Book part:
Exploring the Twilight Area Between Person and Product: Anthropomophism for Dummies

Author(s): van Mensvoort, Koert

Abstract

Anthropomorphobia is the fear of recognising human characteristics in non-human objects. The term is a hybrid of two Greek-derived words: Anthropomorphic means ‘of human form’ and phobia means ‘fear’. Perfume bottles shaped like beautiful ladies, the Senseo coffeemaker shaped – subtle, but nonetheless – like a serving butler, and, of course, there are the robots, mowing grass, vacuuming living rooms, and even caring for elderly people with dementia. Today more and more products are designed to exhibit anthropomorphic – that is, human – behaviour. At the same time, as a consequence of increasing technological capabilities, people are being increasingly radically cultivated and turned into products. This essay explores the blurring of the boundary between people and products. My ultimate argument will be that we can use our relationship with anthropomorphobia as a guiding principle in our future evolution.

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BibTex
van Mensvoort, Koert: Exploring the Twilight Area Between Person and Product: Anthropomophism for Dummies. In: Janssens, Liisa: The Art of Ethics in the Information Society. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press 2016, S. 95-100. DOI: 10.25969/mediarep/13402.
@INCOLLECTION{van Mensvoort2016,
 author = {van Mensvoort, Koert},
 title = {Exploring the Twilight Area Between Person and Product: Anthropomophism for Dummies},
 year = 2016,
 doi = {10.25969/mediarep/13402},
 editor = {Janssens, Liisa},
 address = {Amsterdam},
 booktitle = {The Art of Ethics in the Information Society},
 pages = {95--100},
 publisher = {Amsterdam University Press},
}
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