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....

Comments

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Absolutely - people are interesting anyhow, and that's a rather telling aspect of how people think. Another example of exotic vs uncanny could be the range of descriptions of the fairy folk. Some are exotically beautiful, some are grotesque - there's a very wide range, and some seem to be right on that line. I'm sure Jackson was aiming for exotic - but I think he missed.