Examples of anthropomorphism

What is anthropomorphism?

Anthropomorphic language implies that non-human entities (bacteria, atoms, plants, etc.) have human qualities such as human experiences, human emotions, human motivations and cognition. This language may often be used metaphorically – but this may not always clear to a reader/listener and anthropomorphic statements may be used as if scientific explanations.

If such a metaphoric statement ("the atom wants…", "the virus decides…") is intended or understood as explanatory, it is an example of a pseudo-explanation (something that appears to be an explanation but has no scientific merit).

These ideas are discussed on other pages (for example, those linked below), but on this page I list some examples I have come across.

Read about anthropomorphism as an aspect of learners thinking and language

Read about anthropomorphism in public science discourse

Read about pseudo-explanations

Examples of anthropomorphism in public communication of science topics/concepts

Below are some examples of the use of anthropomorphism that I have noticed. These are often edited/paraphrased for brevity – but with a link to the full quotation. (Some entries are repeated under several different pertinent headings.)

animals
astronomy and cosmology
atoms and molecules

Bacteria – see microbes

bioluminesence
cells

(see also immune system)

chemical substances and reactions
D.N.A.
Earth
ethology
fluids
forces
genetics and genetic engineering
gravity
immune system and infection

hormones
magnetism
materials
mechanics
microbes
nature
plants
physiology
protein
radioactivity
solar system
space exploration
subatomic particles

viruses – see microbes

The COVID-19 virus is often said to be a 'clever' or 'sneaky' virus. (Read 'So who's not a clever little virus then?')

Anthropomorphism in scientists’ writing
Science topic


Anthropomorphic suggestion/implicationQuote


Author
metallic structureElectrons try to do things"The electrons are all repelling one another and trying to stay out of one another's way."Alan Holden
('The Nature of Solids')
NatureNature thinks and knows.

(Read about personification of nature)		"Exactly when is a system big enough for nature to think it is infinite?"
"…nature will evolve the system as the quantum statistical equation dictates. It will look at the forces and configurations and at the energies these give rise to, and will do what the equation requires when those energy obtain. Imagine that nature uses our methods of representation.It looks at the energies, writes down the operator that represents those energies, solves the quantum statistical equation, and finally produces the new state that the equation demands."		Nancy Cartwright
p-n junction'holes' seek to cross a p-n junction in a semiconductor"Any less energetic holes attempting the ascent will slide back."Alan Holden
('The Nature of Solids')
pair bonding in birdsBirds can have happy marriages"In the Amsterdam Zoo, there was a pair of bitterns of which the male had 'fallen in love' with the zoo director. In order to allow the bitterns to mate, the director had to stay out of sight for quite some time. This had the positive result that the male bittern became accustomed to the female. This ended up in a happy marriage, and, as the female sat brooding over her eggs, the director dared to show his face once more. …When the male saw his former love companion again, he chased the female off the nest and seemed to signal by repeated bows that the director should take his proper place and carry on the business of incubation."Jakob von Uexküll
spin pairingElectrons actively control their spin"In a helium atom, with two electrons, both the electrons will normally again be found in the permitted state of lowest energy. Since they are occupying the same state, those electrons will arrange their spins in opposite directions – one up and one down – as the exclusion principle describes…"Alan Holden
('The Nature of Solids')
Anthropomorphism in popular accounts of science
TopicAnthropomorphismQuoteSource
asteroids and cometsasteroiods and comets act delibrately"It is also a possibility that the asteroids and comets that collided with the Earth might have been destroyed, literally vaporised, during attempted delivery of their volatiles and organics because of high impact temperatures and pressures related to extreme collisional velocities."Natalie Starkey
Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system
atomic bombsatomic bombs can worry"Fat Man was the code name for the plutonium bomb's design, which was bulbous because it needed to implode inward to work – something a uranium bomb didn't need to worry about."Kit Chapman, Superheavy. Making and breaking the periodic table
atomic nucleinuclei behave deliberately"[Witold] Nazarewicz and his colleagues are mapping out the shape a nucleus will twist itself into while trying to hold onto its protons."Kit Chapman, Superheavy. Making and breaking the periodic ta
atomsAtoms show allegiance
[n.b., strictly this should refer to molecules]		"Specifically, Boltzmann and Maxwell pictured a volume of gas as an enormous number of tiny, hard masses speeding about and colliding with each other in mostly empty space. These atoms [sic] pleaded allegiance to the Newtonian laws of mechanics: they had velocities and directions, carried momentum and kinetic energy, bounced off one another in predictable ways, and so on."Lindley, David – The Dream Universe. How fundamental physics lost its way
bacteriaMycobacterium tuberculosis as a deliberate agent"It is perfectly content to spend years in the human body, making itself inconspicuous as the infection slowly spreads, until it at last reveals itself to its human host."

