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altmanaltmantoday at 6:53 AM0 repliesview on HN

I am actually writing something on this and reading a lot of research. A very fascinating idea is that the ability to anthromorphize is available to all human beings since it is a fundamental way we relate to the world. But researches have been able to find different factors that influence how much we anthromorphize things, and if those factors change our attempt to anthromorphize changes.

For example, I can log in and have my computer work perfectly and treat it as a device. But the moment something goes wrong and I am frustrated and confused at something unexpected or if i get in range, I find myself getting angry at the computer often even reffering to it as a being.

So eventually yes, we do anthromorphize because we are human but we do it because its a very important way we model the world around us.

Of course all this can also be used against you depending on how much the creator of the product wants people to form a bond with it.

Furthermore yes it is pretty possible we stop being human when we stop anthromorphizing but that's not true as well. Research has found people on the autism spectrum usually do not anthromorphize and have a problem with empathy because they cannot model others well or their own selves. But that doesn't make them non humans.