Submitted 4 days ago by Clinicallydepressedpoochie@lemmy.world to [deleted]
My hypothesis has always been that we find baby (and adult!) animals cute to incentivize us to care for them when they need care, because our ancestors benefited tremendously from their presence in our lives. I agree that it probably started as accidental overlap from parental instincts but I think the feeling is too strong and applies to too many distinct animals to be coincidental.
That said, this is just my pet theory and I have no evidence for it.
Given that domesticated animals adopted some human baby like actions, it is a plausible theory.
It’s probably mostly a side effect of our ability to feel love for each other.
As a group animal we have an instinct to protect each other that is born from love, the pet is included and has become part of the group maybe even family.
So in short it’s based on an instinct that helps the group survive, this is also useful regarding dogs horses and to some degree farm animals. For less “useful” pets, the instinct is the same, but doesn’t really serve an immediate purpose. Except maybe it can be helpful to overcome hardship.
I think animal affection – particularly for cute, non useful animals – is an extension of our infant protection drive.
Yes, but that goes only for infant animals, infant animals generally look cute to most predators, to give them a chance to survive if they are detected by a predator.
But I think the question is meant to go further than that, because animals can become part of our group as adults too. And will help rescue in a situation of disaster, and will also be rescued. For those animals the love goes deeper than just looks.
Pet = baby human
Lol I find cats, even adult cats, are cuter than babies.
Like, no offense, but… babies are ugly
Stress relief? Pets are great stress relief. So maybe you live longer when you have a pet.
PS am in market for cat(s), Southern Germany.
One I can think of would be stress relief. Stress contributes to a lot of negative health outcomes, and cuddling with a pet can help mitigate some of that stress. Wouldn’t surprise me if amount of stress also has a more general effect on overall decisionmaking.
That’s a personal benefit, but it’s not necessarily an evolutionary benefit. If it were an evolutionary benefit, our bodies would generate that response spontaneously without needing an external stimulus that wouldn’t have been available to many of our ancestors.
Negative health outcomes are an evolutionary pressure.
Also, evolution does not work from a plan, we do not spontaneously generate all the things that would benefit us over a long enough timeframe. Instead, random things happen and certain ones propagate while others don’t. Because it is not a conscious force operating from any sort of plan, and instead works via random mutation and propagation of beneficial traits, it leaves a whole bunch of potentially beneficial things unadopted.
Otherwise all life would just move towards some sort of optimal form, maybe crabs, instead of evolving greater and greater diversity that can better handle changing environments.
Seems like a side effect from making us love baby humans
we have been breeding them for traits we like.
True, but you can have similar emotions towards wild animals.
sure. most of that goes back to the baby thing. most animals have some of the features babys have and the animal babys tend to be this way and evoke more feeling as well.
cattywampas@lemm.ee 4 days ago
Sometimes things don’t necessarily evolve to have a specific benefit. They just happen, and don’t get selected out because they’re not a detriment to the species.
wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Though danger kitties being so cute and (theoretically) cuddlable seems like a bit of a detriment… I just want to hold the big tigers and lions and jaguars and ow please stop I just want to snuggle youuu
garbagebagel@lemmy.world 3 days ago
I know you’re right, but I actually think this one is an evolutionary benefit, just not ours. The cuteness traits won the evolutionary race because cuteness causes this feeling in humans that will make them more likely to get taken in by us.
(I don’t know shit about science, I just think pets have their shit figured out)