Why do we smile when looking at babies?

[Mk]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Baby.jpg
This picture illustrates the irresistible human urge for people to smile when they see an infant of their own kind. It took me about ten tries, seriously, to not smile. Its so hard. I also thinks its works better with females, or maybe they just down hold it back as much.

[Mk]

I also began to think his right leg was amputated.

[michealsmith]

10 TRIES .HHMMMM
so ...do u smile at crying or non crying babies or both .
maybe u feel over comfortable wen looking at a baby .

[DaveC426913]

I also began to think his right leg was amputated.
OK, now that made me smile.

[somasimple]

Hi all,

It took me about ten tries, seriously, to not smile. Its so hard. I also thinks its works better with females
It is called empathy. It works even better with our own children. It is a protective behaviour.
It is knwon also that it works better for women.

[Ki Man]

I also began to think his right leg was amputated.

his leg was bent behind the thigh... lol :rofl:

the human subconcious does alot of things to us. why do we feel good inside when we see the person we love?

[Math Is Hard]

Babies are boring. And it's a scientific fact that they're stupid (http://www.physics.mcgill.ca/~arobic/funny/babies.html). I'm not sure why anyone likes them.

[Ivan Seeking]

When I see a baby, I usually wince at the gooey something or other hanging from somewhere; or the stinky something or other... :biggrin:

[RedScout]

I think I smile because I see a life that has the hope and potential of changing the world for the better.

[Mk]

I think I smile cause I'm a pedophile. :tounge2:

[alias25]

I think i smile ..because babies are so innocent..they are unaffected by societies views and stardards...and if u care and love them they will love u back..they are almost perfect.

[somasimple]

And it's a scientific fact that they're stupid.

It is true and false.
It is true because its mind is empty.
It is false because this void is a gift of evolution. It gives us all chances to create better minds/behaviours. It is why we are the more adaptable race.

[PerennialII]

It is true and false.
It is true because its mind is empty.
It is false because this void is a gift of evolution. It gives us all chances to create better minds/behaviours. It is why we are the more adaptable race.
Could argue that the mind of a baby is the 'wisest' out there, no 'degeneration' yet :tongue2: (in for example philosophical sense the mind of a child is in many respects 'optimal' - a sort of an overman).

I think I smile (other than unconsciously) due to the same innocence as alias25 pointed.

[Evo]

Babies are boring. I'm not sure why anyone likes them.Yep, I'm missing that baby loving gene. Human babies do nothing for me.

And it's a scientific fact that they're stupid (http://www.physics.mcgill.ca/~arobic/funny/babies.html). :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: OMG, That brought tears to my eyes!!!!

"Babies, the study concluded, are also too stupid to do the following: avoid getting their heads trapped in automatic car windows; use ice to alleviate the pain of burn injuries resulting from touching an open flame; master the skills required for scuba diving; and use a safety ladder to reach a window to escape from a room filled with cyanide gas."

I love it!!! :rofl:

[somasimple]

Hi,

Could argue that the mind of a baby is the 'wisest' out there, no 'degeneration' yet

No, jusk "blank" about human nature (that's quite the same). :wink:

[detta]

Oxytocin in one of the hormones that makes us so attracted to babies. It is the same hormone released when women start lactating. Apparently women have more neural receptors for oxytocin (and even more are made during pregnancy) (http://www.princeton.edu/~anscombe/articles/rhoads.html).Oxytocin has lots of other roles in bonding too. Other hormones also play a role. For example, high testosterone tends to inhibit oxytocin. I'm not sure on the mechanism. Gotta look it up.

[hypnagogue]

Evolutionarily speaking, it is not too hard to come up with a plausible explanation. We smile when looking at babies because it is to our evolutionary advantage to regard infants with positive mentality, which might include positive/pleasant emotions, which would then be associated with smiling facial expressions.

As for actual neurochemical mechanisms-- oxytocin does play a role in social bonding (of many kinds), particularly in females, but its role seems to be more facilitory than primary, as it works in conjunction with other neurochemicals to exert its social effects and seems to be most important for laying down conditions favorable to the development/learning of social bonds rather than to the actual maintenance of such bonds. For instance, introducing opiates into the brain automatically sets off pleasure circuits in the brain leading to an experience of pleasure, but introducing higher levels of oxytocin does not seem have such a direct/overt/immediate effect on experience or behavior.

For instance, in the monogamous prairie vole, pair bonding is promoted by the interaction of oxytocin and dopamine in the nucleus accumbens. Blocking dopamine in the nucleus accumbens of prairie voles prevents them from forming pair bonds. Also, blocking oxytocin can prevent the formation of mother/infant bonding in primates, but blocking oxytocin after the requisite learning has taken place has no effect on how the mother treats the child.

So oxytocin does play a role, but probably a more limited and context-sensitive one than one might think otherwise. If smiling upon seeing babies is related to feeling positive emotions, I would suspect the 'primary' mover behind the emotion/facial expression is dopamine (mediates 'wanting') and/or endogenous opioids (mediates 'liking').

[Math Is Hard]

Yep, I'm missing that baby loving gene. Human babies do nothing for me.
Same here. But for some reason I do get pretty goo-goo over baby animals. Especially little kitties. I can't resist them.

[Astronuc]

I love kids and animals, so I smile at children, probably until they are teenagers. :biggrin:

I also tend to smile at people in general. :smile: :biggrin:

I get along with dogs and cats, even those whose owner says they are shy of strangers.

[motai]

Oxytocin in one of the hormones that makes us so attracted to babies. It is the same hormone released when women start lactating. Apparently women have more neural receptors for oxytocin (and even more are made during pregnancy) (http://www.princeton.edu/~anscombe/articles/rhoads.html).Oxytocin has lots of other roles in bonding too. Other hormones also play a role. For example, high testosterone tends to inhibit oxytocin. I'm not sure on the mechanism. Gotta look it up.

So that explains the mysterious teenage girl phenomena in the presence of a baby whereby suddenly an entire group of teenage girls all sighs at the same time and in a unison high-pitched voice, say "Ohh/Ahh how cute!!!" :biggrin: I've always wondered about that.

[Mk]

So that explains the mysterious teenage girl phenomena in the presence of a baby whereby suddenly an entire group of teenage girls all sighs at the same time and in a unison high-pitched voice, say "Ohh/Ahh how cute!!!" :biggrin: I've always wondered about that.
Even ten year olds, the girls will do that.

[CosminaPrisma]

I never really smile at babies.

People think its strange when you're female and you don't smile at babies or take a huge interest....

[Mk]

Then you're a Moonbear :tongue2:

[chound]

Babies are boring.
Babies are boring:eek:
I love babies so much that I dont miss any advertisment that features babies.
They are so cute, cuddly little things that talk nonsense, whenever I'm with a baby my spirits rise up tremendously and I feel so happy without a care for the world.
You must be really cruel person to think babies are boring.
Infact I'd like to become a nusery teacher or set up a baby day care centre

[Math Is Hard]

Babies are boring:eek:
I love babies so much that I dont miss any advertisment that features babies.
They are so cute, cuddly little things that talk nonsense, whenever I'm with a baby my spirits rise up tremendously and I feel so happy without a care for the world.
You must be really cruel person to think babies are boring.
Infact I'd like to become a nusery teacher or set up a baby day care centre
Whoa! hello! - how did I miss this?
OK, it's not MY fault babies are boring and stupid That's just nature. Maybe you enjoy spending your time conversing with the pre-intelligent, but for me it's not fun or stimulating.
You have no right to say I am cruel because I don't fall into some idiotic babbling delirium in the presence of infants.

[Mk]

Hey, maybe you're right. Babies are boring and stupid. But they're kinda cute when they're not crying and pooping everywhere.

[Tojen]

I wonder if smiling and the general attraction to babies has something to do with their helplessness, which would appeal to the more care giving-oriented among us (which would probably include more women than men). I see the same thing in my dad's nursing home. Most of the women there talk to and fuss with the residents as if they're small children, even the residents who are physically incapacitated but still have all their wits about them. When I took my dad to the dentist, a couple of female dental assistants passing through the waiting room gave him those beatific smiles that women give to babies.

[Math Is Hard]

Hey, maybe you're right. Babies are boring and stupid. But they're kinda cute when they're not crying and pooping everywhere.
I've definitely softened up on my opinions since I became an Auntie five months ago. I now know at least one baby who isn't boring or stupid. It's very surprising because usually I have no idea how to interact with babies, but this one is very engaging and doesn't require any cooing or babbling from me. She even seems to like being held by me and reaches for me when she sees me. Most babies begin to scream and squirm about 2 seconds after their parents put them in my arms. I have to conclude that this is an exceptional child. The fact that I'm her Auntie has no bearing on this of course. :biggrin:

[FrogPad]

Babies are boring. And it's a scientific fact that they're stupid (http://www.physics.mcgill.ca/~arobic/funny/babies.html). I'm not sure why anyone likes them.

