A particular vanity of the young is a notion that humanity has never been more attractive than it is, among the young … right this minute.

Stands to reason, right? All one needs do is look at photos of Hollywood vamps from the 1920s, from winners of the Miss America contest circa 1950, at leading men from bygone days, from Civil War formal photos, from paintings down through the ages and ancient statues.

Then look at your contemporaries, age 35 or younger. No one has ever looked quite so ravishing/beautiful/handsome as the cream from the current generation.

I believed that, too, of a time. Nearly everyone does, when they are young.

Why should that be?

1.The young have severe difficulty recognizing mature beauty in people over 50. They do not have the experience of being able to look at a wrinkled face or hairless pate and recreate what was.

2. The definition of beauty changes. Greta Garbo was considered astonishingly beautiful — in 1930. Now? Maybe not so much. Marilyn Monroe was both sexy and beautiful — in 1955. Now? A little pudgy, wouldn’t you say? In the 1600s, Peter Paul Rubens painted what were considered the most attractive people of his era. Again, they seem a bit fleshy, in the 21st century. But 400 years ago, some adipose tissue was a sign of good health and attractiveness.

3. Fashion changes. Put a 20-year-old looker in clothing from another era, and they suddenly look dowdy. Or ridiculous. Those guys staring back at us from the 19th century are wearing bulky wool and did not know that shampoo and “product” were pretty much a attractiveness prerequisite.

What we discover, eventually, is something of a knack for projecting how an aging person might have been considered in their prime. Not many can do that when they are 20 or 25. When they are 65 or 70? Yes.

And, eventually, we grasp that X percent of all humans are generally considered attractive at any given moment — and I am convinced the number remains pretty much constant throughout history.

I will make two concessions to the modern era.

1. The advances in orthodontics. Kids with crooked teeth may well get those fixed. The overbite or underbite that went uncorrected in the past and probably was considered unfortunate, even then … often is addressed, now.

2. The general health of current humans probably is better than it was 50, 500 or 5,000 years ago, and healthy people nearly always look better than unhealthy-looking people. Even runway models.

On the whole … every generation has beautiful people. It is simply a matter of recognizing that. Look at photos and art; your ancestors are telling you what beauty was … and still is.