[jon_richards]

One of my favorite “weird” conjectures is that the existence of the uncanny valley implies that at some point it was evolutionarily advantageous for us to recognize something that looked human, but wasn’t… and to be afraid of it.

[shwoopdiwoop]

Is there any further reading on this topic in particular that is not leading to wild conspiracy theories?

[rjeli]

neanderthals?

[giantrobot]

Think also about face-like things we perceive because of pareidolia but might in fact be dangerous. One part of our brain is opportunistic about finding patterns while another is a sanity check on those patterns telling us not to just trust them outright.