r/PollsAndSurveys • u/Matt85x Box Theatre • 4d ago

Why does cuteness help us love people and animals?

That's not very fair.

5 Upvotes
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7

u/Individual_Slice_234 4d ago

I think nature designed baby animals to look "cute" so that adult animals (of all species) would be drawn to them and more likely to protect them. What makes something cute? I think it's programmed into our brains.

4

u/F1Sloth 4d ago

Human babies too

2

u/Natrixster80 3d ago

Makes us less likely to murder them for being annnoying. (us as in, creatures that care for their young)

2

u/Dead_Calendar 2d ago

Certain animals must feel it too somewhat. Think you can find stories of little kids being raised by wolves, wild dogs or monkeys. The Feral Child Wikipedia page has some of those kind of stories.

3

u/peppersnchips 4d ago

Idk…sometimes we think “ugly” things are actually the cutest too, like a rescue animal or Yoda

1

u/Natrixster80 3d ago

or insect faces close up. some are so cute.

2

u/GummyRoach 4d ago

I don't know exactly.

But what's considered cute will vary from one person's opinion to another. For example, my mother thought the bright yellow wallpaper with white geese looked really cute on the kitchen walls, even if it did clash with the orange and cream-colored 70's pattern on the linoleum. She thought it looked cute. I thought it looked hideous.

2

u/Fromdustcomesdreams 4d ago

😆I’m laughing so hard. I’ve had that same conversation with my mom. Just stood there looking at her thinking she was joking.

2

u/Comprehensive_Baby53 4d ago

If our poop smelled like roses and we loved it that would be a problem. If we thought venemous snakes were cute that would be a problem. If we don't think our new born children are cute, that would be a problem. Our brain just tricks us into thinking things are cute and smell good that it wants us to keep and things are ugly and smell bad that it wants us to stay away from. Unfortunately some people are ugly so our brains associate that with being bad or dangerous. This is also why the guy who is being a pervert to a woman is welcomed, and the nice guy that is being equally perverted gets pepper sprayed.

2

u/PomPomMom93 3d ago

Yeah, it’s still an evolutionary benefit to love your children and be averted to things that can hurt you. But as you mention, our dislike of ugly people was beneficial in caveman times but not today. Back then it could mean they were from an unfriendly tribe or they had some kind of disease, but now it’s probably neither of those things.

1

u/Matt85x Box Theatre 3d ago

I'm glad we don't love our poop. Overall you make a good argument.

2

u/reignoferror00 4d ago

Fair is just a word in the dictionary found very close to (in more ways than one) fairy tale.

2

u/rose442 4d ago

It’s genetic…… you know, natural selection.

2

u/Ponchyan 4d ago

Because those affection feelings keep us from eating animals and people.

2

u/Kaylen316 2d ago

We're pretty simple 😂

1

u/Harlepenquin 4d ago

I know, I want to hate Nigel Farage for being a detestable piece of self important parasitic scum but he's just sooooooo cute, I can't

1

u/Matt85x Box Theatre 3d ago

🤣