Hi! This is my personal blog. My main interests are video games, animation, and cooking. There will be some posts about social issues and current events. I'm open to talking about video games or whatever.
Anthropology major answer: “There absolutely was such a time! Modern humans and our ancestors shared territory numerous times over prehistory with cousin species like homo neanderthalensis, homo floresiensis, and many, many others!”
Folklore student answer: “Also, almost all cultures have something like djinn, faeries, hulder, fox spirits, and other similar creatures who can appear at least human and are very, very dangerous to humans!”
Both of these things are true, and may be connected both to the above and to each other. :D
Mortuary science answer: the “uncanny valley” markers resemble the appearance of corpses and decay, therefore we are naturally repulsed by anything that resembles the dead to avoid exposure to decomposition and/or whatever created that appearance.
This leads neatly into the folklore answer too, since many folk creatures are of the undead.
Antique doll nerd answer: but the Uncanny Valley can shift culturally over time! the first “creepy doll” movie only came out in the 1930s, and before that, most evidence I can find of people in Europe and America being frightened by dolls was for a specific reason- if a doll had an exaggerated facial expression or a mechanism that broke easily and made a scary noise once damaged, for example
Also it’s important to remember that the Uncanny Valley is a fairly recent theory, and only a theory. Might it be possible that, if you hadn’t ever been exposed to the idea that certain types of inanimate humanoid figures are “creepy,” you wouldn’t find them so? that you AREN’T actually predisposed from birth to be spooked by dolls, mannequins, statues, etc?
it’s another example of the nature vs. nurture debate, which I find fascinating
history nerd answer: a lot of the reflexive “oh shit that’s not human” traits are traits of severe infectious disease. tuberculosis and leprosy can both cause facial distortions, for instance. many of the ‘walking dead’ type legends are associated with tuberculosis in particular; a late stage patient has the pale skin, prominent cheekbones, and seemingly huge eyes we associate with vampires and the more dangerous kind of fairies.
before the germ theory of disease, people with those traits could apparently just… curse you… and your family… by merely interacting with you. one shared meal with the weird looking stranger and a few months later your whole village starts mysteriously dropping dead.
history channel answer:
Dear everyone above who took on my random thoughts and ran with them: I love you all, and your brains are amazing.
