Anthropomorphizing, What's Behind It, Falling For It's? You Do It? (emotion, people)
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Animals, but not plants. I sometimes have some small empathy for plants but I do not attribute human characteristics to them (except in a poetic way, like calling a grizzled, gnarly tree, 'an old man').
Completely inanimate objects like cars or bicycles, never. They are tools.
I do see how some robots, especially if coupled with advanced AI could become as anthropomorphised as animals are currently in our culture, though. I would fight against that urge. In fact I would be rather more inclined to demonize intelligent machines than anthropomorphize them.
I usually don't anthropomorphize. I enjoy the company of cats and dogs, as well as watching animals in zoos, but I keep them in perspective. I like feeding them, petting them, and playing with them. I keep them out of harm's way as much as I can. But I'm well-aware that a dog or a cat is still an animal, with an animal mind, shaped by thousands of years of evolution from their respective wild ancestors. Bonding with humans is simply something they evolved to do, and we're better off for it. Heck, they can even be better companions than some people. But underneath all that, they's still animals.
As for anthropomorphize AI robots, hell no! Robots are nothing more than glorified computers. And since I work in IT, I have no faith in computers; I see them break down time and time again. Heck, I'd trust a human surgeon over a robot any day.
Last edited by MillennialUrbanist; 12-17-2016 at 10:26 AM..
I remember being puzzled in high school about the kids who had names for their cars. This was really common with the farm kids and I suspect part of it was because they were only a generation removed from using horses on the farms.
There's an old story in my home town about the first automobiles and a farmer driving his new-fangled machine into town for the first time. But when it failed to start for the return trip, after many attempts he got out a mallet, went to the front and smashed both of the headlights. "There," he announced to curious bystanders, "if you ain't gonna go, you ain't gonna see neither."
I've just never felt any kinship with a machine but DH has, I think, (secret) love affairs with all his vehicles and tools.
The only non-sentient thing I ever remember anthropomorphizing was out of boredom when I was about eight and had to dry the dishes every night after supper. The silverware was particularly tiresome so I made a game out of it where the salad forks were brothers (with crew cuts) the larger forks uncles, tablespoons sisters, soupspoons mothers and aunts and the carving knives were the fathers. Then it really took me a long time to wipe them all dry but at least it was enjoyable.
We got into some good discussion of the kinds of things we anthropomorphize, and haw we thinks it connected to "an excess of empathy."
My example from just this morning:
I have a little cup thing of Q-tips on my bathroom shelf. It was down to 2 Q-tips left, and I used one this morning. I saw that one left all by itself, and decided I had to either
A. Use that one too, even though I had already gotten all the soap out of my ears, or
B. Refill the cup with more Q-tips from the package, so the last one would not be all alone and it would have "friends."
Today I chose B, but every time, it's one or the other. I just can't leave that lonely little Q-tip there all by itself!
Oh gosh! You're "nutsy cuckoo" like me. I never leave a piece of silverware "alone" in a dishwasher bin - especially if I'm going to be gone for an extended period of time. I group them, so they can "visit" while waiting to get washed.
Very rarely, I actually sometimes "feel sorry" for inanimate objects - especially if I am depressed over something totally unrelated. A tossed toy or even a Styrofoam cup laying on the side of a road can at times get me quite upset - not that it's litter, it just got rejected through no fault of its own, I guess. I never could figure out what that was all about.
PW Singer/The Robotics Revolution And Conflict in the 21 Century
"Humans have a natural inclination to 'anthropomorphize," to give human characteristics to something that is not human. Indeed we are hard-wired that way. In our brains are clusters of nerve cells called mirror neurons. These neurons fire up when we recognize the object we are looking at as alive and deserving of empathy; that is, we "mirror" ourselves onto. When scientists at the U of CA-San Diego studied the brain scans of people looking at a robot, they found that their mirror neurons were firing up. That is, the people had much of the same brain activity that they would have if they were interacting with a real person, even though the rest of their brain knew that it was just a machine."
"Our machine creations are not just 'neutral' objects to us. We not only tend to view them as having their own personalities, but also feel that they deserve some form of emotional attention and engagement."
