Works cited:
Stephen Jay Gould. "A Biological Homage to Mickey Mouse." Ecotone 4.1 (2008): 333-340.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Why are Puppies so darn cute?
Baby animals are adorable including those of the human variety. If you don't believe me just take a look on YouTube at the huge number of videos of babies doing cute things like laughing or puppies rolling on the ground. Why do we find these simple acts so "precious" in babies but not in adults? Believe it or not there is an evolutionary link between cuteness and human babies. Famous evolutionary biologist, Stephen Jay Gould wrote a rather popular essay detailing the evolution of the Disney character, Mickey Mouse, from a pointy nosed rat to the the lovable round headed mouse most of us associated with the character. The essay, readily found online explains that many of the baby critters we find so precious have enlarged heads and eyes much like human babies, are relatively uncoordinated, and have large deposits of fat. If these characters sound familiar, they should as they could describe a human baby as well as an adorable panda cub. Humans are hardwired to care for children to further the species. It just so happens that being cute helps promote care of children until they no longer need parental care. This love of tubby little big headed critters spills over into our selection for pets and what we choose to eat or not eat. Go give your puppy a hug.
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I don't have a dog but this makes sense. I don't really like dogs after they have grown up because they get annoying and they aren't as cute as a puppy any longer.
ReplyDeleteIt also could be that we get tired of owning an animal, so we do not watch its every move. Therefore, cannot see the cute things they do and think they are boring as they age.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really cool and puzzling concept. I know that you were discussing it in class the other day. Well done Mr. Kenesky! Keep up the rad biological musings. (ps: babies are not that cute)
ReplyDeleteGood blog post, but it could have been better. I think you should have explained this concept better in your own words instead of letting the video tell us.
ReplyDeleteMark is correct in saying that you get tired of taking care of the dog to realize how cute it is, i have a new dog that is three years old and he is new and i realize what he does more because he is new and I am more interested in taking care of him.
ReplyDeleteIm with Kyle and Mark, the longer you care for an animal or child, im sure that the small cute things begin to go unnoticed and no longer youtube worthy. Then again, youre still cute Kenesky so maybe its not just young things but new things
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