:rofl: I can't believe you said that. However, I'm so glad you did :)

I wouldn't have a problem with kids if they were banned from air travel, or at least required to use special planes.

[Mk]

I wonder if smiling and the general attraction to babies has something to do with their helplessness, which would appeal to the more care giving-oriented among us (which would probably include more women than men). I see the same thing in my dad's nursing home. Most of the women there talk to and fuss with the residents as if they're small children, even the residents who are physically incapacitated but still have all their wits about them. When I took my dad to the dentist, a couple of female dental assistants passing through the waiting room gave him those beatific smiles that women give to babies.
I don't want to be old! :surprised

[selfAdjoint]

I don't want to be old! :surprised

Beats the alternative!:yuck:

[Tojen]

Beats the alternative!:yuck:

That's the trouble, there's only one alternative. :cry: So far.

[arildno]

OK, it's not MY fault babies are boring and stupid That's just nature. Maybe you enjoy spending your time conversing with the pre-intelligent, but for me it's not fun or stimulating.

Neither the pre-or post-intelligent can be engaged in intellectually rewarding conversations.
They can, however, affect you strongly (in a positive sense) in other ways.

[Mk]

Post-intelligent?

[Moonbear]

So that explains the mysterious teenage girl phenomena in the presence of a baby whereby suddenly an entire group of teenage girls all sighs at the same time and in a unison high-pitched voice, say "Ohh/Ahh how cute!!!" :biggrin: I've always wondered about that.
Not to pick on your post in particular, yours is just a good example. Let's be careful not to indulge in unfounded stereotypes here. The levels of oxytocin required to form maternal bonding generally don't occur until labor is in progress. So, while one could argue that women who have already given birth would have more maternal responses to other infants, this is not a particularly likely explanation for behavior of anyone who has not given birth. Behavior or teenagers toward infants could be just as much cultural as biological. I certainly don't recall teenagers cooing over babies unless they had been around babies a lot (those that came from big families or did a lot of babysitting)...those who were not around a lot of babies tried to avoid them as much as possible.

(And, in keeping with the anectdotal sharing in the thread...I almost never have an urge to smile at a baby. If one is fussing while sitting in the cart ahead of me in line at the grocery store, I'm more likely to stick my tongue out and go "pbbbbbt" to distract it and keep it quiet while his/her mom or dad is getting the groceries from the cart to the conveyor, or I might make other faces, including cheesy big grins, to get it to mimic those faces, but just smiling...nah. And it wasn't until about 3 years ago when my nephew was born that I even started to look at infants as anything more than gooey, slimey, demanding little aliens.)

[Moonbear]

I've definitely softened up on my opinions since I became an Auntie five months ago. I now know at least one baby who isn't boring or stupid. It's very surprising because usually I have no idea how to interact with babies, but this one is very engaging and doesn't require any cooing or babbling from me. She even seems to like being held by me and reaches for me when she sees me. Most babies begin to scream and squirm about 2 seconds after their parents put them in my arms. I have to conclude that this is an exceptional child. The fact that I'm her Auntie has no bearing on this of course. :biggrin:
I had the same experience when my nephew was born. He wasn't so good for everyone, which leaves me wondering if they can somehow distinguish the closer relatives from non-relatives or more distant relatives. Maybe there are things just enough alike about my sister and I that my nephew somehow knew I was "close enough," at least until he was ready to be fed. :biggrin:

I'm not at all into the "cooing and babbling" with babies, and think its counter-productive (and just plain annoying). How are they going to start developing language skills if you babble to them or talk in "cutesy, wootsy wittle words?" If anything, I'm more careful of my words around babies and children, pronouncing things carefully and encouraging toddlers to "use your words" when asking for something.

[arildno]

Rather than "cooing and babbling", I like to make faces at babies.
That gets their attention, and usually, they start giggling at my antics.
I think that is a fun sort of "conversation" with them.

