[nautilius]

> "did they appreciate things purely for aesthetics and cultural relevance, and not utility?"

Many animals do, even sharing their sense of aesthetics with human taste. Just look at how flowers evolved to some form even we find pleasing without any skin in the game, or how animals that live in total dark (deep sea, for example) are atrociously ugly.

[darkerside]

Why do you say they evolved with our taste? Isn't it just as likely we have tastes that suit what happened to evolve naturally?

[nautilius]

I didn't say that at all. I said they evolved to their current form, which we happen to enjoy.