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FEATURES
Broken Symmetry

  By Richard Saltus
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Human beings see order, beauty, and perfection in symmetry—witness the popularity of the balanced geometric patterns of Amish quilts and oriental rugs.

Our eyes and brains are innately attuned to symmetry and deviations from it, even in other humans. "People will pick out the most perfectly symmetrical (computer-
generated) faces as the most attractive," notes HHMI investigator Oliver Hobert, a neuroscientist at Columbia University.

Illustration: Ted McGrath
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