Sure. So where and how are the cultural elements affecting things in the thought experiment I proposed?
It sounds like you’re getting at some sort of social effects, so I propose we modify it so we can measure that element, too. So now we’ll be randomly choosing from a selection of bog-standard white Americans who frequently use social media. You know, the FaceInstaSnapbutts of the world that involve taking and sharing various pictures.
Now sure, 95%+ will choose to engage in some enthusiastic cross-cultural pollination, as it were. But I’d also think that given the opportunity, 90%+ of them would take and share (work safe) pictures of themselves with the random cross-cultural exotic beauty they’ve lucked into.
So where are the cultural elements coming in? Do you think only 50% would participate? Or 95% would, but only 50% would share on social media?
How are these cultural elements measurable in this hypothetical scenario?
I don’t think this is a particularly useful thought experiment, since this isn’t how people meet for romance in the real world. In the real world, people sort among those near them (in class, in a club, in church, etc.) or online for those they find most attractive, and approach them or allow them to approach. And IIRC studies have shown that black women (especially dark skinned black women) and Asian men consistently get the least interest from the opposite sex of all races. Culture seems like the most straight forward explanation for that.
ISTM that nothing is measurable in your hypothetical. As you say, it is a thought experiment…and a thought experiment framed to present your opinion, at that. It boils down to “I think this would be the case.” Not desperately empirical.
Yes, of course it’s not literally measurable - I mean measurable as in “here’s where I think the numbers would be, do you think those numbers would be appreciably different due to the factors you’re arguing for?”
Saying things like people mate assortatively and that they usually end up dating members from their own ethnicity while some ethnicities have less cross-cultural dating doesn’t actually argue that culture rather than beauty is a big factor in who will date whom. Rather, it argues that propinquity and other factors matter to whom will date whom. But the question as initially proposed was how much of what we think of “beauty” is innate, and how much is cultural, and didn’t involve dating or marriage at all.
I proposed a thought experiment that controls for levels of beauty by keeping it constant, and varied the cultural element widely. In this experiment, I believe beauty is 95%+ of what matters, with culture barely pinging the radar. Yes, it’s just my guess and what I think it would be, which is why I invite you to give me your guess and your thoughts if you disagree.
For those who believe culture is a huge factor, that number should presumably be different than 95%+ adoption if culture is a big component in what is considered “beautiful.”