Ask Lemmy

We naturally find baby-like features cute, such as:

• chubbiness
• big eyes
• small size (this doesn't always apply ofc)
• cute noises (such as meowing in cats or babbling in babies)
• last but not least, fluffiness. Modern human babies are hairless, yes, but personally I think this is some kind of 'fossil trait' (yes I just made that term up) because we evolved from animals that used to be more fluffy. Besides, fluffiness often makes an animal more round, thus adding to the chubbiness factor.

Now, let's take a look at this pomerian:

This is a predator, yes, but way too small (and docile since this pom is a domesticated anomal) to pose a threat to a human, and who could be scared of that adorable little guy?

This has everything a cute animal needs: it's small, has round black eyes, and is very fluffy, which makes it look round and be a nice cuddle buddy. So your brain goes "ooh, little baby! I must protect and cherish it!", and boom, pet.

That being said, the human brain is a complex and really weird thing, lots of things we do don't make any sense.

We're predators ourselves, so if we couldn't find predatory aspects (large, forward-facing eyes, for example) to be cute our babies would get left on hillsides.

I used to be really squeamish about snakes, but we adopted a surrendered Columbian red-tailed boa and love her so much. She's incredibly sweet and very smart and curious. (Okay kinda dumb in many other ways lol)

The only time she's bitten us was if she got confused and missed her strike when we were trying to feed her (frozen) rats.

I think predators tend to require more smarts, and fat builds better brains, and prey tend to be rich in fat.

So naturally, I think we find things that problem solve and play and exhibit curiosity to be cute.

I dunno, lotsa "prey animals" are cute too but maybe it's in other ways? Haha

we are configured to find child-like things cute, and they theyre appearance throws a lot of that at us.

owls have giant, child-like eyeballs. bears have roly-poly bodies..

game recognizes game

It depends on the predator. Very few people call snakes or spiders cute, them being the two animals with phobias topping every list of phobias (going so far as to inspire notions that fear of them are biologically imprinted in our psyche). Maybe it's the venom.

Jus wook at dem! ☺️

This is an evolved trait. Cute babies are less likely to be eaten. Over time, babies become more cute because they were selected for.

Brb getting killed by a weasel

They are the end results of millions of years of evolution prioritizing speed, strength, and stealth.

They are simply elegant and have to be strongly assertive to survive.

They have a spark of danger while we're not living in competition with them, or for most of us, we're not in any danger from them.

They share a number of qualities of things most humans would be attracted to aesthetically.

They're the pro athletes of the animal world.

If you picked an animal to come back as if you were reincarnated, would you want to be a rabbit or a cow when you could be an eagle or a shark?

Most aren't killing for fun (looking at you, house cats!), they're just doing what is required of them to survive. It's a brutal world for all wild animals, from the single celled to a whale. A predator is no worse than anything else trying to make it to the next tomorrow.

Excellent question! I was pondering exactly this conundrum just the other day while watching a snow leopard on BBC Earth. That thing would rip your face off but wow, what a gorgeous beast! I almost ache to pet it.

Actually my pondering went even further. Not only are cats and owls and bears cute, they are much cuter than than our cousins the primates. And it get worse! I for one find that monkeys are cuter than apes, and that our closest cousins the chimpanzees are really pretty fugly indeed. Even the babies. Maybe especially the babies.

What a weird world.

Predators have forward facing eyes; prey animals usually have eyes that are wider apart. We have forward facing eyes, so predators look more 'human.'

bears... are cute? 🤨

Also, I'm pretty sure my cat cannot eat me.

I always remind my cat "btw, I'm bigger than you, you can't eat me you know" just in case she gets hungry.

I think part of it is that predators instinctively attract our attention—they fascinate us so we don’t get used to them and turn our backs on them.