As in, what’s the evolutionary reason for this? I can get seeing dogs as cute because they probably helped early humans by being “guards” essentially and they’re just great companions in general, but what purpose does a cat have for example? All they want is food, and you get nothing in return except a cute cat to look at. Hell, even bear cubs are adorable and they’ll eventually turn into something that can kill you with one swipe.
Why do we find animals that are or will grow into dangerous creatures cute? What reason does this serve?
If we didn’t find babies cute, humans would have died out long ago. We’ve adapted to not commit infanticide and cute kitties are a great side effect. And my that I mean we like a set of characteristics common to most baby animals.
Can confirm. I don’t find babies to be cute (I actually find them disgusting, though of course I don’t express this to parents or most people in real life) and I am staunchly childfree.
Samsies
There’s no provable answer at this point. We simply don’t have enough understanding to be certain of the hows.
And, with evolution it is how not why. Evolution is the why. Evolution is the process that occurs as an organism adapts to its environment over generations. If you ask “why babies be cute?”, the answer is that at some point, babies being cute helped a species of an ancestral creature survive better long term, in the environment that it was in. That’s the why.
So, what we’re left with is essentially guessing what pressures led to a trait. We have to guess from incomplete information because most of the things we’re asking about go back hundreds of thousands of years, or millions of years. We don’t have fossils of everything, we don’t have perfect environmental records of every possible pressure shaping the species of the past.
But, we can kinda make good guesses because caring for our young isn’t just a human trait. Most mammals, many birds, some reptiles, etc, have some degree of attention given to their offspring. You can look at the species that invest more in parental care and see that it’s going to be one good way to ensure that the species continues, right? It isn’t the only successful way of that happening, but it definitely works.
From there, we can also see several factors in non human animals that engage in high attention to offspring. One of them is that most of those kinds of animals are limited in how far along in physical development they are at birth (or the equivalent).
Since any given branch of the evolutionary tree is going to come from common ancestors, a lot of our young are going to have similar degrees of traits developed at birth because we’re related. It’s like your cousin having the same color hair you do, just at a more basic scale.
So, you end up with “cute” being a word we associate with a set of traits. Those traits are common to not only our young, but those of other species.
Assuming all of that chain of assumptions and reasoning is accurate, then we find other animals cute because waaaaaay back in the day, we were the same species, and having our brains feel a protective and emotional response to our young was a survival trait in itself.
What we find cute can be measured to a limited degree. A different ratio of facial features, higher pitched vocalizations, bigger heads in comparison to adult ratios. Those features will cause a response in anyone susceptible to that response. And it’s the same response we have to our own offspring, even down to the chemicals released by our bodies when we are in contact with our offspring.
We have the same rush of oxytocin when petting our kitties and puppies and chicks and whatever else you want to say is cute, as we do when holding our own infants and toddlers. It isn’t only oxytocin, but that’s the one you can find articles about the easiest iirc. At least in relation to our pets and baby animals.
Since a lot of the animals we keep as pets retain features more akin to their early lives compared to their wild kin, the going assumption is that our closest companion species evolved along with us, and it was an advantage for them to be close to us, loved and protected by us. So, they probably kept a more babyish look in response to us doing so more often to the ones that had the optimal blend of features that looked babyish, but didn’t interfere with prayer survival activities like hunting or mating.
Wild animals, or rather animals that didn’t co-evolve with humans, didn’t have that pressure, so they don’t retain those babyish features as long, as they only need to be “cute” long enough to be able to survive without their parents.
This means that it isn’t so much that we find animals that grow into predators cute, it’s that the animals we find cute as adults became that way because we loved them into it.
Fascinating response, thank you for the detailed reply! That was a good read. This is one of many things I love about Lemmy, you get less but much higher quality replies to posts, unlike reddit where half of the replies are “jokes” from people that aren’t even funny.
Again, thank you!
No worries :)
That’s what I love about lemmy too
There are animals that act nurturing towards other species’ young too! Maybe it’s a combined net benefit to be a little indiscriminate when caring for little ones.
I can tell you have never once buried your face in the warm fur of a kitty or had a real need for cuddly rodent and insect control. It doesn’t answer your question but it’s sad. You should cuddle a kitty.
I actually got a kitty a few months ago, and she’s a cute little thing but it definitely annoys me how much she begs for food. I’ve been a dog person for all of my 31 years on this planet, and this is the first time I’ve had a cat. Dogs at least have the decency to beg silently, but the cat pesters me as soon as I wake up and as soon as I get home from work.
She is absolutely adorable as hell though, and she’s a very talkative kitty, she chirps anytime you go near her as if she’s saying hi, and whenever she jumps up or down on something, she chirps again.
I’ve always free fed my cats. Never had a fat one. Something about a lot of small meals instead of a couple do large meals. Sorta like people I suppose. Anyway. Maybe it works for you as well. You’ll be surprised at how soon it seems weird not to have her in your feet or lap or just around.
I’ve considered doing that, but I got her from someone else that couldn’t keep her, and she’s used to being fed 3 times a day with a small amount of mixed wet and dry food. I give her 2 meals per day, some dry before I go to work, and a mix of wet and dry food when I get home.
She already complains after she picks out all the meaty bits from her food and doesn’t have any left, I don’t want to know how much she’d complain after having only dry food for even a day haha
Yeah… Cats get very very very used to regular schedules and patterns. I had to make a switch with one cat years ago because free feed didn’t work on him and he just overate and got fat.
You can’t imagine how much he pestered me because his bowl was empty :)
You just have to be a bit more patient and maybe hype up feeding time a bit more (bringing out their absolute favourite toy right beforehand eg). Maybe try to switch brands…
When you manage to create new patterns, your cat will happily adapt at some point
Mammals dominate the planet because we’re social creatures. We work together. Other animals like amphibians reptiles and bugs aren’t very social. I suspect the appeal of “cute” is a social construct that benefited mammals.
You can see anything as cute if you can have empathy for them. I know most people are squicked out by earwigs for example, but I think they are so sweet and adorable. THEY RAISE THEIR YOUNG!
At least for pets, part of the answer is: if our ancestors didn’t find them cute, they wouldn’t be our pets now. “Ugly” animals would not have been brought home.
You ever feel like you see a bunny and you want to hug the shit out of it?
No real source for this, but it could be cause we see a bunny as food and crushing it is a pretty good way to get it to stop moving and then eat it. I’m pretty sure something really basic is driving that desire to hug small animals, especially nutritious ones.
They look delicious. Like you could take a bite.
Hold onto em in case you get hungry 🫄🏻
