cuteness is physically addicting
A scientific study that came out this year is the first to offer firm evidence that human beings undergo a chemical reaction deep in their brains when they look at babies. It was conducted by biologist Melanie Glocker of the University of Muenster, while she was a visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, and it has resulted in two groundbreaking papers published in the journals Ethology and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Specifically, Glocker’s series of experiments demonstrated that the act of looking at baby pictures stirs up an ancient part of the brain called the nucleus accumbens.
“It’s in the midbrain,” Glocker says, with a slight Teutonic accent, “which is an evolutionarily older part of the brain involved in reward processing. This region has also been shown to be activated by a variety of rewarding stimuli, including sexual stimuli, food stimuli, and drug stimuli.”
Dr. Glocker is too much of a scientist to say so, but her experiments more or less prove that cuteness is physically addicting. So it makes sense that videos centered on babies and young animals have amassed more than a billion clicks on YouTube. This is not just a case of kids watching kid stuff, either: more than 80 percent of the people who go to YouTube are at least 18 years old, according to the site’s own demographics study.
Big business is not blind to the power of cute. A good example is the subtle evolution of the signature advertising character of the last decade, the geico Gecko. In 1999, when the creature made its debut, it was a slithery reptile that walked on all fours. Since then its creators at the Martin Agency, an advertising firm based in Richmond, Virginia, have transformed it into something much cuter: the little guy is now fully anthropomorphized, with a more rounded head, big eyes, and other characteristics we unconsciously associate with infants who need our care.
The gecko’s cuteness tricks you into forgetting that it represents something that’s not cute in the slightest—a giant insurance company, which must deal in matters most uncuddly, such as injury, death, and arguments over claim payments.
Ollie is 17 weeks today. On Thursday she will be 4 months old! She surprised us this past Thursday by rolling over from back to front for the first time, and repeating this new trick several times over the past few days. Each time she does it she gets frustrated to find herself on her tummy, which she doesn’t like, and then cries until we help her back to her back. I have a feeling that she’s going to start doing this in the crib, so our currently sleep-filled nights should get more interesting soon.
She’s also going through a super fussy feeding period, where basically she is very distracted by her new clear vision and wants to twist her head around all over the place while (or instead of) eating, to see the world. I was getting frustrated by this, thinking she’s not eating enough, but just read in one my multiple baby books that this is totally normal behavior for her age, and in a week or two she’ll go back to feedings with her normal vigor.
This week we are celebrating Thanksgiving with a visit from Geoff’s brother, dinner at Matthew, Kristen, and Paxton’s place, and a Friday visit with Jill, Morgan, and Pearl at their new house in Fishkill! I am over the moon at having 5 full days to spend with Ollie and Geoff. Just have to make it through tomorrow and Tuesday…
Adventurer David de Rothschild will sail across the Pacific Ocean on Plastiki, his boat made out of plastic bottles.
The Next Iron Chef Finalist Video Chat
A live video chat I did yesterday with the 2 finalists of The Next Iron Chef, a $100 webcam, 6 days of prep and zero budget! Thank you UStream and embed codes that allowed this be viewed on Facebook with a Live Status Stream for others to comment. Television? What’s that when you have the power of broadband. - G
10 Year Old Explains He Won’t Pledge Allegiance to The Flag Until There is Liberty and Justice for All.
this kid is AWESOME.
Amazing tune. A tribute to the 313 (Detroit) with an electro meets boogie with the mothership coming down sound. So great. And the lyrics are very inspiring. - G
Honey bunches of oats! - DaDdY
Escape from New York
New Yorkers in droves are leaving the state for greener pastures due to high taxes. Only the rich and poor are staying behind. Is a return to the 70s followed by John Carpenter’s film plot that far behind? - G
Are you an "Amafessional?"
On the Web, Amateurs Rivaling Professionals - G
FIFA 10 out today in the US from EA Sports! Great commercial! - G
1 in 6 Americans in Poverty
Yet the majority is still smoking the crack spewed out that health care reform is bad, but corporate welfare and bailouts are good. - G
From the upcoming and much talked about “Body Issue” by ESPN. D.C. United of Major League Soccer line up for a photo shoot in what every kid has nightmares about. Y’know the one you show up to your game with no pants and you’re running around on the field naked. Then you wake up and you’re so happy to know it was just a dream. All I can say when I see this is “Ouch!” - G
Brilliant! - G
