this post was submitted on 16 Apr 2025
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Here's one for you;
"Uncanny Valley." Why do we have a lizard brain level instinct to be wary of/uncomfortable around things that look almost human?
At what point in our evolutionary history was being afraid of something that looks nearly human, but not quite, a useful survival trait?
Were we preyed upon by something that looks almost human for long enough to evolve an instinctive warning?
Boring answer is that dead people carry diseases so it is evolutionarily beneficial to stay away from them.
is corpses and the diseased. something that looks almost human but not quite is likely going to get you sick.
there's a reason why waxy skin that doesn't quite sit on the body correctly sets it off so hard.
There was a time when Sapiens and Neanderthals co-existed...
Maybe.
Never had that reflex triggered in me when presented with renders of what we think neanderthal looked like though.
Sample size of one means nothing though, so, yeah, maybe.
And we mated with them, so apparently we weren't too afraid.
Not necessarily, it's common to "mate" as part of war and conquest. Usually there's a more descriptive word for it, though.
Yeah, but traditionally you don't fuck people that give you Uncanny Valley vibes.
Don't kink shame.
And yet we have plenty of humans who are jorkin it to poorly made, uncanny AI porn. So... I don't know anymore.
Yes, it's called the present, and the Neanderthals have control of the White House.