Beauty is necessary for human calmness and happiness. In My Theory, beauty to a large degree is a sensory exposure that causes normalization of human nervous and endocrine system function. It helps restore homeostatic balance. This shows up in feeling good. If your nervous system is wired to excess excitation, the things you will likely find beautiful are sunsets, a babbling brook, and impressionistic paintings. If you are a person who excitatory balance is set lower, you may find beauty in experiences that are more stimulating, like a busy, modernist painting, or a deep tissue massage, or a loud rock concert. We are all different in what we find beautiful, but we need access to beauty on a regular basis.

Autistic individuals in particular are drawn to scenes of natural beauty, such as creeks with running water and parks. Water in particular seems to be compelling to autistic individuals. I believe running water feels good to them. The sounds help mask the modern background noises as well as having their own beautiful qualities. The way water looks can be captivating. Running water is often found in scenes of natural beauty, that I believe helps calm their overactive stress responses.