Science and the War on Ugly

Oct. 27 2008, Published 7:07 a.m. ET

Do you have a busted grill? Is your eye slightly off kilter? Is your beak more Streisand than Montag? Then we don't need to tell you that you're not gonna get that job you're after, especially if there are any better looking candidates. Or so says science. The Economist takes note of a hotness Bell Curve, where researchers contend "evidence suggests that physical characteristics do give clues about intelligence, that such clues are picked up by other people, and that these clues are also associated with beauty. And other work also suggests that this really does matter." So don't bother trying to "be good" when you're face to face with that second slice of pie at the holiday table: It's not your ass that's letting you down; it's your everything. Economist