Humans will pet anything
Humans will pet anything
Not mine, but by several people on tumblr (Archive.org link in case the tumblr link pushes a sign in)
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Did things evolve to like to be petted because humans like to pet everything
OR..
Did humans evolve to like to pet everything because everything on earth responds in some way to touch?
Touch is nice. All creatures big enough to be petted respond to touch.
Even my fishes like being gently petted (and no I don’t do it a lot, my hands stay out of my tanks most of the time). I put my hands in the tank and they brush themselves up against my fingertips, gently waving through the water.
I had a couple of football sized koi that loved getting rubs on the ridge on their "head". I also had a tortoise who loved head pats, she was a weird one though. Seemed far more social than any tortoise I'd met before. It was both adorable and terrifying to see her tear ass when I'd visit in the morning. It wasn't that she was fast, she just didn't care who or what was between her and I.
Tortoises love pets and shell scratches. I have never seen a tortoise that was well taken care of that wasn't friendly and outgoing. I think people really underestimate how social and how loving some reptiles can be.
I like to think something random and really specific like this might be the Great Filter.
Warning for Reddit link, but… The Great Filter: Cheat Code literally has our bond with a certain animal be why we passed one of, I think three? great filters