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It's really cute.

真的非常可愛！

But what is cute, scientifically?

但是，以科學的角度來思索，到底什麼是可愛？

I mean, why do we like soft, cuddly things

我的意思是，為什麼我們喜歡柔軟的、惹人愛撫的東西？

and why do cute things have a unique effect on us?

為什麼可愛的東西對我們而言會有特別的影響？

Well, the word cute is a shortening of acute,

其實，可愛這個字是 acute 的簡寫

which originally meant "keen," "shrewd," "perceptive."

原本意思是「渴望的」、「機靈的」以及「感知的」

About 180 years ago, the word cute began to be used as slang for a girl, who was pretty.

約在 180 年前，可愛這個字已經開始被用來形容漂亮的女生

And after that, it accrued a new meaning

在之後呢，這個字則又有了新的意思

and was used to describe cuddly, delicate, quaint, precious, youthful traits.

被用來形容惹人憐愛的、精巧的、有趣的、珍貴的以及年幼的特質

Konrad Lorenz studied cuteness in living things

Konrad Lorenz 研究生物的可愛性

and put together a great specific list of what we consider cute.

並具體列表出會讓我們認為可愛的東西

Small body size with a disproportionately large head,

嬌小的身體尺寸有著不合比率的大頭

large eyes, and round and soft body features.

大眼睛、以及又圓又軟的身體特徵

But why exactly did these characteristics elicit an "ooooohhh" response from us humans?

但是，到底為什麼這些特質會引起人們發出「哦～」的感嘆呢？

Well, Lorenz pointed that you could find all of those characteristics in the human baby,

Lorenz 指出，這些特質全部都可以在人類寶寶身上看到

which makes sense.

而這說得通

If merely looking at our offspring makes us instinctively feel protective and nurturing, well, that's great for all of us.

如果只要看著我們的子孫會使得我們本能上地產生安全及呵護感；那麼，這對所有人都是非常好的！

A fun consequence of this is that our experience of cuteness

這個研究發現一個有趣的結果是，我們對於可愛的體驗

can be triggered by things that aren't human babies.

也可以被人類寶寶以外的事物所驅動

For instance, shells, bunnies, owls and even a hammer.

例如：貝殼、兔子、貓頭鷹甚至是鐵鎚

A hammer, how can that be?

一枝鐵鎚！這怎麼會可愛？

Take a look at this interactive tool from the Exploratorium.

看看這個來自科學探索館的互動式教學

A hammer is boring.

一枝鐵鎚一點都不吸引人

But if we apply Lorenz's traits and make it really round and really squat,

但是，如果我們運用 Lorenz 所列的可愛特色，把這枝鐵鎚變得又圓又矮胖

it goes from a utilitarian tool to a cute little tiny hammer.

它便從一個實用的工具變成了一個小巧可愛的鐵鎚了

Oh, he's just a little hammer, don't hurt him.

喔～他只是一枝小小的鐵鎚，不要傷害它

It is a hammer that has become cute,

這是一枝變可愛的鐵鎚

because we gave it qualities that we see in our own offspring.

因為我們賦予它在我們子孫身上所看到的可愛素質

As Daniel Dennett puts it,

根據 Daniel Dennett 的說法：

"if human babies looked like this, instead of that, we would find this cute."

「如果人類寶寶看起來像這樣 (右)，而不是那樣 (左)，我們就會覺得這個 (右) 可愛」

And whenever we saw something that looked like it,

而且不管我們何時看到像這樣的東西

we would wanna cuddle and snuggle with it.

我們都會想要撫摸、緊抱它不放

Alright, so we have a pretty good idea about the how and what of cute.

好了！所以，我們現在已經知道可愛的理由及素質了

But where is cute?

但是，是什麼部位使我們感知到可愛呢？

Well, researchers have shown cute baby pictures to subjects

恩，研究員拿出可愛寶寶們的圖片

while using functional MRI to track activity in the brain.

給正在使用核磁共振的人看，並追蹤他們的腦部活動

And sure enough, the cuter the baby in the picture, the more activation found right here --

非常確定的是，越是可愛的寶寶，則能激發腦部這區域的活化——

the nucleus accumbens. A pleasure centre.

