Anthropomorphism

Anthropomorphism is where people like stuff because it has human traits. If you think about it we apply anthropomorphism to a huge amount of things on all kinds of levels and we do it on a massive scale, often almost completely unconsciously.

We like fluffy bunnies and kittens because they have characteristics and features and behaviours which we can relate to like having a nose, eyes, a mouth and ears whereas insects and fish don’t receive the same treatment because they lack these characteristics.

And then we apply this to stuff we make too. Things like C3PO who has arms, legs, eyes, nose, mouth and ears. But he clearly isn’t human because he’s made of metal and painted gold.

And then we also apply this kind of thing to inanimate objects. One of my favourites is Eat Me dates. Ok, so its just a box with dates in it. But it has ‘eat me’ written on the front. The package is expressing to you that it is good to be eaten. What a bizarre thing to express. ‘Hi, I’m Nick, you should consume me because I taste yummy.’

Anyway, I came across the uncanny valley a while ago. This is chart that shows how amenable people are to things which have anthropomorphic tendencies. With things that have human traits but are clearly not human being delivering a positive emotional response and things that are very human also delivering a positive emotional response.

But then stuff that looks very nearly human but isn’t quite human delivers a negative emotional response. The uncanny valley. As illustrated in this graph which I stole off Wikipedia.

And its spot on. Think about it, things that we don’t like but have anthropomorphic tendencies deliver a negative emotional response. Things like, zombies, Darth Maul and (my particular favourite) the Sun Maid raisin lady.

Further reading.