How Cuteness Has Taken Over the World 可愛是如何征服世界的

Scroll through any social-media feed， and before long a cute video will appear. Perhaps it shows a giggling baby or a rabbit nibbling carrots. A red panda might be throwing its paws in the air， like a furry thief being apprehended， or a kitten may sit astride a tiny motorcycle.

The supply of these cute videos is huge. On TikTok there are over 65m videos tagged cute. The demand is even greater： those videos have been viewed more than 625bn times.

滑動瀏覽任何社交媒體推送，很快就會出現一段可愛的視頻。視頻里可能有個嬰兒在咯咯笑；或者是只兔子在啃胡蘿卜；還有可能是只小熊貓舉起爪子，就像一個毛茸茸的小偷被逮捕一樣；或者是只小貓跨坐在小摩托車上。

這些可愛視頻的供應量是巨大的。在TikTok上，有超6500萬個視頻帶了“可愛”標簽。人們對這些視頻的需求甚至更大：此類視頻的播放量已超過6250億次。

What do humans consider cute？

人們認為什么是可愛的呢？

In the 1940s Konrad Lorenz， an Austrian zoologist， found that people are drawn to babies with big eyes， a small nose and mouth and round cheeks， as well as a pudgy body， short arms and legs and a wobbly gait.

These traits motivated people to nurture and protect babies， helping ensure their survival.

Humans are so drawn to these attributes that cats and dogs may have been bred to emphasize those same features.

Cartoon characters have changed， too. For instance， Mickey Mouse’s arms， legs and nose have shrunk since 1928， while his head and eyes have become larger.

20世紀40年代，奧地利動物學家康拉德·洛倫茨發現，人們會被嬰兒吸引——嬰兒有大眼睛、小鼻子和小嘴巴、圓圓的臉頰、胖乎乎的身體、短短的胳膊和腿以及搖搖晃晃的步態。

這些特點促使人們去養育和保護嬰兒，確保嬰兒存活下來。

這些特征對人們有極大的吸引力，以至于小貓和小狗在被育種時都很注重這些同樣的特征。

卡通形象也發生了變化。例如，自1928年以來，米老鼠的胳膊、腿和鼻子都縮小了，而它的頭和眼睛卻變大了。

A study from 2015 found that participants felt more energetic and positive， and less annoyed， anxious or sad， after watching cat videos.

Morten Kringelbach， a neuroscientist at Oxford University in the US， has studied the brain’s rapid reaction to baby faces： the orbitofrontal cortex—a region linked with pleasure， among other things， is activated within a seventh of a second. （Men and women are equally eager to look at adorable infants.）

Cuteness has real-world uses. Lovot， a doe-eyed companion robot with a button nose， is covered in sensors and responds positively when cuddled.

Such innovations may help combat loneliness among the elderly. Policymakers， too， might use the power of cuteness to guide people’s behavior.

Japan’s kawaii barriers are thought to reduce road-rage incidents. Putting images on bins of sea turtles or dolphins trapped in rubbish has been shown to reduce plastic waste.

An appreciation for cute things is a joy in and of itself， but it also “has the potential to change the world”， Kringelbach argues. How’s that for a cute idea？

2015年的一項研究發現，受試者在觀看貓咪視頻后感覺精力更充沛、心態更積極，煩惱、焦慮或悲傷的情緒更少。

美國牛津大學神經學家莫滕·克林格爾巴赫研究了大腦對嬰兒臉龐的快速反應：眼眶前額葉皮質（與愉悅等情緒相關的區域）在看到嬰兒臉龐的七分之一秒內被激活。（實驗也表明男性和女性渴望看到可愛嬰兒的程度是一樣的。）

可愛在現實世界中是有用處的。Lovot是一個有著大眼睛和紐扣鼻子的陪伴型機器人，它全身布滿傳感器，能在被擁抱時做出積極的回應。

這些創新可能有助于老年人對抗孤獨感。政策制定者也可能利用可愛的力量來引導人們的行為。

人們認為日本可愛風格的路障可以減少路怒事件。在垃圾箱上放一些被困在垃圾中的海龜或海豚的圖片可以減少塑料垃圾。

克林格爾巴赫認為，欣賞可愛的東西本身就是一種享受，而這種行為也“具有改變世界的潛力”。這個觀點可不可愛呢？

Word Bank

be drawn to 被……所吸引

motivate /'m??t?ve?t/ v. 激勵；激發

The plan is designed to motivate employees to work harder.

attribute /'?tr?bju?t/ n. 屬性；特征

trapped /tr?pt/ adj. 受困的

She became trapped as the tide came in.