Anthropomorphism – the irresistible desire to apply human characteristics to animals, natural phenomena and even inanimate objects – is as natural as breathing. And it gets weirder… Million-dollar industries have sprung up to provide ‘cosmetic enhancements’ for dogs who’ve had the snip – their (inevitably male) owners wracked with guilt that their pets might be missing out on… something. Similarly, Justin Gregg, a researcher with the Dolphin Communication Project, regularly receives emails from mothers-to-be convinced that dolphins would make excellent midwives (spoiler alert: they definitely wouldn’t).
Diving into the strange way anthropomorphism shapes our understanding of the world, Gregg offers an eye-opening journey through human perception. From cinema’s obsession with talking animals to the way we interact with our soon-to-be robot overlords, Humanish takes a hilarious journey through the strange world of anthropomorphism and explores what it reveals about this weird and wonderful bias within us all.
