Categories: Macro-micro confusions, Pseudo-explanations
An example of anthropomorphism in public science discourse:
"Lithium is crucial for batteries because it is a highly reactive metal, it has an extra electron, and therefore it is happy to give that electron away, take it back again."
Jeremy Wrathall
Jeremy Wrathall (Founder and CEO of Cornish Lithium) was talking on an episode ('Lithified') of BBC's 'Lights Out'.
This statement includes a 'macro-micro' shift as "Lithium is …a highly reactive metal" refers to the chemical substance, but the 'it' that "has an extra electron" refers not to lithium itself, but a lithium atom.
Read examples of anthropomorphism in science
[Please be aware that a word may have different nuances, or even a different meaning, according to context.]« Back to Index
