wedrifid comments on Babies and Bunnies: A Caution About Evo-Psych - Less Wrong
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I have heard it said that in general dogs seem cute because they bred themselves to exploit us more so than us breeding them. Actual breeding came somewhat later on.
You're right - I should've said "selected" instead of "bred" - they became cuter under selection pressure from humans.
Saying dogs bred themselves implies a motive rather than an evolutionary selection bias. Humans do consciously breed dogs, while cuter dogs merely happened to be more successful around humans.
Notably, it is in the human interaction that the dogs' cuteness is helpful, whoever it ends up being helpful to.