This chapter brought up various ways
humans see animals. The title of this chapter is “The Importance of Being Cute”.
So, what exactly is the importance of being cute? According to the author it
would appear that the benefits include being well liked, such as Mickey Mouse
or Bambi. It may also help your chances of survival, like the case with the
beagle.
This chapter also brings up the idea of
morals. It would seem most people would pick to save people, over animals when
it comes to a train, although this may not be true with Hitler. Why is it that some people can't hurt a fly and
others enjoy hunting? It is fascinating to think about how people have
different degrees of how they feel towards animals. I for one am on the side
that it was wrong to kill Cookie the gator, yet I am not as extreme to avoid
anything containing animal products. I also found the meat naming interesting
in this same way. I eat meat, but never on a bone and I can't eat it if it
looks like the animal it is. I distance myself from the idea that it was once
living. Perhaps this idea of biophilia really does come in to play. Perhaps
people are born with this instinct, and some feel it stronger than others.
-Heather Gosnell
p.s. Speaking of cute..
I have to agree with Heather when she said she tries to distance herself from meat and the thought that it was once living. Although I no longer eat meat, aside from the occasional fish, when I did eat meat I had the same reactions Heather did. I could not eat meat off the bone because it freaked me out and reminded me more that it was an actual animal product. The more research I did about consuming animals as well as the documentaries that there are, the more I realized that I do not need meat in my diet to survive and live a healthy life. I am able to get just as much protein and nutrition from foods that I would if I were still to eat meat. I am happy about my decision to change, but sometimes it is still difficult. For example if I am eating fish or shrimp, they cannot have their heads, because that freaks me out and I can't think about that if I want to eat them. I do think that biophobia is a real thing, that I know for me I have adapted over the years the more that I have learned about the food industry.
ReplyDelete-Cosmo
I just found this article that looks at cuteness from an empirical point-of-view. This study found that if a human is presented with an extremely cute picture of an infant or a puppy, they would then rate the cuteness of a subsequent infant to be higher. This evidence suggests that there is a common mechanism that codes the cuteness of human and non-human infant faces—something that was actually first proposed by Konrad Lorenz in 1943. Personally, I find this article and its findings truly fascinating because it provides evidence that cuteness transfers across species. I would have never thought of doing a cuteness related experiment, but it seems like a great way to spend a career!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0058248#s4
- Caroline Thrasher
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmtx2tFQ69E
ReplyDeleteCheck this little guy out. I strongly believe in the cuteness factor, because I all want to do with this monkey is snuggle for days!!!!!!!
-Kelsey Spaulding
Jill - Researcher
ReplyDeleteHere I found an article that looks at the cuteness factor and decides whether it really plays a role or not. This article takes a look at the World Wildlife Fund, which I know we mentioned in class, about what a difference the represented animal would make in the amount of donations. Here this article found that more people would donate money if the represented animal were one such as the bald eagle, rather than an invertebrate. Survival of the cutest, doesn't always seem to be fair, but honestly if I saw a huge tarantula on a sign saying "please donate, or I'll be extinct" I would be conflicted, but probably keep on walking.
Link to article:http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=da8a312c-8244-4525-81e7-d90f76586042%40sessionmgr114&vid=8&hid=115
-Jill Willig