Massage Your Brain By Watching People Cook Doll-Sized Food

It's Sunday morning, which means it's time to set aside all the woes in your world (work, acne, general meaninglessness of your existence) and indulge in some designated relaxation time. For many people, this is achieved by enduring the two-hour wait at your favorite corner brunch spot and sucking down a trifecta of Bloody Marys while discussing the previous night's most sordid details. But if you're too hung over to pace aimlessly in front of a diner's facade with other annoyed coffee-cup-toting zombies for a length of time equivalent to the duration of an action film, there are others ways to get your feast on that require nothing more than the very internet-equipped device that you're reading these words on.

I'm talking, of course, about the ever-magical world of YouTube and all of its totally weird yields—in this case, the wealth and breadth of videos of people making adorable miniature food for the sake of making adorable miniature food. It's a whole big thing.

For those not familiar with Konapun videos, what you are watching is a person using a toy kit to elaborately and meticulously construct a tiny replica of a pizza, or hamburger, or chicken nuggets, or an ice cream sundae, or whatever other thing of cuteness happens to be on the menu. There are molds and pots and pans and tiny strainers and whisks, and an assortment of mysterious powders that turn into goo of the appropriate consistency for whatever food they are meant to resemble. There are Lilliputian fishcakes and Lilliputian scallions to top your Lilliputian ramen.

Sometimes accompanied by equally precious music (resembling either a Casio keyboard demo or a new composition by Sufjan Stevens) but mostly just soundtracked with the noises of gently scraping plastic and crackling packaging, the ASMR-like videos inspire a peculiar sensation of satisfaction. There is no nail-biting about whether or not the spaghetti or shortcake or sushi will successfully come into fruition. Rest assured, it will. All of the necessary parts and pieces are here. Everything is in its right place.

So, what's the point, exactly?

We're not sure. But it seems like this is one of those things where the "journey" is more important than the "destination." The pursuit of cuteness is a noble one.

If watching people make itty bitty fake food that can't even be snacked on is simply too stupid for your tastes, try watching Kawaii Kitchen, where the dishes are still perfect for force-feeding to your American Girl doll but are at least made out of actual edible ingredients instead of powdered latex or whatever that is in those packets. Just look at this QT mac 'n' cheese!

What is it with miniature stuff that humans love so much, anyway—why do we sigh and smile at the sight of something uselessly small? Well, it's probably just a neotenic/pedomorphic thing—the torm for our evolutionarily developed response to ooh and aah over all things small and big-eyed so that we'll be more likely to take adequate care of our babies and ensure the survival of our race. Looking at cute stuff really does kind of massage your weird little brain. And that's not even to factor in the general joys of watching cooking shows, which are pleasure-inducing in their own right.

But if all of this is just making you hungry and kind of weirding you out, don't worry—maybe the wait at that brunch place isn't that long anymore.

This article originally appeared on MUNCHIES in January 2015.