Why are you addicted to the Winter Olympics' top star Bing Dwen Dwen? It turns out it's the "stimulation trap" engraved in your genes

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Compiled by New Media Editor Li Yunfeng

Bing Dwen Dwen has been named the new top star of the Beijing Winter Olympics! It was sold out online and offline. Some people queued up all night to buy Bing Dwen Dwen. In Japan, Bing Dwen Dwen figures were even sold for 10,000 yen (555 yuan). The spokesperson of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee has responded: They are coordinating with relevant parties to increase the supply of Bing Dwen Dwen.

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Bing Dwen Dwen is hard to find

In the magnificent scene at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, there were 6 lively and cute "Bing Dwen Dwen" dancing happily on the field, and everyone was overwhelmed by their liveliness and cuteness!

▲Bing Dwen Dwen's expression pack of shaking snow successfully melted everyone's hearts (Photo source: CCTV News)

▲At the opening ceremony, he happily waved the little heart in his hand, which was particularly eye-catching (Photo source: CCTV News)

Who wouldn’t want such a cute Bing Dwen Dwen? So everyone rushed to buy it! But what no one expected was that it became so popular!

On the evening of February 5, after the Beijing Winter Olympics short track speed skating mixed team 2000m relay final, the top three teams received exclusive customized "Bing Dwen Dwen" souvenirs. Because the Winter Olympics venues are relatively cold, the souvenirs will be awarded at the venues first, and the more grand award ceremony will be held in a special award plaza. The souvenirs prepared by China for the athletes from various countries are gold-plated Bing Dwen Dwen figures!

(Photo source: Xinhua News Agency)

This move has made many netizens envious. The whole network is asking, where can I buy a Bing Dwen Dwen?

The temperature in Beijing has been hovering between -5° and 5° over the past two days, but there have been long queues in front of the "Beijing 2022 Official Licensed Merchandise Flagship Store" in Wangfujing, Beijing from morning to night.

One netizen said, "I came here excitedly, but came back empty-handed and disappointed. I couldn't find the end of the horrible long line. When I found the end, the queue was closed! I came here to envy other people's spoils. Each person is limited to one, but others came here early in the morning to line up, and they had to wait for five or six hours before they could buy one. And whether they can buy it depends on luck."

Even if you queue up the night before, you still can’t buy Bing Dwen Dwen offline, so what about online? On the day of the release, more than one million netizens flocked to the Tmall Olympic Official Flagship Store. However, as soon as they entered the store, they could only see a "out of stock" reminder.

(Photo source: Shangguan News)

Even the Prince of Monaco wanted to take two Bing Dwen Dwens home, because he had a pair of twins at home, and if he only took one Bing Dwen Dwen back, the two children would quarrel. It seems that no one can escape the charm of Bing Dwen Dwen! Even the prince's children are the same.

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Why is Bing Dwen Dwen so likable?

People have always been unable to resist cute things, and Bing Dwen Dwen's big eyes, short arms and legs, and disproportionately large head - these baby-like features make it look innocent, cute and lovable despite its energetic appearance.

In the 20th century, Nobel laureates Konrad Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen described the features people consider cute or lovable, the “infant schema”: round eyes, chubby cheeks, high brow ridges, small chins, and a large head to small body proportions.

These traits are crucial to human evolution because they help the brain recognize weak infants and give them the attention and care to help them survive.

From the outside, many "cute things" look fragile and vulnerable, but the characteristic of "cuteness" is very powerful. In 2016, Morten L. Kringelbach and others from Oxford University published a review on "cuteness" in Trends in Cognitive Sciences. In the article, they said that "cuteness" is "one of the most basic and powerful forces that can shape human behavior."

Judgment of cuteness may be essential for humans. Klingebach's research team conducted an experiment in which they showed the faces of babies and adults and examined the brain activity of the subjects when they saw these images. They found that the brain reacted in less than one-seventh of a second after seeing the "cute things". His research team concluded that "cuteness" is the first key to unlock the brain's rapid attention resources, after which the brain network related to sympathy and empathy will come into play.

If cuteness is such an important key, can a locksmith forge a master key? Decades ago, Lorenz and Tinbergen introduced the concept of "supernormal stimulus," a stimulus that is more prominent or intense than a natural stimulus. In a classic experiment, Tinbergen found that if real goose eggs were placed together with white volleyballs, geese were more likely to roll the volleyballs back to their nests. In the eyes of these geese, the larger, rounder white volleyballs were obviously more attractive than real goose eggs. Here, the volleyballs were a supernormal stimulus.

Similarly, Bing Dwen Dwen’s baby features may be more prominent than those of real babies, making it a supernormal stimulus: too cute, irresistibly cute, but not as high maintenance as real babies. This “cuteness” doesn’t make us want to actually raise a Bing Dwen Dwen or a giant panda (does it?), but our brains are still “hijacked” by the oversized eyes and two-headed body of such cute images.

Cute cartoon characters, like supernormal stimuli such as high-sugar foods, stimulate the nucleus accumbens in our brains, a neural structure that is critical in the brain's reward circuit. Neurons in the nucleus accumbens can release dopamine, the "source of happiness." As people's cultural awareness of cuteness continues to deepen, big eyes or round faces may become more popular.

I finally understand why Bing Dwen Dwen is so popular. It turns out that this is the "stimulation trap" engraved in their genes.

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Why is Bing Dwen Dwen so popular?