"…the bacterium, unaware of humanity's inherent inconstancy, persevered and was well suited for the lapse in attention."		Thomas Goetz.
The Remedy. Robert Koch, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the quest to cure tuberculosis.
bacteriaPropionibacterium acne enjoys its food"…like many of us, P. acnes [Propionibacterium acnes] is a lipophile, which is to say it adores consuming fat. The sebum on our skin is like a layer of buttery, greasy goodness that has P. acnes smacking its lips. However, when P. acnes turns up to dine it has some seriously bad table manners, which can include dribbling chemicals all over our faces… [non-human] animal sebum lacks the triglyceride fats that P. acnes loves to picnic on."Catherine Carver
Immune. How your body defends and protects you
cancercancerous cells are 'selfish'"…cancerous cells break the rules and function selfishly, coordinating neither their reproduction nor their death with the needs of the individual in which they reside."Neil Shubin,
Some Assembly Required. Decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA
cancercancer cells act deliberately"It is believed that tumour cells bobbing about in the bloodstream try to evade the immune system by coating themselves in platelets…"Catherine Carver
Immune. How your body defends and protects
cellsCells have a view on communal living"Cells, which had previously been aggressively independent individualists, discovered the advantages of communal life."Andrew Scott, Vital Principles. The molecular mechanisms of life
cometscomet behave deliberately"What scientists are finding out is that IDPs [interplanetary dust particles] really are teaching them that that comets are doing their best to avoid adhering to the classic Solar System models."Natalie Starkey
Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system
cometscomets grow up"The results show that you can't judge one comet by another, even those that grew up in the same neighbourhood"Natalie Starkey
Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system
degassinggas bubbles act delberately"When you put the batter in the cake tine prior to baking, you can tap the tin on the counter top and all the gas bubbles work their way to the top of the batter and pop out."Natalie Starkey
Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system
diseaseTuberculosis as a deliberate actor"Tuberculosis was a cunning disease, coming on slowly, almost casually. At first it seemed innocuous, beginning with a cough: a cold, perhaps, or a touch of bad air. But then that cough turned malevolent, becoming stronger and more painful and extracting blood with each spasm."
"It wreaked most of its toll in its pulmonary form, and it couldn't have chosen a better hiding place."		Thomas Goetz. (2013). The Remedy. Robert Koch, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the quest to cure tuberculosis.
Earth historyEarth acts deliberately"Using the age-old analogy of a 24-hour clock that started ticking when the Earth formed and which reached midnight at the present day, it would show that humans only arrived at a few minutes before midnight. Most of those 24 hours passed prior to the appearance of humans, and the planet achieved a lot in that time. For starters, the Earth had to form from a cloud of dust and gas and establish itself as one of the most important objects in the solar system, one of the eight planetary bodies that owned its orbit around the Sun. It then had to create oceans and an atmosphere, and allow lifeforms to grow and thrive on and in it. Earth even had to recover many times from space objects repeatedly impacting its surface; it formed its own Moon; and it found a way to continually change its external appearance, destroying and re-forming its surface many times over, something that it continues to do at the present day, even if it isn't very obvious on the scale of human lifetimes."Natalie Starkey
Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system
elementselements [sic, actually atoms of the elements] try to achieve things"Each element has one more electron than electron than the previous, and is eagerly trying to complete its outer shell."
"As mentioned before, chemistry is all about the outer shells of electrons and elements trying to fill them."
[This reflects a common alternative conception: the full outer shells explanatory principle.]		Kit Chapman, Superheavy. Making and breaking the periodic table
energyEnergy having intentions/aims"By 1922 the 'Blue Radio' golf ball 'with radium salts in the centre' was available at John Wanamaker's New York department store. It's adverts explained the benefits of using radium in this unusual way: 'When the ball is hit, the radium salts in the plastic centre start a wave of momentum which gives a great resiliency. The ball literally is alive and the released energy actually fights to free itself'."Reported in
