Cats As Horror Movie Villains
Importance: 1 | # | cats, gwern
Do people like watching cats because of their neotenous appearance? [...] I speculate that there may be an evolutionary psychology reason: cats in Africa prey on primates to a degree I suspect few people appreciate, and this seems to have been true for millions of years.
[...] it is rewarding to safely experience dangerous situations, paradoxical as it may seem: learning is rewarding. Cats are compelling to watch in the way that a villain is compelling to watch. Villains act; heroes react.