standard for "sexy" and Person A (male or female) meets it. Using this criteria, we shall present ourselves with the question once again. Clever or good looking?

Clever in a heartbeat.

Even if a person is good looking to everyone, it does not necessarily mean that said person will have any qualities other than looks. It doesn't necessarily mean they will instantly become popular, or have any other useful skills or "good" personal qualities. All they will be is good looking. This theoretical person can easily be compared to a beautiful painting. Like the Mona Lisa. An tourist or visitor to The Lourve can ogle the Mona Lisa all day, comment to other tourists on how beautiful it is, take pictures of the work of art, theorize about the history as well as do a plethora of other things, but in the end the Mona Lisa itself is no more a pretty picture. An attractive person can be stared at all day by other people, but in the end he or she is only good looking, and good looks alone can only get you so far.

However, it is hard to compare being "good looking" and being "clever", because the standards for what is "clever" are just as subjective as the standards for that is "good looking", and each side has as many pros as cons. Also, just because someone is "good looking" or "clever" does not necessarily mean they have any other redeeming qualities, and a person cannot be judged or evaluated on one quality alone. I would simply rather be clever than good looking.

Learn more about this author, Stephan Lane.
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