The Science of Cuteness
Girls are known for calling inanimate objects and completely unreliable things “cute”. Have you every heard your grandmother say “that table is so cute!” and were you ever confused by her choice of words? Most of us think of babies and puppies as cute, but what is cuteness in actuality? It’s not sexual, it’s not beautiful, but it’s simply cute. What is it makes something or someone cute?
Humans are very empathetic creatures. They possess more mirror neurons (neurons that direct empathy and understand feeling based on facial cues that you relate to) in only a quarter of their brain then any other animal possess in their entire limbic system (mirror neurons can be found in large quantities within the other parts of their body). It is because we’re empathetic, we possess pity and an innate sense of protectiveness whenever we see certain “trigger” features
The cutest things out there are obviously babies. They instantly fill our senses with joy and a need to nibble on their toes or hold them. This is because they are so obviously fragile and needy. We must help babies in every aspect until they’re a little older. The reason that dogs or cats don’t show as attentive affection to their kids is because it’s not necessary. They are animals that don’t rely on observing the constant changing nature of their surrounding and making decisions. Humans are so advanced that they need more time to develop and experience the rapidly evolving world. Every human is born with a certain disposition to instinct like latching onto a mother or crying for help, but every time a human is born, they aren’t born in a wild habitat that their ancestors have been exposed to for thousands of years, they start anew in a completely different environment than the one’s their parents had. When a cat has a kitten, the kitten at 14 weeks is independent enough to survive by itself, and by 6 months, it can start having kittens of it’s own. The need for consolidation and constant supervision past 2 weeks is unnecessary since it diets need to develop intelligence past a certain point. Kittens, piglets and puppies are coddled until this 2 week margin and are inseparable from the mother, however, after this time there even may be competition between the children and their parents for survival, almost as if they forgot that they were related (much like they generally do).
This explains why when things are helpless and pathetic, they seem more cute, especially if they look like a baby. It is statistically prove that people with rounder faces, big eyes and shorter legs are not as sexually appealing but still get a lot of attention because of the adorability factor. People are just generally nicer to them. Thats what we call a cherub expression. Cute also implies that something makes you happy. When you see something cute, like a baby, your brain automatically grows with dopamine. In fact, your own mind won’t allow you to be too happy in order keep you relatively focused and emotionally constant, when you see a baby, after you think of biting their toes, people almost always feel a decrease in dopamine.
When people say that they think an object like a table looks cute, it’s seemingly harder to calculate the reason why, however, it’s generally only because it’s shorter, thicker, or lighter-colored. Those are ingredients to a more likable inanimate object. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s “cute” per say, just more easily admired.