I was particularly interested because it did talk a lot about humans. So for me, the thing that I found really interesting about your book was that it was largely looking at the human experience with reference to the animal world. And one of the things that you talk about is our concept of beauty and what as humans we find beautiful. Both men and women tend to find a female face more attractive than a male face. This isn't necessarily a thing about sexual orientation. It just is, it seems to be that to a human eye, the female face is a more attractive face. But there's danger in ascribing somebody value based on some kind of subjective assessment of their attractiveness.
Why does the world appear different when we’re in love? How can one colour make us feel anger and another calm? Why do sounds like chewing and yawning cause emotional distress for some people? Aristotle said that there were five senses but scientific research suggests that there could be many more than that, with some studies claiming that there are up to 52. On this episode we’re joined by Ashley Ward, Professor in Animal Behaviour at the University of Sydney. In discussion with zoologist and broadcaster Lucy Cooke, he explores some of the fascinating findings in his brand new book, Sensational: A New Story of Our Senses, and the mechanisms at the heart of how we navigate the world.
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