Comments on: Human beings are susceptible to supernormal stimuli, too https://www.isegoria.net/2019/01/human-beings-are-susceptible-to-supernormal-stimuli-too/ From the ancient Greek for equality in freedom of speech; an eclectic mix of thoughts, large and small Thu, 21 May 2026 16:19:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6.1 By: CMOT https://www.isegoria.net/2019/01/human-beings-are-susceptible-to-supernormal-stimuli-too/comment-page-1/#comment-2726622 CMOT Sat, 05 Jan 2019 00:14:33 +0000 https://www.isegoria.net/?p=44313#comment-2726622 I’m pretty sure this explains Stormy Daniels.

]]> By: Wan Wei Lin https://www.isegoria.net/2019/01/human-beings-are-susceptible-to-supernormal-stimuli-too/comment-page-1/#comment-2726432 Wan Wei Lin Fri, 04 Jan 2019 06:06:45 +0000 https://www.isegoria.net/?p=44313#comment-2726432 Bigger is better is innate. That explains a few things.

]]> By: Bruce https://www.isegoria.net/2019/01/human-beings-are-susceptible-to-supernormal-stimuli-too/comment-page-1/#comment-2726295 Bruce Thu, 03 Jan 2019 17:59:45 +0000 https://www.isegoria.net/?p=44313#comment-2726295 I wonder if the big eyes on ancient Greek galleys were there to scare something besides other Greeks.

]]> By: Mike in Boston https://www.isegoria.net/2019/01/human-beings-are-susceptible-to-supernormal-stimuli-too/comment-page-1/#comment-2726260 Mike in Boston Thu, 03 Jan 2019 15:39:43 +0000 https://www.isegoria.net/?p=44313#comment-2726260 The oversized eyes of stuffed animals, dolls, and cartoon characters are supernormal, he reasoned, kick-starting our instinctive response to nurture anything with infantile facial features.

I can’t say whether or not savvy marketers had this knowledge even before Tinbergen, but they sure put it to use in recent decades. You think Elmo got his fuzzy pelt, big eyes, and red color by accident? There’s some discussion in Susan Thomas’s Buy, Buy Baby: How Consumer Culture Manipulates Parents and Harms Young Minds.

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