Source: Gary Larson, he of the Far Side
I’m sure you’ve noticed, as I have, that oftentimes you can add a bit of levity to a serious situation by…turning the intangible elements of it into humanoid-like characters.
And let’s face it – it cements one’s understanding in a playful way. Think back to your early childhood years, like oh I don’t know – Dr. Seuss for one – and how his characters must’ve seemed very nonsensical yet the epitome of anthropomorphism.
The twentieth century certainly saw its share of this. Just look at Walt Disney and how he created a trillion-dollar industry out of it. Or, if you’ve got more intellectual inclinations, there was George Orwell’s Animal Farm with Napoleon the pig. Even in the century prior (albeit co-opted by Disney) was Alice in Wonderland, with the March Hare and the White Rabbit.
Out of all that and more, came a more ubiquitous use of anthropomorphism in popular culture. One couldn’t imagine modern literature, animation, and satire without it. And to think there the notion lay the whole time prior, yet not even Shakespeare thought to use it!
Various philosophers and psychologists – notably David Hume and Sigmund Freud – have tried to rationalize why we have this tendency to think in anthropomorphic terms. Explanations have revolved around a need to make the world more familiar to oneself, less threatening and hostile even. https://www.britannica.com/topic/anthropomorphism
The world is chronically ambiguous, and there’s always this subconscious desire to attach some human-centric meaning to part of it. Of course, this gets into the absurd at times – recall in the aughts how someone tried to sell a piece of “Jesus toast” on e-bay. That goes WAYY beyond thinking you see a certain personage in the clouds.
Maybe some of you remember the brilliant comic strip “The Far Side”, by Gary Larson. He was truly the master of anthropormorphism. Google his work if, by some chance, you’re not familiar with him. You’ll see images of bugs on vacation, chickens going to a natural history museum, a classroom of skunks, and a rude awakening from a camel in the middle of the night.
To paraphrase a great 90s song, what if dogs were one of us?
Psych Central says on their website, “Anthropomorphizing might make it easier for you to experience connectedness and empathy. If you tend to anthropomorphize, you may also have more moral thoughts and experience more guilt after hurting someone.” https://psychcentral.com/health/why-do-we-anthropomorphize#benefits
Wow. Who knew?!?
Well, on a more sombre note… anthropomorphism has been attributed to the burgeoning field of A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) in which AI algorithms have been likened to a person – especially in applications like ChatGPT, which has been known to simulate virtual companions or therapists. That’s more of a stretch beyond giving animals human traits – you’re bestowing their traits on an intangible entity!
I’m an avid follower of the British-originating suspense-and-horror series Black Mirror; in one of the episodes, titled “Be Right Back”, a young pregnant woman is suddenly bereaved as her partner never returns from a drive out at night. Through a specialty AI-centric firm, she gets a phone app that simulates his manner of speech – cue the creepiness factor. It gets “better”, though: she gets this vanilla dummy that can be customized to resemble her lost love, which she does, but he (it?) doesn’t fully embrace the traits of her former – and real – fiancé.
And this came out in Feb. 2013, just over a dozen years ago. A harbinger of things yet to come, perhaps?
Where it’s not so creepy – but more of an impressive form of entertainment – was on the Jeopardy stage back in 2011 when erstwhile Jeopardy champ Ken Jennings went up again IBM’s “Watson”. The late great Alex Trebek would address this cyber-competitor by its name, Watson, as it buzzed in to respond to clues with questions. A fine bit of anthropomorphism, that was!
Also, to Jeopardy’s credit, in their category of “16-letter words”, one of the answers (er, questions) was “What is anthropomorphism?” and a contestant got it wrong, responding with “What is personification?” (sorry, that’s only 15-letters, sigh).
I suppose now you’ll want me to explain the difference between personification and anthropomorphism, but sadly, as the wind howls around the walls of my house like a banshee, that is all for today…said the wise old owl with a knowing wink