Although she is young, Bing Dwen Dwen has seen a lot: she once flew to the moon with Chang'e 5 and landed on Mars with Tianwen 1. She witnessed the preparations for the Winter Olympics and the great achievements of China's development. On her palm, there is a red heart pattern, expressing her welcome to all the Winter Olympic athletes. No wonder everyone likes such warm details.

The small "Bing Dwen Dwen" exudes great energy.

On the stage of the Winter Olympics, the amiable and lovely images express the hospitality of the Chinese people and convey the rich connotations of Chinese culture. The mascots of large-scale events often show the characteristics of the host city to the world in a vivid anthropomorphic form, becoming an indispensable part of sports culture. From the mascots of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, "Fuwa", to the mascot of the Beijing Winter Olympics, "Bing Dwen Dwen", they are all welcomed and loved by guests from all over the world.

The small "Bing Dwen Dwen" plays a big role.

Sports competitions have unique advantages in the exchanges between different countries and regions; they are an important bridge for the exchange and mutual learning of different civilizations. From the emblem to the mascot, from the medals to the sports icons, the series of designs for the Beijing Winter Olympics all reflect the profound heritage and diversity of Chinese culture, and show a contemporary image of China that is facing the world and full of vitality.

The small "Bing Dwen Dwen" carries a great mission.

When every winning athlete raises it to salute countless watching eyes, the affinity and enthusiasm, friendliness and confidence represented by "Bing Dwen Dwen" are also telling the world about a real and credible China.

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How was Bing Dwen Dwen born?

Origin of the name

"Ice" is one of the abbreviations of ice and snow sports. The color of ice is pure, crystal clear and transparent. It symbolizes purity and strength, and also represents the characteristics of the Winter Olympics.

The original meaning of "dundun" is a pile of earth, thick and rough stones, wood or building foundations, etc. People often use the nickname "fat dundun" to describe lively and cute children, which means honest, solid and cute. This also fits the overall image of pandas, and also symbolizes the strong body, indomitable will and inspiring Olympic spirit of Winter Olympic athletes.

The three Chinese characters put together - "Bing Dwen Dwen" - make the mascot's name more cute and lively. The English name of "Bing Dwen Dwen" - Bing Dwen Dwen - is also easier for foreign friends to pronounce.

The shape of Bing Dwen Dwen

The inspiration for Bing Dwen Dwen's helmet comes from the "Ice Ribbon", the National Speed ​​Skating Oval of the Beijing Winter Olympics, and the colors of the halo represent the five colors of the "Five Rings". The space-like clothing on Bing Dwen Dwen also represents the direction of future human exploration.

In addition, every time different events start, "Bing Dwen Dwen" can change clothes instantly - "Bing Dwen Dwen" can be equipped with ice skates, goggles, etc., and become the image ambassador of each event. For example, Bing Dwen Dwen for speed skating, Bing Dwen Dwen for figure skating, Bing Dwen Dwen for curling, Bing Dwen Dwen for freestyle skiing...

(Photo source: Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee official website)

Regarding the design process of Bing Dwen Dwen, Cao Xue, a professor at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, told CCTV reporters the story behind it.

▲Cao Xue, professor at Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts

The design team led by Cao Xue consisted of 14 people, all of whom were teachers and graduate students from the School of Visual Arts and Design. During the nearly ten months of creation and revision, everyone had almost no holidays, and they revised and discussed repeatedly every day, drawing a total of tens of thousands of manuscripts. In the end, the "Bing Dwen Dwen" image designed with the panda as the prototype stood out from nearly 6,000 works from 35 countries.

▲The design manuscript of the image of "Bing Dwen Dwen"

In fact, before Bing Dwen Dwen, the original image design of the Beijing Winter Olympics mascot was a string of candied haws. Liu Pingyun, chief executive of the design of the Beijing Winter Olympics mascot Bing Dwen Dwen, said that as a southerner, his deep impression of the north is candied haws, so he initially designed several versions of the mascot image using candied haws.

(Photo source: Beijing Daily)

The sugar coating of the candied haws is liquid and solidified, and is transparent like ice, which reminds people of ice and snow sports.

(Photo source: Beijing Daily)

However, considering that candied haws is a snack and its size cannot bear the image of a great power, the design team changed their thinking and considered replacing the images of tigers, rabbits, elks, etc. under the ice shell, but they still felt it was inappropriate.

(Photo source: Beijing Daily)

Finally, everyone felt that the national treasure panda is the most loved by people all over the world, so Bing Dwen Dwen was designed as a panda. In order to make the panda look more likable, Cao Xue and her team members flew to the Wolong Giant Panda Nature Reserve in Sichuan for field observations. They found that young pandas walk with their feet turned inward, and their head-to-body ratio is different from that of adult pandas, so they adopted the image of a young panda to make it look more cute.

According to the design concept, the plush texture of Bing Dwen Dwen and the crystal-clear shell, these two materials will form a "contrasting and unified" beauty. Children can also disassemble it when playing. Before the official announcement of "Bing Dwen Dwen", the Winter Olympics Organizing Committee mixed two sets of mascot combination candidates for the Winter Olympics and Paralympics with pictures downloaded from the Internet, and placed them in front of 240 primary school students in Beijing, asking them to choose their favorite works. In the end, "Bing Dwen Dwen" won with an absolute advantage in popularity.

(Contents are compiled from CCTV News, Beijing Daily, Xinhua News Agency, Global Science, Shangguan News, Tencent Video, CCTV News, Global Network, People's Daily, etc.)

Produced by: Science Central Kitchen

Produced by: Beijing Science and Technology News | Beijing Science and Technology Media

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