Cute is part of our “don’t kill the screaming baby” programming. Best described as emotionally attractive.
It makes parents bond with children. As a spill over, it makes other adults not want to drop kick annoying small humans. It also stops older siblings wanting to murder the attention magnet that came into their life.
The level of activation of this effect varies. It kicks in hard during pregnancy, both for mum, and anyone around them. Not feeling it strong is not a huge issue.
It also tends to be blended with other emotional responses. You might actually feel it, but not recognise it as a separate emotion. The positive feeling towards cats is partly due to them being small, squishy, and big eyed. We default to them being babies/small children, and give them the leeway we would a child causing minor chaos. Cuteness is part of that effect.
Fair enough, i just don’t think i feel that at all. I also never felt the desire to hurt children lmao i mean yesh they can be annoying and loud but so can adults idk i guess im just missing that part of my brain or something lol
As a parent I fully understand the need to curtail it. I also get how some parents could shake their baby to death. Feeling it and acting on it are totally different things.
It’s ok not to feel it. Our brains are often wired differently. I personally only get cuteness mildly. I mostly notice it by how I’m being biased, rather than a strong, independent emotion. You likely have chunks of it, but mentally bundle them into different emotions.
Cute is part of our “don’t kill the screaming baby” programming. Best described as emotionally attractive.
It makes parents bond with children. As a spill over, it makes other adults not want to drop kick annoying small humans. It also stops older siblings wanting to murder the attention magnet that came into their life.
The level of activation of this effect varies. It kicks in hard during pregnancy, both for mum, and anyone around them. Not feeling it strong is not a huge issue.
It also tends to be blended with other emotional responses. You might actually feel it, but not recognise it as a separate emotion. The positive feeling towards cats is partly due to them being small, squishy, and big eyed. We default to them being babies/small children, and give them the leeway we would a child causing minor chaos. Cuteness is part of that effect.
Fair enough, i just don’t think i feel that at all. I also never felt the desire to hurt children lmao i mean yesh they can be annoying and loud but so can adults idk i guess im just missing that part of my brain or something lol
As a parent I fully understand the need to curtail it. I also get how some parents could shake their baby to death. Feeling it and acting on it are totally different things.
It’s ok not to feel it. Our brains are often wired differently. I personally only get cuteness mildly. I mostly notice it by how I’m being biased, rather than a strong, independent emotion. You likely have chunks of it, but mentally bundle them into different emotions.