"We are often mocked for treating our pets like furry little humans by talking to them or throwing them birthday parties, or maybe feel weird when we find ourselves apologizing to AI chatbots. These are examples of anthropomorphism; a behavior where we treat a non-human thing like we would a fellow human. It's a behavior that is generally viewed in a negative light, if not something akin to delusion."
"As someone who has studied and written about the cognitive and emotional lives of nonhuman animals (animals) for many decades, I've read various accounts about the good, the bad, and the ugly of anthropomorphism. However, there is more to "being anthropomor" than just referring to nonhumans. For this and many other reasons I truly enjoyed Justin Gregg's highly acclaimed new book Humanish: What Talking to Your Cat or Naming Your Car Reveals About the Uniquely Human Need to Humanize."
Anthropomorphism involves attributing human traits, intentions, or emotions to animals, objects, or concepts. People commonly anthropomorphize by talking to pets, celebrating them, or apologizing to AI chatbots. The tendency has evolutionary roots and often yields benefits such as increased empathy and improved animal welfare. Anthropomorphism can also lead to distortions, misinterpretations of nonhuman minds, or inappropriate decisions that cause harm. Anthropomorphism can paradoxically obscure human-like qualities in other humans when applied indiscriminately. Overall, the behavior is frequently harmless or beneficial but requires awareness to avoid negative outcomes.
Read at Psychology Today
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]