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Freakonomics Radio

153. Reasons to Not Be Ugly

Freakonomics Radio

Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.632K Ratings

🗓️ 30 January 2014

⏱️ 25 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The "beauty premium" is real, for everyone from babies to NFL quarterbacks.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Dave Barry is a sports economist. He recently had a Skype chat with Suzy Lechtenberg, a

0:08.7

producer on Frekenomics Radio.

0:10.1

And let's look at a possible scenario.

0:11.8

I'm going to look him up at the same time.

0:13.8

So he's at 99.4.

0:16.1

There's a computer program called SimMeter, a lot of plastic surgeons use it, where you

0:23.6

can upload a photograph and it will tell you on a scale of 100 just how attractive you

0:28.1

are.

0:29.0

As the name implies, the SimMeter score is based on how symmetrical your features are.

0:34.0

So the average human being rates about a 92.

0:37.5

So at 99.4, Russell Wilson, quarterback of Seattle Seahawks, is doing all right.

0:44.7

So is he good looking or not?

0:46.5

Yeah, he's cute.

0:47.8

He is cute.

0:48.8

He's very symmetrical.

0:49.8

He is very, that is the key to be symmetrical.

0:54.3

I think he works out.

0:55.3

I think he does too.

0:57.6

Barry and some colleagues were looking into the relationship between physical attractiveness

1:01.7

and salary for NFL quarterbacks.

1:04.2

This is the kind of thing economists have been doing for years.

1:07.4

There's this whole literature and economics on how beauty affects the evaluation of workers.

...

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