18. We are Less Attractive Than We Think

   This article by Ozgan Atasoy boldly states that we are actually "uglier" than we think. It introduces this theme by talking about a Dove commercial in which women are asked to describe their features to an artist who will then draw their faces according to their descriptions. Then a stranger is asked to describe these same women to the same artist, and draws the faces to their descriptions accordingly. At the end, these women find out that the drawings based on the strangers' descriptions were much more appealing than the drawings based on their own descriptions. However, according to the studies made by Nicholas Epley of the University of Chicago and Erin Whitchurch of the University of Virginia, this is not true. In reality, we see ourselves as more attractive than we actually are. Epley and Whitchurch took pictures of students and edited their faces through photoshop by making a prettier version and an uglier version of their faces. The students were then asked to select which picture among the pretty, original, and ugly faces (they were not told which one was what of course) they thought was how they looked. Most tended to select the prettier version. Epley and Witchurch referred to this phenomenon as self-enhancement, in which one overestimates him/herself.  Self-enhancement allows one to boost his/her confidence.
     Atasoy is very effective in displaying evidence, which is necessary for a informative/persuasive purpose. He uses the Dove commercial, something more familiar to the people, in order to catch the reader's attention. He also uses mainly the Epley and Witchurch's studies to explain his statement (that we are ugler than we think). Atasoy also provides statistical evidence for the self-enhancement "theory", like how 93% of drivers think they are above-average and 94% of college professors believe they do above-average work. The subject of this article in itself is already interesting enough to keep the reader interested, but the author is able to also skillfully include empirical and scientific evidence (usually the more boring stuff) and make the writing flow successfully. The tone of this selection is objective and professional, and the target audience is pretty much everyone who speaks English fluently because it is a very relatable topic. Overall, I like how Atasoy approaches the main topic without beating around the bush too much. I enjoyed reading the article and liked how he also explained the self-enhancement phenomenon. 

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=you-are-less-beautiful-than-you-think&page=2