Sex, lies, and instant glue

Why does beauty exist? The question already left Darwin puzzled. Didn’t the peacock‘s fancy plumage blatantly contradict his theory of the „survival of the fittest“? How can a gaudy apparatus be an indicator of fitness if it makes the bird visible to predators and makes it slow to flee? The puzzle led Darwin to the principle of sexual selection, the „survival of the prettiest“. In order to be successful in evolution, an animal not only must survive, but also charm a partner. However – what is the message behind all that glitter? Is beauty an indicator of „good genes“ - that is health and fertility? Or does the appearance feign something, that doesn’t exist?