Evolution and aesthetics - the science of art creation and appreciation

Why do humans take pleasure in creating art? Or enjoy a beautiful painting? In his 2009 book The Art Instinct, philosopher Denis Dutton suggests that art is a need built into our systems, a complex and subtle evolutionary adaptation comparable to our facility for language. We humans evolved to love art because it helps us survive; for example, a well-expressed appreciation of art can -- even in modern times -- help us to find a mate. It’s a bold argument to make, bolstered by examples from the breadth of art history that Dutton keeps at his fingertips.

TED collaborates with animator Andrew Park to illustrate Denis Dutton's provocative theory on beauty -- that art, music and other beautiful things, far from being simply "in the eye of the beholder," are a core part of human nature with deep evolutionary origins.
Denis Dutton is a philosophy professor and the editor of Arts & Letters Daily. In his book The Art Instinct, he suggests that humans are hard-wired to seek beauty. You can see a video based on his lecture here: http://kkartlab.in/video/darwinian-explanation-of-beauty

After watching the video, I feel, the pictures drawn by the cave men are based on "observations" of the world around them. They are a prelude to scientific illustrations. So some don't consider them as art. The tools made by them again were in "particular shapes" because these shapes were convenient to handle! It may be a coincidence if some people find them beautiful too! Art appreciation is not Universal like universal science appreciation which are based on certain rules. Yes, again cultural conditioning of minds decides to an extent  which art works have aesthetic value which ones don't! It seems some faces look beautiful because the symmetry of their shapes shows that the person is highly fertile! However, the smell of a person's harmones too make one feel feel s/he is beautiful! And alcohol makes a man's brain think all women are beautiful!!
However, studies from neuroscience and evolutionary biology challenge a separation of art from non-art. Human neuro-imaging studies have convincingly shown that the brain areas involved in aesthetic responses to artworks overlap with those that mediate the appraisal of objects of evolutionary importance, such as the desirability of foods or the attractiveness of potential mates. Hence, it is unlikely that there are brain systems specific to the appreciation of artworks; instead there are general aesthetic systems that determine how appealing an object is, be that a piece of cake or a piece of music. You can read the rest of the article here:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-neuroscience-o...