Why are we attracted to things

I wonder what makes us attracted to certain things, in a non-sexual way. For instance, flowers, sunsets, colors, buildings, animals, babies, human bodies, cars or trucks, waterfalls. I could of course list hundreds of things, but I think this list will suffice for now. 

Experiences, the particular way your brain is composed, certain thresholds of biological life, the advantages of specific aspects of things - specific inclinations towards one advantage or another.

It is very complex, but see, The evolution of dopamine systems in chordates

Chordates (Chordata) are a group of animals that includes vertebrates, tunicates, lancelets. Of these, the vertebrates—lampreys, mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fishes—are the most familiar and are the group to which humans belong.

Nature and nurture coalesce into our desires.

I once managed to make a test, not made to test your question, but it turn3ed out to be a good test for it.

Once, in Thailand, I hired a taxi to take me from Bangkok to the edge of a jungle. I paid him the outbound fee, and a portion of the wait time, which I estimated to be three hours, and then take me back to the hotel. I was equipped with good hiking boots, a topo map and an orienteering compass [on which I once passed an orienteering merit badge on the way to being an eagle scout.]. My mistake was not having a weapon. I had a small Swiss army knife. Dumb. So, I marked the taxi location on the map, then struck out into the jungle. There was a path for about 200 meters, then nothing. I made my own path, lacking a machete. Dumb. Nevertheless, it was a fascinating experience I recall vividly. Everytthing attracted my attention, both visually, tactile, and auditory. My nose has never worked very well, and didn't then. What attracted me? Sheer new experience. An hour in, I realized I may no longer be at the top of the food chain, and that was immediately terrifiying. I turned and started back out, now needing my compass and map to find my way back to the taxi. I came out about 40M from the taxi. 

Order is a large part of it I imagine. Symmetrical faces are more attractive, that sort of thing. But I think we're given to romanticism anyway, as a survival mechanism. There's funny in dark jokes and great consolation in an orgasm. I suppose only a semblance of sense matters, to give us a bit of a runaround. Otherwise it's all in the head. 

Internal processes....Such is "wonder" and in a sexual way.

So as suggested.....Chemical processes and data management.

Or to put it another way..."Nature and nurture coalesce in our desires".

Sum1hugme:

This pretty much sums up what I think. 

From nostalgia to fresh air. 

If you want to get into specifics such as colourful things like flowers, my on the spot thought is we got that trait from picking fruits (evolutionarily speaking.)