Why Baby Yoda Is So Adorable, According to Science 16/12/2019, 08*32 SCIENCE DEC. 11, 2019 Why You Can’t Help But Love Baby Yoda By Kyle McGovern Resistance is futile. Oh wait, wrong franchise. Photo: Disney+ Humanity is helpless in the face of Baby Yoda. Those saucer-size eyes, X-wing ears, and three-digit mitts are adorable enough to melt any heart, even one hiding behind Beskar armor. But when watching The Mandalorian, you don’t even have much choice in the matter: Science says we’re all programmed to react a certain way when we see the little green guy. “Little Baby Yoda is not a natural animal,” says Alan Beck, a professor of animal ecology at Purdue University. “He was selected. He, basically, was more than even domesticated for the traits that we hold dear.” There’s been an abundance of research on the power of cuteness over the years, going at least as far back as the 1940s. That’s when ethologist and zoologist Konrad Lorenz proposed the existence of “baby schema,” a cluster of physical characteristics that inspires caregiving. Among the attributes? A large round head and wide eyes. Baby Yoda certainly matches that description, and it’s hard to believe that’s just a coincidence. “They know what they’re doing,” says Daniel https://www.vulture.com/2019/12/baby-yoda-adorable-science.html Page 1 of 5 Why Baby Yoda Is So Adorable, According to Science 16/12/2019, 08*32 Blumstein, a professor with UCLA’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Of course, no one involved with The Mandalorian has explicitly said that the show’s creative team engineered Baby Yoda for internet domination, but this is Disney we’re talking about. Back in 1980, the now-late paleontologist and evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould wrote about how the company transformed Mickey Mouse to make the mascot more childlike and appealing with a bigger head and eyes, thicker snout and limbs. “We are sort of hardwired to respond to these sorts of features,” Blumstein says. “Oh, isn’t that cute, we say when we see a Baby Yoda, or when we see a puppy, or when we see a baby of any other species, where we might not have that same feeling when we see an adult of another species.” Even if the House of Mouse isn’t deliberately playing with baby schema, it is tapping into it and other scienti!c concepts, notes Samuel Levin, an evolutionary biologist and senior research associate at Oxford University. “Star Wars is set in a galaxy long, long ago and far, far away. As long as it’s in our universe, we know that the rules of evolutionary biology apply,” he says. The Holiday Sale is here. Save 60% on a subscription to everything New York LEARN MORE » For instance, a recent study suggests that baby humans hit maximum cuteness at 6 months old, a !nding that might have to do with infant mortality rates. Levin supposes that a similar theory could apply to 50-year-old Baby Yoda and his mysterious species. “He’s clearly at optimal cuteness,” Levin says. “Maybe this tells us that species have high mortality rates in ages 0 to 30, or something. But around age 50 is when [there’s] low mortality rates, they’ve made it through some threshold of dying.” The sight of Baby Yoda doesn’t only bring out purely nurturing feelings, though. Bryce Dallas Howard — who directed the fourth episode of The Mandalorian — herself had an intense reaction when she !rst saw the robed puppet. She told Vulture recently that it was similar to the feeling of wanting to “smush” something because it’s so cute, a sensation that scientists call “cute aggression.” According to a study published in 2018, it’s possible that the nonthreatening impulse to squeeze or bite something adorable (like, say, an alien frog) is a coping mechanism, a way to balance overwhelming positive emotions. However people respond to The Mandalorian’s breakout star — by screaming, crying, or just giving him a polite nod at an NBA game — one thing is indisputable. “I think the scienti!c community can o"cially rule,” Levin says, “that Baby Yoda is cute.” RELATED Just the Baby Yoda Parts of The Mandalorian How Baby Yoda Took Over the Internet Baby Yoda Toys Are Finally Here, But You Still Won’t Get Them Before Christmas TAGS: THE MANDALORIAN BABY YODA SCIENCE TV 1 COMMENT https://www.vulture.com/2019/12/baby-yoda-adorable-science.html Page 2 of 5 Why Baby Yoda Is So Adorable, According to Science 16/12/2019, 08*32 THE LATEST 12:55 A.M. If You See Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, Keep In Mind They’re Just Getting Started YESTERDAY AT 11:17 P.M. Enjoy Diddy’s 50th Birthday Bash Without Putting On Any Shapewear At All YESTERDAY AT 11:03 P.M. Mr. Robot Recap: A World Worth Fighting For YESTERDAY AT 10:56 P.M. The L Word: Generation Q Recap: Gimme More SPOILERS YESTERDAY AT 10:15 P.M. Damon Lindelof Knows Exactly What Happens After Watchmen’s Cli!hanger Finale “It didn’t feel ambiguous to me.” By Angelica Jade Bastién CLOSE READS YESTERDAY AT 10:12 P.M. Let’s Talk About Watchmen’s Egg-cellent Finale The surprising ties between Angela’s fate and the Beatles song “I Am the Walrus.” No, really! By Jen Chaney YESTERDAY AT 10:12 P.M. 12 Lingering Questions From the Watchmen Finale YESTERDAY AT 10:12 P.M. Watchmen Finale Recap: A Most Worthy Adversary YESTERDAY AT 9:35 P.M. Hallmark Changes Their Mind About Pulling Gay Wedding Planning Ad YESTERDAY AT 9:10 P.M. Dublin Murders Recap: House of Lies YESTERDAY AT 9:00 P.M. Ray Donovan Recap: Those Were the Days https://www.vulture.com/2019/12/baby-yoda-adorable-science.html Page 3 of 5 Why Baby Yoda Is So Adorable, According to Science 16/12/2019, 08*32 YESTERDAY AT 9:00 P.M. Harvey Weinstein Mourns Himself As ‘The Forgotten Man’ In New Interview YESTERDAY AT 5:26 P.M. Chuy Bravo, Chelsea Handler’s A!able Sidekick, Dead at 63 YESTERDAY AT 4:24 P.M. Anna Karina, Legend of the French New Wave, Dead at 79 YESTERDAY AT 2:09 P.M. Orlando Jones Says New ‘White Man’ Showrunner Fired Him From American Gods YESTERDAY AT 1:29 P.M. Keri Russell Shares by Far the Most E"cient Pickup Line YESTERDAY AT 1:06 P.M. Protect Scarlett Johansson From the Hallmark Gazebo Suite at All Costs YESTERDAY AT 11:48 A.M. Saturday Night Live Recap: Scarlett Johansson Is More Naughty Than Nice YESTERDAY AT 11:41 A.M. There Are Very Fine People on Both Sides of Kellyanne Conway’s Marriage Story YESTERDAY AT 10:45 A.M. Baby Yoda Is a Lot More Self-Aware Than We Thought MORE STORIES SIGN IN TO COMMENT TV MOVIES COMEDY MUSIC WHAT TO STREAM https://www.vulture.com/2019/12/baby-yoda-adorable-science.html Page 4 of 5 Why Baby Yoda Is So Adorable, According to Science 16/12/2019, 08*32 NEWSLETTERS ABOUT US CONTACT MEDIA KIT WE’RE HIRING PRESS TRADEMARK PRIVACY TERMS AD CHOICES VULTURE IS A VOX MEDIA NETWORK. © 2019 VOX MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. https://www.vulture.com/2019/12/baby-yoda-adorable-science.html Page 5 of 5.