Humanish: How Anthropomorphism Makes Us Smart, Weird and Delusional

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?

A TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR

‘Illuminating and lively.’ Guardian, Book of the Day

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.

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'Everyone who is interested in both human and animal behaviour will love this book.' Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation

'Hilarious, engaging, informative, timely, and astute, and truly addictive to read.' Alie Ward, host of Ologies podcast

'Humanish taught me a lot. Thanks to the jokes, I barely even realized I was being educated. Neat trick.' Peter Watts, Hugo Award-winning author of Blindsight