Are you one of those who can spend hours in front of a screen, doing nothing more than watching funny videos of little animals, puppies or babies? You’re not alone. It happens to thousands of people. There are so many who love videos of cute animals or babies, that science set out to find out why.
The curious thing is that, according to what science could explain, it is a perfectly biological reaction. And when you read the explanation, you probably won’t be able to deny that it’s very consistent.
The taste for videos of puppies is due to nothing more and nothing less than the human instinct of conservation of the species. More specifically, the reason is a principle: neoteny.
The term neoteny refers to a set of characteristics that are associated with young children: large eyes, wide and round forehead, smooth skin, soft and plump body. These characteristics, biologically, cause the adults of the species to pay more attention to them, feed them, protect them and even eat them.
The principle of neoteny, also called “puppy principle”, has been studied by advertising and used to obtain better results. Not only babies, but also what resembles them (such as small animals, or puppies with googly eyes) awaken in the human being a kind of attraction, an impulse to pay attention to them for a longer time.
Baby videos, then, arouse that interest in us, simply because they are babies. We are genetically designed to take care of them and give them our full attention, because if we didn’t, they would die.
The principle of neoteny does not extend to “babies” of another species (which is why, for example, a lion can devour a fawn). However, when we notice “human” or human-infant-like characteristics in another species, we are just as drawn. That is why bug-eyed animals, playful puppies, or kittens that ask for attention, are as attractive to us as babies.
Now that you know that the reason is biological, keep enjoying cute videos!