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Path: utzoo!watmath!jagardner
From: jagardner@watmath.UUCP (Jim Gardner)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Cold blooded cuteness
Message-ID: <15880@watmath.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 22-Jul-85 14:26:43 EDT
Article-I.D.: watmath.15880
Posted: Mon Jul 22 14:26:43 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 24-Jul-85 21:22:13 EDT
References: <2810@topaz.ARPA>
Reply-To: jagardner@watmath.UUCP (Jim Gardner)
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 17

[...]

Interesting theory about cuteness: we did it ourselves.

This has nothing to do with the discussion of Ewoks being cute, but
it's an interesting hypothesis.  Baby animals are "cute" primarily
because humans find them cute.  Over millions of years of evolution,
cuteness proved to be an important survival trait, because
the meanest nastiest most successful predator of them all was
reluctant to kill cute animals.  Of course there are good physical
reasons why most mammalian young resemble human babies, but I think
there's a strong "selection" factor there as well.

End of pointless diversion:

				Jim Gardner, University of Waterloo