假设有两位候选人来竞争一份工作.他俩的履历不相上下,而且他们的面试表现也都很好.但是你不会不注意到其中一人其貌不扬,而另一个则长相俊美.你的取舍是否会被他俩的外貌所影响? 如果你被一个人的长相所影响,那有错吗?在过去,人们常常把漂亮等同于美德,把丑陋等同于邪恶.

　　即使是现在,"如罪过一般丑陋"这一说法也还没有(完全)从语言中消失.当然,与之相反的是句同样有名的说法:"情人眼里出西施."大多数有情人对于何为 美貌看法一致,而且现代生物学表明这种一致的看法是有道理的.生物学还告诉我们,评价一个人(无论男女),貌美的确可以成为一个有用的法则.这一凭经验而来的法则并非绝对可靠,当然也不能替代深入的调查.但是,无论 怎样没这是人们本能的反应,对于生来容貌俊秀的人来说,肯定是获益匪(非)浅.

　　Imagine you have two candidates for a job. Their CVs are equally good, and they both give good interview. You cannot help noticing, though, that one is pug-ugly and the other is handsome. Are you swayed by their appearance?

　　If you were swayed by someone's looks, would that be wrong? In the past, people often equated beauty with virtue and ugliness with vice.

　　Even now, the expression "as ugly as sin" has not quite passed from the language. There is, of course, the equally famous expression "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", to counter it. Most beholders agree what is beautiful-and modern biology suggests there is a good reason for that agreement. Biology also suggests that beauty may, indeed, be a good rule of thumb for assessing someone of either sex. Not an infallible one, and certainly no substitute for an in-depth investigation. But, nevertheless, an instinctive one, and one that is bound to contribute to the advantage of the physically well endowed.