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Why are we genetically programmed to find animals so cute? I would think as an omnivore finding your food cute would be counterproductive.
My hypothesis is that we are supposed to eat meat as a last resort and prefer vegetables. So their cuteness acts as a deterrent so we prefer them less...
Though the fact that meat tastes so good would seem to be a counterargument to that theory...
@freemo The reason, as I understand it, is because the animals we tend to find cute have similar facial proportions to human babies (i.e. big eyes). Cats fit this pattern especially.
@freemo Okay, well I think you might be in the minority there, lol
@LouisIngenthron Perhaps, but its not as unusual as it sounds... I do know lots of people that find almost all animals to be cute. maybe ill do an informal poll to see how much in the margins I really am :)
So started a poll here: https://qoto.org/@freemo/111296289415112384
It is very early but so far 80%+ think all animals, including insects, are cute :)
@freemo Mastodon may not be the most impartial place to hold that particular poll, lol, but I am interested to see the final results.
@LouisIngenthron there is nothing remotely scientific about such a poll, and yea there will be bias for sure.
@freemo Looks like it came out pretty balanced, lol. Neither of our claims are well-supported. I was expecting much more of a blowout.
@LouisIngenthron indeed, interesting
@LouisIngenthron @freemo Thinking about that aspect, it also requires a wide number of species to become cute by natural selection as a result of human hunting. Which is a relatively recent thing and certainly not at a global scale.
More likely because there are common mammalian ancestors, hence facial morphologies, that kin affinity is lurking in the background. Many cute creatures have also been selectively bred over thousands of years, since their first domestication as useful tools.
@LouisIngenthron While there might be some truth to that I find things cute that are completely foreign to human likeness. In fact I find most animals, even insicts, to be cute.
Also if this truely is a disadvantage to wanting to eat them I would think our brains would have created some extra barriers.