https://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2012/03/03/why-do-cats-run-the-internet/feed/HotAir is the leading conservative blog for breaking news and commentary covering the Biden administration, politics, media, culture, and current elections.en-usTue, 09 Jun 2026 11:10:20 -0400<![CDATA[But why have cats specifically been so successful at soliciting our attention? One hypothesis is that there is a fateful link between cats and human babies that explains their Internet stardom. According to Michael Newall, a philosopher of art at the University of Kent, our inordinate interest in cats may derive from their formal resemblance to our offspring—their big eyes, smallish noses, and dome-shaped heads trigger the evolutionary nurturing instincts that we have evolved toward babies. There may even be a multiplying “superstimulus” effect at work: Newall posits that the exaggerated proportions of cats’ baby-like features prompt an exaggeratedly intense, and involuntary, response in people.]]>Sat, 03 Mar 2012 20:30:03 -0500<![CDATA[Allahpundit]]>https://hotair.com/headlines/2012/03/03/why-do-cats-run-the-internet-n278984