Humanish
What Talking to Your Cat or Naming Your Car Reveals About the Uniquely Human Need to Humanize
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A playful deep dive into anthropomorphism (our peculiar tendency to humanize the nonhuman) that will resonate with anyone who has thrown a birthday party for their dog.
Bestselling science writer Justin Gregg explores the science behind our instinct to see ourselves in the creatures and objects around us. Ours is a world filled with emotional support alligators, a woman who married her briefcase, and Soviet super babies that drink dolphin milk. Delivered with a delightful mix of scientific insight and humor, Humanish is a groundbreaking exploration of one of the most powerful—but rarely talked about—cognitive biases influencing our behavior.
Through quirky stories and fascinating research, Gregg unravels the reasons behind why we treat our pets like babies, fall in love with chatbots, and talk to our cars. Discover how anthropomorphism drives both consumerism and the coming AI revolution, and how the inverse process, dehumanization, allows us to treat our fellow humans so inhumanely. Explore the brighter side of anthropomorphism’s biological benefits—it helps us connect with other humans and make sense of our unpredictable world. Humanish is filled with captivating stories and invaluable ideas of how we can harness our understanding of anthropomorphism to build healthier relationships and enrich our lives.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Anthropomorphism is an "utterly charming linchpin of the human mind," contends animal cognition researcher Gregg (If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal) in this captivating survey. His study of the tendency to assign human-like attributes to the nonhuman covers household pets, cars, hurricanes, and teddy bears. Among other examples, Gregg describes a couple in search of a location for a dolphin-assisted water birth (some people believe the animals "are genuinely interested in helping humans deliver their babies") and explains the tendency to humanize chatbots. It's not all silly; Gregg also covers anthropomorphism's darker side, including its manipulative use by politicians and advertisers, as when an Ikea ad garnered sympathy for a "poor, abandoned little lamp." Elsewhere, he digs into how "the twisting of the Anthropo-Dial" can lead people to view groups other than their own as less than human. Delivering more than a compendium of colorful anecdotes, Gregg uses these examples to discuss evolutionary theories of anthropomorphism that posit it ensures humans "never miss the opportunity" to connect socially and may function as a "prediction-making device" for others' desires. Filled with intriguing stories and astute explanations, this is a superb work of popular science.
