Humanish How Anthropomorphism Makes Us Smart, Weird and Delusional

About this book

Ever glanced at your cat and wondered if they were plotting something? Or passed a car and thought it seemed 'friendly', 'surprised' or 'angry' depending on the shape of its headlights?

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, humorous 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 an eye-opening journey through the strange world of anthropomorphism and explores what it reveals about this weird and wonderful bias within us all.

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Biography

Dr Justin Gregg is a Senior Research Associate with the Dolphin Communication Project and an Adjunct Professor at St. Francis Xavier University where he lectures on animal behaviour and cognition. He is the author of If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal, a Waterstones and Times book of the year. He currently lives in rural Nova Scotia where he writes about science and contemplates the inner lives of the crows that live near his home.