• Bluescluestoothpaste@sh.itjust.works
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    7 hours ago

    Does anybody else not feel what cute is? Idk i just see a baby kitten or something and im like yes that is a younger version of an adult cat.

    Love cats but i don’t feel much different between kittens and adult cats.

    Same for human babies, i just see them as very young humans. Then you hear adult women calling adult men cute if they’re sexy and it confuses me lmao, i just dont know what people mean when they say cute.

    • underscores@lemmy.zip
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      41 minutes ago

      how old are you ? I used the be the same but something clicked at some point.

      when I was like 16 or so i was unable to feel that way

    • cynar@lemmy.world
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      5 hours ago

      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.

      • Bluescluestoothpaste@sh.itjust.works
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        5 hours ago

        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

        • cynar@lemmy.world
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          5 hours ago

          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.

    • Venat0r@lemmy.world
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      6 hours ago

      it means the appearance of the animal triggers a desire to hug or cuddle or pet it. evolutionary explanation is it’s a natural instinct resulting from reproductive success from a stronger desire to care for offspring.

      with sexy men being called cute by woman I think it means they find them attractive in a way that’s not necessarily masculine. evolutionary explanation might be that they appear that they might produce offspring that are cute and therfore induce the desire to care for offspring in the parent.

  • dkppunk@piefed.social
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    9 hours ago

    I feel that kind of violence every time I look at my tiny girl bunny. She’s so cute I want to hit something lol