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From: datanguay@watdaisy.UUCP (David Tanguay)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Cold blooded cuteness
Message-ID: <7357@watdaisy.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 22-Jul-85 16:17:31 EDT
Article-I.D.: watdaisy.7357
Posted: Mon Jul 22 16:17:31 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 24-Jul-85 21:23:21 EDT
References: <2810@topaz.ARPA> <15880@watmath.UUCP>
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 18

> 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:

Not quite the end: maybe the reverse is true? We see baby animals as cute 
because they don't kill us?
> 
> 				Jim Gardner, University of Waterloo
                David Tanguay, ditto