[selfAdjoint]

Rather than "cooing and babbling", I like to make faces at babies.
That gets their attention, and usually, they start giggling at my antics.
I think that is a fun sort of "conversation" with them.

With my new grandaughter (born last Winter Solstice) I did faces with my fingers wiggling in my ears or thumbing my nose. And I found she was fascinated with that finger play. I tried it agan recently, now that she was six months old, and she was still delighted by it. Suggestion for men who can't bring themselves to coo.

[arildno]

With my new grandaughter (born last Winter Solstice) I did faces with my fingers wiggling in my ears or thumbing my nose. And I found she was fascinated with that finger play. I tried it agan recently, now that she was six months old, and she was still delighted by it. Suggestion for men who can't bring themselves to coo.
Besides, it is very fun to act in such an un-adultish manner:biggrin:

Congratulations with your (relatively) new family member!

[Lisa!]

I try not to do anything in order to draw child's attention to myself! I think they're fine as long as you just watch them from distance and not to close to them...:uhh:

[vanesch]

Sometimes, babies are cute ; however, most of the time, not so. Nevertheless, I learned socially to smile at babies, and to say things like "oh, how cute", because I have the impression you're somehow expected to do so, and it is bad manners not to. So it became an automatism, like putting your hand out when meeting someone.

[Mk]

she was fascinated with that finger play. I tried it again recently... and she was still delighted by it. Suggestion for men who can't
:devil: :biggrin: This would be an absolutely completely inappropriate time to make a comment. o:) :wink: :blushing:

[Mickey]

Babies make me laugh.

I don't know, people ask, "why are you laughing?" and I have no explanation. They just do silly things. They can have a seriously goofy-looking facial expression and it won't bother them. That's funny! And they're always doing something they haven't experienced or don't know about, finding something interesting that's so trivial and banal normally. It makes you look at it in a new way, and you catch yourself, and just have to laugh it off. My nephews appear to have so much fun with stupid stuff.

Maybe I would not find it so funny if I had to live with them. Then, maybe I would find it too funny. ;)

[selfAdjoint]

Just rereading some of the posts on this thread it seems that some people have a serious problem with babies as "other"; a threat, a joke, quaint, stereotyped because they have no internal representation of the babies as real human beings.

Babies are people; they have varied personalities and reactions. Yes they all have their physical needs, which they can't service for themselves and therefore demand service from those around them. None of those needs are anything we ourselves don't need every day! Cut 'em some slack! Try to see what is unique about this baby and different from that baby; it's not hard, it just takes an atitude adjustment.

Why should you bother? Because we are all in this human mess together and it behooves us to "hang together lest we all hang separately".

[arildno]

Great post, SA!
I would like to add that the modes of communication between ourselves and a baby are, however, different than those between adults.
If I manage to get eye contact, attention, and some reaction to what I am doing, then this, IMO, is a form of communication with the baby as an individual, in particular if I let the baby have the option to do something active in return.
(For example holding out a finger in case he or she wants to grab it).

[selfAdjoint]

Great post, SA!
I would like to add that the modes of communication between ourselves and a baby are, however, different than those between adults.
If I manage to get eye contact, attention, and some reaction to what I am doing, then this, IMO, is a form of communication with the baby as an individual, in particular if I let the baby have the option to do something active in return.
(For example holding out a finger in case he or she wants to grab it).

Thanks for the complement :blushing:

Your points are very good, and worth pondering. I want to add one point. Although babies don't give the signs we are used to interpret as conscious awareness, they do have memory, apparently almost from birth. If you have taken the trouble to find a successful communications mode with a baby, the baby will remember that. No kidding!

[Mickey]

Oh, don't worry, it's an affectionate laugh.

I'm laughing WITH them. :)

(Actually, SA, if you ask me, I think more people have a problem with viewing teenagers and other young people as "other" and fail to consider that they too are human beings with the same basic rights and freedoms... such as, oh, maybe the right to consent to their educational experience? ...what a radical thought that is for some).

[Gelsamel Epsilon]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Baby.jpg
This picture illustrates the irresistible human urge for people to smile when they see an infant of their own kind. It took me about ten tries, seriously, to not smile. Its so hard. I also thinks its works better with females, or maybe they just down hold it back as much.

I didn't smile first time. I guess I'm callous =p

[Mickey]

That's not fair, when the baby is already smiling! :P

Maybe we smile because we want to them to smile, is all.