The Observer’s Matt Haber wrote a great article this week on why we’re so obsessed with looking at pictures of baby animals and other lolcuties. According to a 2006 New York Times story by Natalie Angier, “Studies suggest that cute images stimulate the same pleasure centers of the brain aroused by sex, a good meal or psychoactive drugs like cocaine.”
I admit, my weakness is baby pandas.
“It’s embarrassing if you’re a particular kind of person—a Manhattan media person, like somebody who considers himself to be thoughtful or have a generally elevated level of media consumption,” said one such Manhattan media person who wished to keep his name out of this article. “You don’t want to be aligned with moms. Because literally, this is the meat and potatoes of their Internet consumption.”