found it!

[kitanzi]

I ran into a very interesting concept a while ago but couldn't remember where, and I was trying to explain it to ACat a week or two back with the scraps I still remembered. It's called the Uncanny Valley, and the idea is that our reactions to a robot (or animated figure, or presumably a doll or other visual depiction) depend on how true to human they appear. The closer to human the more appealing, you might think - but it's not quite that simple. It's very interesting, and I just ran into it again, though I'm pretty sure it's not where I found it the first time.

http://www.wordspy.com/words/uncannyvalley.asp


Anyhow, the context in which I was trying to discuss this with ACat was in relation to Michael Jackson. Look at some of the recent photos - I think he's fallen right into that valley....