The Uncanny Valley: Why We Are Afraid of Things That Look Like US

Have you ever been completely creeped out by a humanoid animation, and you couldn’t quite figure out why? Has something ever seemed a little bit too human? If not, guide your attention to the image below.

    

Initial Draft of Princess Fiona from Shrek

She’s a little scary looking, right? The reason you are probably disgusted is because she looks a little too realistic. This phenomenon is called the uncanny valley.

The uncanny valley is a term that was first identified by a Japanese robotics professor, Masahiro Mori. Mori’s initial interest in this concept came from an observation he had. It seemed that humans appreciated humanoid figures, whether it be dolls, robots, or animations, that looked similar to an actual human. However, there was a catch. Once the humanoid reached a certain level of similarity, that affinity turned into repulsion. It was only until the humanoid was nearly indistinguishable from a human that the affinity returned. Hence, the name uncanny valley.

A diagram depicting the uncanny valley

Examples of the uncanny valley can be found everywhere. One that a lot of people are familiar with is Princess Fiona from Shrek (the person from the earlier photo.) Princess Fiona initially used to look jarringly realistic. Upon interviewing a bunch of children, who were scared to tears by photos of Fiona, Dreamworks developed an alternative, more cartoonish model.

A picture of Billy from "Tin Toy."

Another example is the animated short film "Tin Toy", created by Pixar. It was test-screened in 1988.The film featured a disturbingly lifelike baby who terrorized toys. The audience members hated it, and the project was scrapped. Ever since, Pixar has been focused primarily on films that feature little to no presence of animated human characters, such as Wall-E, Cars, Finding Nemo, and many others.

So what biological/evolutionary purpose does the uncanny valley serve? This is actually a disputed area of science and does not have one definitive answer. However, there are a few credible guesses which very well could be the reason.

First, there is the pathogen avoidance hypothesis. This hypothesis suggests people naturally recoil at bodies that look almost human, as a means to avoid potential sources of pathogens. The repulsiveness of not-quite human characteristics on a robot, doll, or animation, can be similar to that of a diseased or dead body. The uncanny valley could be a result of natural selection.

Another suggestion is the mortality salience hypothesis. This hypothesis is similar to the pathogen avoidance hypothesis, but it suggests the uncanny valley is a result of subconscious fears rather than an evolutionary survival mechanism. The claim is that humans fear said humanoid figures because they remind people of death. People naturally are scared when they see a human being that appears void of any life.

There are a myriad of other distinct theories that relate to the hypotheses I detailed above, but the one I believe has the most merit relates to the uncanny valley phenomenon as a result of cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is referred to in psychology as the state of holding two contradictory beliefs to be true. When a humanoid lies in between the balance of human and non-human, the brain gets confused and freaks out. Cognitive dissonance is also a hypothesis for many other psychological phenomena such as people who deny climate change, or people who directly ignore diagnoses from doctors.

Cognitive Dissonance

Although we may never know the reason for the uncanny valley, it is important to familiarize ourselves with it. As the world becomes more directed towards artificial intelligence, it is important to remember that people can elicit feelings of repulsion towards something that doesn’t look human enough. Surgeons are more compelled to practice on dummies that aren’t creepy looking, and researchers are working on creating therapy robots to assist people who are lonely. Broadening people’s understanding of the uncanny valley can be helpful in saving lives. And it's just interesting!