With all the robots in the military today, there are those in the military who have broken down and had a good cry when one of the "buddy" robots got "killed"/blown up by a roadside bomb, and they rushed it to the Robot Hospital in Iraq, pleading with the "nurses"/"doctors" to bring it back to health. One military man got killed, trying to rescue his Robot from harm.
I love reading this stuff as if anyone considers me weird/insane for getting attached to It's, I just shove this article in their faces, and argue they're the ones that are weird/insane!
How about you? What It's do you anthropomorphize the most? Your Car? Smartphone? House?
Vacuum cleaner? Microwave oven? Bicycle?
I'm at my most "insane" with my car! Come to think of it, I haven't visited my car in the garage, and talked to it, for well over 4 hours now, it must be getting lonely!
The only anthropomorphizing I can think of is sometimes "seeing" faces on the front ends of cars. Otherwise, I can't think of anything. I do not think of my car as a living being, and I haven't named it. (Some people name their cars.)
We got into some good discussion of the kinds of things we anthropomorphize, and haw we thinks it connected to "an excess of empathy."
My example from just this morning:
I have a little cup thing of Q-tips on my bathroom shelf. It was down to 2 Q-tips left, and I used one this morning. I saw that one left all by itself, and decided I had to either
A. Use that one too, even though I had already gotten all the soap out of my ears, or
B. Refill the cup with more Q-tips from the package, so the last one would not be all alone and it would have "friends."
Today I chose B, but every time, it's one or the other. I just can't leave that lonely little Q-tip there all by itself!
HaHaHa - you are worse than me - I didn't think it was possible. When I throw away a contact lens case I always put the tops back on so they are "together" in the garbage. Ditto for toothpaste tops. An "excess of empathy" - I like that expression. I definitely suffer from it. Sometimes when it's freezing cold up north I think about the homeless people and animals and wonder how they are surviving. What about horses and cows in the pastures. Are they cold or does their fur keep them warm? How do they drink when it's so cold the water probably freezes?
No wonder I can't sleep well at night. I'm a crazy person.
Ahh, plants. My aunt passed away in October and we were there over the weekend. There was a poor little plant on the lanai that was dry as a bone. I gave it some water and spoke gently to it: "here you go, you must have been so thirsty with no water for weeks and weeks". Crap, I forgot to check on it today when I was there. Hopefully it's okay, it looked to be a cactus sort of plant that probably doesn't need much water or it would have died by now. I hope.
Seeing as how I built a shelter for two wild cats on my deck last winter- complete with electric blankets and hot water bottles, I'd say I do tend to anthropomorphize animals quite a lot. I save bugs from the pool, I gave ladybugs little globs of fruit to keep them alive... I tend to go a bit overboard with concern over the safety and comfort of animals. I call them "little frieeeeeennnnndsss!" in a way that causes me to feel annoyed with myself, even.
I do agree that the most empathetic people are the ones who do this. Some people can have a pet cat and just kind of let it hang out and do its thing. Not me. I worry to such an excessive degree about keeping it safe and "happy" that it impedes upon my life at times. After our 19 year old cat, Penny, passed in March and then the little feral cat, (his name was Hoots!) passed in June, we decided to take a break from having pets. I kept telling my husband that while Hoots had a short life, at least he knew he was loved. (See, anthropomorphizing again!) Because man oh man, did I ever love that little fluffball up a storm.
Now I just watch the birds and squirrels in my yard and pretend they're having deep discussions with one another. Hey, it could happen.
I suppose the things I do anthropomorphize are books, be it fiction or reference. Especially old books. Or books that were gifts from friends and family. I treat them with great respect, and only read them in situations where they can't be dropped or damaged, like on a spacious sofa or at a clean table, and I make sure my hands are clean before handling them. I also feel bad if I lightly damage them somehow. Even if I need to use a cookbook, I photocopy a recipe page on my home printer, and only take the copy into the kitchen. I'm also reluctant to lend books to people; my friends learned to accept it, and generally don't ask. (Needless to say, "Fahrenheit 451" is not my favorite novel. )
The sole exceptions to the above are computer study manuals and PUA (dating) guides. I read them in the bathroom, I spill coffee and beer on them, I read them while eating messy foods, and I use them as height equalizers for wobbly tables. I also lend them to people with only minimal concern about getting them back undamaged.
Last edited by MillennialUrbanist; 12-18-2016 at 10:20 AM..
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