伏隔核，快樂中樞

When activated, the nucleus accumbens releases dopamine.

伏隔核被活化時會釋放出多巴胺

It's all part of our internal reward system.

分布在我們體內中的酬賞系統

It's the same part of the brain targeted by cocaine and meth.

這也是吸食古柯鹼及甲基安非他命的反應位置

Cuteness is such a powerful force on the brain

可愛在腦部有著很強大的影響力

in fact that it can affect our behaviours -- what we like, what we buy.

事實上它會影響我們的行為——我們所喜歡或購買的東西

And so it's no coincidence that the creators of cartoon characters,

所以，卡通人物的創作家

like Mickey Mouse or Pikachu,

將例如米老鼠或是皮卡丘

have drawn them more and more cute over time.

畫得一次比一次地可愛並不是偶然

The Japanese concept of Kawaii is a great example of this

日本人所認為的可愛就是一個很好的例子

and it's one that's fun to quantify.

而且量化起來會更有趣

If you're an adult, how many of your own heads, stacked on top of each other,

如果你們是個成年人，你們覺得要疊幾個頭

do you think it would take to equal your height?

才等於你們的身高？

The answer for most of us is around 7.5.

答案是：對我們大部分人而言，大約是 7.5 個頭

But illustrations of people that are meant to make them look heroic or noble

但是，想畫一個英雄或高貴的角色時

tend to make the person around 8 to 8.5 heads high.

較會把人畫到約 8 到 8.5 個頭高

Cute goes the other way.

可愛則是相反的

Manga characters tend to only be about 5.5 to 6.5 heads tall.

漫畫角色們通常是 5.5 到 6.5 的頭身高

Back to babies.

我們再來談論一下寶寶

There are many other psychological factors at work

有很多其他的心理因素

that cause us to want to instinctively take care of our young.

促使著我們本能地呵護著小孩

And to be sure, some of them are decidedly not cute.

可以確定的是，有些事情並不是絕對的可愛

For instance, poopy diapers.

舉例來說：充滿便便的尿布

Researchers have found that mothers, when exposed to soiled diapers,

研究者發現，當母親接觸到髒的尿布時

tend to consider the smell coming from their own child's diaper to be the least terrible,

他們會想著自己小孩的尿布臭味是最不難聞的

despite not knowing which diaper belonged to which kid.

儘管不知道哪一個尿布才是自己孩子的

When something retains juvenile traits all the way through adulthood, it is called neoteny.

當某人可以維持著年輕的特質一直到成人，這稱為是幼態持續

And we love it, especially in animals that we keep as pets.

我們愛這種幼態持續，特別是我們養的寵物

Of course, us humans have selectively bred all kinds of animals

當然，我們人類選擇性地培育各種動物

to make each generation more and more useful to us.

讓每一代的動物能更符合我們的需求

But the dog may be the animal that we have spent the most time designing,

但是，狗應該是人類花最久的時間來培育的

making each generation better at hunting or better at staying cuter for longer.

使每一代越來越會打獵或越能持續保有可愛

Dogs like this have been designed by us to look, grow and behave in ways that we want.

這些狗的外貌、成長以及行為已經被培育成我們喜愛的形式

Not that dissimilar from how we would design, say, a DVD player and its features.

就如同我們會設計 DVD 播放器及它的功能那樣

So whether it's staying cute forever or just being a really great hunting companion,

所以，不管是永遠地可愛下去或是單單成為一個非常好的打獵夥伴

the modern dog, more than any other animal,

現代的狗，相對於其他任何動物

could be considered not so much a consequence of nature

可以被想成不再是大自然演化的結果

as much as it is a piece of human technology.

而是人類科技的作品

As Science Friday puts it,

誠如 Science Friday 所指出：

"the dog is man's best friend because it may be man's best invention."

「狗是人類的最要好的朋友，可能是因為牠是人類的最好發明」

So go pet a cute dog today.

所以，去養一隻可愛的毛小孩吧！

And as always, thanks for watching.

一如往常地，謝謝您們的收看