I love this
image of the cat (in the hat) and Bing Crosby.
It’s taken from one of my
favorite Christmas movies, the classic, “The Bells of St. Mary’s,” starring Mr.
Crosby and Ingrid Bergman.
The humorous
scene involves Bing Crosby’s character, Father O’Malley, addressing the parish
of nuns he recently was appointed to. It’s seemingly “business as usual,” as he
embarks on his speech, that is, until a cat gets ahold of his hat on the
fireplace mantel. For the next few minutes, as Father O’Malley is all about
church business, and the nuns are all chuckling at the adorable scene of the
cat stumbling around in that hat which is too big for his cute little fuzzy
head.
It hardly
seems like a great example of productivity.
But
recently, the cute factor was studied regarding productivity. Check out more of
what a recent article, written by Liz Acosta, “Japanese
Study: Looking at Cute Things Makes You Smarter,” mentioned:
“…In
a series of tests, researchers at Japan's Hiroshima University asked 48
subjects -- all between the ages of 18 and 22, right handed, and equally
divided between men and women -- to play a game similar to the classically
anxiety-inducing Operation after viewing a variety of images ranging from food,
people, and adult and baby animals. The experiment was designed to test for
fine motor dexterity. During the multiple times subjects played the game, they
were shown images of puppies and kittens before at least one of those sessions…
…The results? In the rounds following the
puppy and kitten viewings, subjects performed about 44 percent better. Viewing
adult dogs and cats also helped subjects play the game better, but only by 5
percent…
…In another experiment designed to test
concentration, 16 students were given the task of identifying a particular
number (for example, the number 6) out of a group of 40 printed on sheets of
paper without pointing. They were similarly shown images of baby
animals, grown-up animals, and foods such as pasta, steak, and sushi. Students
performed better after viewing baby animals, while images of adult animals and
food had no effect.
In their last test, a set of 36 subjects
were tested for focus by responding to letters on a screen. Again, the group of
18 women and 18 men was shown images of baby animals, adult animals, and
appetizing food. And again, subjects who looked at the baby animals were able
to focus better than the subjects who looked at adult animals or food….
…While the study did not explore how and why
looking at cute adorable fuzzy babies makes us smarter, researchers concluded ‘that
perceiving cuteness not only improves fine motor skills but also increases
perceptual carefulness.’ The researchers added, ‘This study provides further
evidence that perceiving cuteness exerts immediate effects on cognition and
behavior in a wider context than that related to caregiving or social
interaction.’"
In today’s
popular culture landscape, there are numerous cute websites out there, like
“Cute Overload,” “Dog Shaming,” “Love Meow” and “I Can Has Cheezburger” (their
spelling and grammar, not mine), just waiting to preoccupy us. I have often
sunken into the vortex myself every single time I get writer’s block.
And yes, looking
those cute critters are often times more enjoyable than our actual work
environment.
But could it
be that there is a spiritual law in effect here?
Anyone?
Anyone?
“Finally, brothers and sisters,
whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or
praiseworthy—think about such things.”
Philippians 4:8
Works for
me!
What if,
indeed, thinking on things which inspire either awe or “awwwwwh,” we were more
productive, healthier and happier? We often make things more complicated than
they need to be, don’t we?
This holiday
season, let’s take more time to look at and think about some cute, sweet, good,
kind and whimsical things.
Go! Go
ahead, check out Cute Overload now!
Copyright © 2015 by
Sheryle Cruse
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