Scary Similarities: What’s Up With the Uncanny Valley?

Every classic movie monster, from vampires to werewolves has one thing in common:

proximity to humanity. In many horror stories, things that seem innocent, familiar, and

comforting can be twisted into something terrifying. The increasing popularity of doll-based

horror stories like Annabelle and high-tech horror like M3gan is impossible to ignore. There is

something particularly terrifying about an object that looks almost human but isn’t. Recently, the

term “uncanny valley” has been coined to describe this phenomenon. What exactly is the

uncanny valley, and what biological purpose does this seemingly innate fear fulfill?

In an article entitled “Danger Avoidance: An Evolutionary Explanation of Uncanny

Valley” by Mahdi Muhammad Moosa and S. M. Minhaz Ud-Dean, a meta-analysis was

performed testing the hypothesis that the uncanny valley was brought about for danger

avoidance. The article first closely defines the uncanny valley as a strongly negative reaction to

something that looks almost human but is not a living person. The “valley” aspect is best

described visually. Below is the graph included in the article that was originally sourced from a

Wikipedia article on the uncanny valley.


Essentially, the closer something is to human likeness without racing the 100% human

point the more negatively someone will react to it whether it is moving or still. The article

hypothesizes that the uncanny valley was evolutionarily designed to help us avoid predation.

Predators often would linger around sites that contained dead members of a population. If

corpses were generally avoided, then those members of the population would survive and pass

down that fear through genetics and behavior. This avoidance of the dead is seen in some other


members of the animal kingdom like mice and apes. Cultural practices of burying the dead could

also have been formed from this corpse avoidance currently called the uncanny valley effect.

The uncanny valley used to be a useful tool to avoid predators. For humans, the days of

predation are (for the most part) over. The uncanny valley, however, remains as a method of

avoiding danger. Even today, having an innate fear of the dead could help you move away from

situations you definitely don’t want to be in. With the rise of AI and human-like robots, I’m sure

we will see a lot more uncanny valley-based horror soon.

Posted by: Jillian Gobbi (7)


References:

Moosa, Mahdi Muhammad, and S. M. Minhaz Ud-Dean. “Danger Avoidance: An Evolutionary

Explanation of Uncanny Valley.” Research Gate, March 25, 2010.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mahdi-Moosa/publication/201860501_Danger_Avoi

dance_An_Evolutionary_Explanation_of_Uncanny_Valley/links/0046351a6e176a706500

0000/Danger-Avoidance-An-Evolutionary-Explanation-of-Uncanny-Valley.pdf.

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 8, 2023 at 8:03 AM

    Hi Jill!
    This is actually such an interesting article. I literally just saw a video about an uncanny valley makeup trend and how people are able to use makeup to alter their features just enough to make themselves look not human. I found the graph to be so fascinating- I had no idea that uncanny valley was actually a graphical valley. This makes the whole concept make so much sense. Also, the fact that the discomfort we feel is linked back to our primal instinct of fear is so interesting. It would be cool to look more into the psychology of this idea. Great article though, thank you for sharing!
    -Sophia Rinaldi

    ReplyDelete
  2. Megan WinklerNovember 8, 2023 at 9:13 AM

    Hey Jill! This is so interesting! I did a bit of research on this when AI bots became prevalent on social media to try and understand why I got that uneasy feeling from them. It is so incredibly how many responses are evolutionarily programmed into our bodies to keep us safe. It's even more remarkable how many of them get their wires crossed up in our current society/environment. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousNovember 8, 2023 at 9:21 AM

    Hi Jill! I found this post very interesting. I have definitely noticed an uptick in doll-related horror films. I always feel uncomfortable when I see a “creepy” doll or human-like robot, but I didn’t know that it was a scientific phenomenon! I find it fascinating that we have managed to pass down this fear, and that it might actually help avoid predators. Thank you for teaching me this!

    -Anya Quaglietta

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jill GobbiNovember 11, 2023 at 5:05 PM

      Hi Anya! It is so true that many horror films these day capitalize on our innate fear of humanoid creatures. Humans now are so far removed from our ancestors that had to worry about predators that many people don't know why creepy dolls and things like that illicit such an intense fear response. I also wonder if uncanny valley has any more practical applications in a human-dominated world or if it is a vestigial psychological remnant of a time long ago. I guess it might come in handy if humans ever run into an alien invasion lol.

      Delete
  4. AnonymousNovember 8, 2023 at 9:35 AM

    Hi Jill! This is so interesting! I was literally just talking with my roommates last night as to what uncanny valley is because I thought it was a TV show or something. This makes so much sense and really clarifies what I was confused about! I would love to learn more about the science behind the discomfort that we feel and why this happens!
    - Nicole M.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ryan HorriganNovember 8, 2023 at 9:58 AM

    Hi Jill! I've seen a lot of conspiracy theories about the uncanny valley, so seeing a real scientific theory is really interesting! I had never considered that there may have been an evolutionary reason for burying the dead, and I would love to learn more about what other basic practices are dictated by this factor.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousNovember 11, 2023 at 4:58 PM

      Hi Ryan! Yes it is truly fascinating that fear has such a major impact on cultural practices all over the world. Through my research on this topic I have found that many different funeral and burial practices across human history have been influenced by the fear of the uncanny. Everything from air burials to sea burials fulfills the innate human need to keep the dead far away from the living. I know that in some cultures, however, the dead are kept near to the living for some time. I wonder if there is any evolutionary or psychological basis for these practices.

      Delete
    2. AnonymousNovember 11, 2023 at 5:02 PM

      Jill Gobbi ^^

      Delete
  6. AnonymousNovember 8, 2023 at 10:03 AM

    Hi Jill. I agree with your other commenters - this concept is rather interesting. It makes me think that I should consider evolution when wondering about other behavioral phenomena. I wonder how this phenomenon affected early humans when interacting with humanoids. I am guessing neanderthals were too similar to homo sapiens to evoke such a fear response. - Calvin Keating

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousNovember 8, 2023 at 8:48 PM

    Hi Jill. I found your post really interesting. I have been seeing videos of people recreating the uncanny valley makeup and it looks really scary. The reaction it provokes is actually an anti-predatory mechanism. I wonder how this mechanism came to be? I’m sure AI can impose a threat. But, what imposed a threat before AI?
    - Lorena Soldevilla

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousNovember 11, 2023 at 5:01 PM

      Hi Lorena! Ai certainly does pose a threat to humans especially in this day and age where more and more jobs are being lessened in scope and will possibly disappear because of tech advancements. I guess this is modern day predation in a way. AI could possibly take away money from people, and money can be the only way a person can live in modern day. I guess what posed a threat before AI would be humanoids also vying for common resources and looking to take the lives of our human ancestors. It will be interesting to see how the threat of predation and the uncanny valley effect might change in the context of modern culture.

      Delete
    2. AnonymousNovember 11, 2023 at 5:02 PM

      Jill Gobbi ^^

      Delete

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