something that looks human but isn't
A corpse. If you see a human corpse, that means there's probably something very dangerous nearby and you should be scared
Or maybe, just maybe, things that don't fit neatly into our categories cause us cognitive strain.
So, I'm not a biologist, but isn't it kind of a fallacy to assume that just because a trait exists it must have been necessary/useful in the evolutionary past? From what I understand, genetic mutations are random, and bad ones get weeded out while good ones get propagated and spread around until they became dominant. To me what this implies is that mutations that are neutral and don't contribute to or impede survival could stick around and become common traits even though they aren't really good for anything. Someone who knows more about biology, tell me if I'm wrong or not.
Yeah, there's an ongoing debate in biology right now regarding teleological descriptions of evolutionary phenomenon. Like rewording sentences like "a bird's wings are designed for flight."
Also in regards to the uncanny valley, I really doubt whether or not we see something as partially or fully human is some kind of pure, instinctual, hardwired thing in our genetics crafted over eons specifically for survival. It's probably a combination of learned social cues and however mirror neurons work to generate the emotion of sympathy. So the whole hypothesis boils down to some people get creeped out by human-like things that look weird. Ok, yeah? Weird things look weird? You don't say. Thanks, science.
Not everyone has the same idea of what looks weird and it certainly can't be consistent across generations and cultures. My mother in particular cannot look at anime characters because they freak her out in a way that seems to be an uncanny valley effect. I despise how Pixar characters look and move their faces, but those movies are huge so I'm clearly in a minority.
This isn't even a genetic trait. Its a cognitive one. Might as well ask the evolutionary principles behind being afraid of clowns.
*ahem*
NO IT DOESN'T
Analyze the human condition without resorting to Darwinian heuristics challenge
EvolPsychos can't fathom the possibility of many traits/behaviors developing at once, all linked together.
Evolutionary psychology and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.
Yup, all hominids lived together in peace and harmony. No need to look into that or anything.
edit: Yes, most of EvoPsych is basically phrenology, but this one holds a bit more water. A stopped clock is right twice a day.
DNA studies of modern Europeans show that Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals fucked. A lot. The popular conception of early hominid Hobbesian war may have some truth to it, but the popular hewing to that narrative is bound up in 19th Century conceptions of racial struggle and fitness.
there have been some studies that other hominids (neanderthal and denisovians that lived in asia) lived 10-20k years ago. i find that so wild, at the 10k years ago estimate, we were only 4-5k years off from having a recorded history of them! wouldnt that have been fascinating to read? also the full gamut of human racial characteristics had developed by this point. it would have been truly interesting to travel and meet all these different species, let alone the fact that humans would be as varied as they are today
ugh
How strange that we had a hand in killing off most of the other hominids, yet wonder whether or not we're the only 'intelligent species' out there.
That aint how it works but the is c/chapo and I'm in science mode rn so I'm probably just flying straight through the joke and ignoring it.
We are up to what, 5 different hominin species that were alive at some point during homo sapiens?
Ooh ooh which five? Just arriving at early homo sapiens in an archaeology class
We've only found 8 so far apparently, but our DNA also tells us there could be some more.
https://theconversation.com/were-other-humans-the-first-victims-of-the-sixth-mass-extinction-126638
No, it totally does, but it's because corpses look very similar but not exactly like living people and they're a health hazard.
Surprisingly, they’re not actually a health hazard unless the person died of infectious disease.
But if they didn't, the thing that killed them could still be around I guess.
Like if it was a snake or a big cat or something?
As pointed out above, dead and sick people can also look a bit off from how you expect a person to look and those are best to steer clear of as monke
The uncanny valley doesn't just happen with things that look like humans. I've seen disturbingly realistic cat dolls.
I am the one the hairs on the back of your neck have tried to warn you about for 200,000 years. On the plains we were many, but the gift of your fear reduced our numbers and drove us into the shadows.
I am the last of my kind, but you have surrendered your atavistic terror to science and reason. The hubris of your mind will let me draw near when your body begs you to run and scream in terror.
Be seeing you. :sickomogus:
