I’m a motorcyclist and now and then I come across a road or trail that brings me to a view that truly takes my breath away and makes me want to sit and stare and share it with others. This makes me wonder; what, exactly it is that makes us humans see a mountain range with low clouds and bright blue sky; a lake from afar with foliage alight in autumn colors; an ocean crashing in at sunset so beautiful and enticing to us? I can see the idea that the view of a lake or ocean could be an evolutionary thing in that that’s where the fish and the game are. But what about just a nice scene of riding down a highway between tall mountains with shear cliffs rising above you? How can that fit with the model? I’ve been fortunate to come across some gorgeous views and just wonder what it is about them that make me so impressed.
I have no idea. The fact that a desert can be beautiful would seem to argue against any association with food.
However, I remember reading in a book by Cavalli-Sforza (probably “Genes, Peoples and Languages”) something about this. I think he wrote that someone had studied whether people have a strong preference in adulthood for landscapes of their youth, or something like that. I think the idea was that if you were born in the mountains, you would probably always prefer mountain landscapes over seascapes, for example.
I guess I don’t fit that profile, then. I’m from Montreal, where our “mountain” is little more than a hill, and I am completely overwhelmed (in a good way) by big mountains.
A few years ago I was fortunate enough to live in Banff for a little over a year. I was constantly in awe of the beauty of the mountains, but a friend of mine couldn’t stand it. She had grown up in the prairies and didn’t feel safe in the mountains. She needed to be able to have a full view of everything around her to feel normal.
So yea I would buy that.
That is really a very interesting question. I grew up being dragged all over the country (32 different places in 15 years), living in both city and country. I was very young when I realized I was a country guy. The minute I got out of the city I just felt wonderful.
Mountains; man I love them! I never see one that I don’t want to climb it. I know full well that something is good for my soul to be on a mountain. The question is, as you posed it, why? No idea.
I’m just ovewhelmed by any beautiful scene, be it lakes, mountains forest, or desert. Unfortunately, like the person mentioned by one other poster, the flatlands leave me totally unimpressed. Don’t dislike them, just feel nothing much. I like vertical stuff. 
Part and parcel of this mystery is the fact that of all the paintings, amateur and professional, a great preponderance of them are landscapes.
I hope somebody knows of some studies that will explain this.
I’ve recently returned from a hiking trip in some of the national parks of Southwestern U.S., mostly Utah and Arizona. I found myself reacting very strongly to much of the landscape I encountered, especially unusual formations like those in Bryce Canyon and Arches Natural Parks.
As an artist, I know I get a strong visceral reaction to things that are huge and dramatic, like oceans, mountains, waterfalls, skyscrapers, bridges, etc. These tend to be the **opposite **of what’s found where I was born and raised. I think it comes down to the fact that some people crave things that are dramatically different, and other people seem to need the reassurance of familiarity.
I’ll say I’m fascinated by geography. I’ll happily take that view of mountains or the view of the sea.
I have been thinking about this for years and would like to add my conclusions.
Our entire visual system looks for overall patterns and then focuses on deviations from the pattern. Something with is perfectly geometric and symmetrical can be beautiful, but doesn’t make us want to look for long periods of time. Things that are geometric and symmetrical at a high level, but have many non-geometric details will be beautiful and interesting. These scenes can hold our attention for long periods of time.
A beautiful landscape – mountains, prairie, or seashore – will have fairly simple overall shape at a large scale. There also may be a certain amount of symmetry, particularly if there is a reflection in a body of water. However, on a small scale, there are numerous deviations to hold our interest.
Man oh man…If you really want to be absolutely stunned by scenery take a trip to Bavaria.
I kid you not, I was utterly staggered by the beauty of the place, mountains, lakes, forests the sheer magnificence of it all took my breath away.
That can’t be the whole story. Every year Norway gets a huge influx of tourists coming to see the scenery, and most of them are from areas that look nothing like that. Consider all the Dutch folks who visit - I mean, I’m sure the Netherlands is a great country, but it’s pretty flat.
I grew up in a green, fertile area of low, rolling hills, and my favorite parts of my adoptive country are high, wild plains where virtually nothing will grow.
This is nothing more than cultural conditioning.
In the Middle Ages, mountainous landscapes were regarded with horror, being associated with danger (wolves etc.) It was gardens and parks - Nature tamed - that people loved.
And I grew up in a town with mountains in view (nothing like Banff), and whenever I’m in very flat, open places, I feel more exposed. Funny how that stuff is.
I live in Florida. No mountains.
Last year we took a trip to Tennessee and drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway through the Smokies. It was in the summer, but the view was spectacular. I want to go up there during the fall and see the leaves changing color.
I think it’s because it’s big. The landscape is something bigger than anything man-made, and it drives home the incredible force of Nature/God/What Have You that makes you feel small and meek and in awe of something that happened beyond man’s control.
If you discard the woo-woo aspects of feng shui and concentrate merely on the rules it presecribes for aesthetics, you find that the ideal dwelling place has its back to a mountain and its front to a lake, or the sea. (And interestingly Chinese geomancers sent to the west have proclaimed Georgian buildings to have intrinsically good feng shui.)
I have no idea why, but it’s clearly fairly universal.
I’ll have to agree there. When I see a house sitting out on flat land in the middle of nowhere, It gives me the creeps.
I donno. I certainly don’t have the OP’s answer, but I think the phenomena exists even for those of us that are used to mountains and lakes.
Outside my front door are two 14,000 foot peaks of the continental divide. The peaks are perhaps 2 miles away as the crow flies. I’ve been here for 15 years, and the view can still stop me in my tracks.
For myself, I think it has a bit to do with putting things in perspective, and the massive size of nature. Makes my little problems seem insignificant.
A huge metro landfill has those qualities, but nobody finds that attractive.
Mow that you mention it, I was raised in mountains and the flew flatland places I have lived (Alabama, Missouri and Dammam) have all been off-putting to me in an odd, indescribable way.
I think we need to differentiate between what is beautiful/awe-inspiring and what makes us feel good. My wife and some friends from the North German Plain took a trip to Norway which they found beautiful/awe-inspiring, etc. but when she got back to flat land and stopped oohing and ahhing she felt some strange sort of relief. She just feels comfortable in flat or nearly flat land although she is just as thrilled with the Alps as anyone.
OK, how about the other side of the coin? There are some impressive cityscapes, and I enjoy the architecture in many cities, yet never feel they compare with the beauty of nature. But, other than perhaps San Francisco, is anybody moved as much by any city scene as by, say, a mountain scene?
Or another question: other than the necessity of living in a city for the job prospects, or for the cultural and entertainment advantages, would anybody still rather live in a city than in the country?
I would!! I hate the country. Trees are hideous.