January 4, 2006--Cute As A Panda
I’ve heard of meeting cute and cute as a button, by the science of cute? Leave it to the NY Times to get to the bottom of this (see link to full article).
We’re talking here about cuteness as defined by round heads and ears, flat noses, body fuzz, slow movement, and eyes that face forward and are set low on the head. We’re not only talking about pandas (check the recent lines to see the baby panda at the National Zoo in Washington if you need to know more about the appeal of cute), we’re also talking about humans, and not just Meg Ryan at her cutest, but in the spirit of true science, why and how cuteness, especially in babies, is related to survival and hence evolution.
This all comes from scientists who study the evolution of “visual signaling,” in this case cute-clues that indicate infancy, vulnerability, need, and very important, harmlessness. All this cuteness is necessary to attract adults who are thus mobilized to be helpful, supportive, and nurturing, all essential to the survival of the very young. Darwin again comes to the rescue in that the more cute-clues presented the more likely that others will be eager to be drawn to contribute to the cute one’s survival.
But as with so much else, cuteness gets commodified in the West. Neurobiological studies reveal that cute images stimulate the same part of the brain that is aroused by a good meal, sex, and drugs such as cocaine. Thus advertising and product development folks, eager to stimulate that area of the brain in order to push their goods, came up with a design for the VW Beetle that looks more like a smiley face than a traditional car and have given cute names to search engines such as Yahoo and Google (check their current stock prices if you are wondering if this is working).
And then as part of this cheapening of cute, there is also artificial cuteness. This takes us back to pandas and even to my favorite, penguins. The Giant Panda is actually a member of the carnivorous bear family and is only cuddly in its stuffed-toy form. You wouldn't want to cozy up to a real one because its large rounded head is more designed to contain its highly developed jaw muscles and powerful grinding molars than to attract humans who find their round heads and ears and facial markings irresistibly cute. And our love for penguins is really a misplaced fondness for those penguin qualities that we find to resemble human cute-clues, qualities that enable them to survive in an otherwise harsh and forbidding climate. For example, we prefer to think of them as mammals (we are of course mammals) in spite of the fact that they are just birds and their penguin “tuxedo,” cute upright posture, and characteristic adorable waddle when on land actually evolved as a way to save energy in the frozen Antarctic—the side-to-side walk burns fewer calories which is essential to their survival.
So the next time you find yourself attracted to Cabbage Patch dolls, ET, or Yoda, you’ll know that though they do not need you to nurture them, you will still want to because they are just so cute.
We’re talking here about cuteness as defined by round heads and ears, flat noses, body fuzz, slow movement, and eyes that face forward and are set low on the head. We’re not only talking about pandas (check the recent lines to see the baby panda at the National Zoo in Washington if you need to know more about the appeal of cute), we’re also talking about humans, and not just Meg Ryan at her cutest, but in the spirit of true science, why and how cuteness, especially in babies, is related to survival and hence evolution.
This all comes from scientists who study the evolution of “visual signaling,” in this case cute-clues that indicate infancy, vulnerability, need, and very important, harmlessness. All this cuteness is necessary to attract adults who are thus mobilized to be helpful, supportive, and nurturing, all essential to the survival of the very young. Darwin again comes to the rescue in that the more cute-clues presented the more likely that others will be eager to be drawn to contribute to the cute one’s survival.
But as with so much else, cuteness gets commodified in the West. Neurobiological studies reveal that cute images stimulate the same part of the brain that is aroused by a good meal, sex, and drugs such as cocaine. Thus advertising and product development folks, eager to stimulate that area of the brain in order to push their goods, came up with a design for the VW Beetle that looks more like a smiley face than a traditional car and have given cute names to search engines such as Yahoo and Google (check their current stock prices if you are wondering if this is working).
And then as part of this cheapening of cute, there is also artificial cuteness. This takes us back to pandas and even to my favorite, penguins. The Giant Panda is actually a member of the carnivorous bear family and is only cuddly in its stuffed-toy form. You wouldn't want to cozy up to a real one because its large rounded head is more designed to contain its highly developed jaw muscles and powerful grinding molars than to attract humans who find their round heads and ears and facial markings irresistibly cute. And our love for penguins is really a misplaced fondness for those penguin qualities that we find to resemble human cute-clues, qualities that enable them to survive in an otherwise harsh and forbidding climate. For example, we prefer to think of them as mammals (we are of course mammals) in spite of the fact that they are just birds and their penguin “tuxedo,” cute upright posture, and characteristic adorable waddle when on land actually evolved as a way to save energy in the frozen Antarctic—the side-to-side walk burns fewer calories which is essential to their survival.
So the next time you find yourself attracted to Cabbage Patch dolls, ET, or Yoda, you’ll know that though they do not need you to nurture them, you will still want to because they are just so cute.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
11:37 AM
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