Lucy Jane Santos, (2020) Half lives. The unlikely story of radium.
entropyplanets (?) are greedy"Planck…objected to Boltzmann that if his interpretation of entropy was correct, then the existence of the universe as we know it – in a state very far from equilibrium, with stars churning out energy into empty space, and some of its being greedily taken up on the surfaces of planets to fuel life -seemed very unlikely indeed."Lindley, David – The Dream Universe. How fundamental physics lost its way
enzymesEnzymes meet, capture"Once an enzyme had met and captured the required starting materials …"Andrew Scott, Vital Principles. The molecular mechanisms of life
firefliesFireflies commit crimes (murder and theft)"In fact, lucibufagins are so useful that some rival species that can't produce them, such as Photuris frontalis, aren't above a little murder. Female Photuris fireflies mimic the flashes of Photinus females, only to eat any males of the rival species that come to mate with them. Once she's devoured her hapless suitor, the Photuris female transfers the prey's lucibufagin into her bloodstream, stealing the toxin for herself!Article by Kit Chapman in Education in Chemistry
HIVvirus is described as actively engaging in intentional action"The AIDS virus subverts its host's cells. It forces them to make replicas of itself with an enzyme whose job it is to copy information from the invader's RNA into human DNA. Each new particle hides itself in a cloak of cell membrane into which it inserts a protein. This is the key to the infection as it fits into matched molecules on the surface of blood cells and opens the door to their interior."Steve Jones,
Almost Like a Whale: The origin of species updated
lightLight experiences happiness"Light is travelling happily along in a straight line through the air."Brian Clegg
Light Years. The extraordinary story of mankind's fascination with light.
lightPhotons know things"A photon hitting the inside surface of a window somehow knows how thick the glass is and acts accordingly. There's something similar to entanglement happening here, a kind of action at a distance by which the photon knows how thick the glass is without passing through it…"Brian Clegg
Light Years. The extraordinary story of mankind's fascination with light.
naturenature is lazy"It is called the principle of least action or the principle of least time, but what it amounts to is that nature is lazy."Brian Clegg – Light Years. The extraordinary story of mankind's fascination with light.
naturenature can show concern"The models are not completely inaccurate – they can account for the broad history of many of the small objects out there but perhaps nature is less concerned about the lines scientists have drawn, with some comets and asteroids not adhering neatly to the rules."Natalie Starkey
Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system
nuclear fissionnuclei can be hungry and grab"Neutron capture was happening at a rate never seen before on Earth. Hungry nuclei were grabbing neutrons and remaining stable, forming isotopes as rich in as uranium-255, 17 neutrons more than its most common variant, then beta-decaying into elements usually only present in merging neutron stars."Kit Chapman, Superheavy. Making and breaking the periodic table
nuclear reactionsnuclei act deliberately"…the element hunters were using a technique where the nucleus discarded neutrons to stave off fission."Kit Chapman, Superheavy. Making and breaking the periodic table
organismsOrganisms are confederates of agents"The war inside is between rogue selfish elements that want to proliferate wildly and the individual organism. With genes struggling to contain selfish elements, viruses continually invading, and trillions of cells working together to keep bodies functioning, multicellular bodies are a confederation of parts that arose at different times, sometimes in different places. These parts, some in conflict, some cooperating…."Neil Shubin,
Some Assembly Required. Decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA
planetary motionEarth attempts to move in a straight line"A planet like Earth tries to move in a straight line through space, but the gravity of the sun pulls that line around in a curve, making an ellipse over which the planet travels year by year."Matthew Stanley: Einstein's War. How relativity triumphed amid the vicious nationalism of World War 1
planetsplanets can be greedy"The asteroids missed out by not being in the right place to be absorbed into one of the growing balls of rock that became Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. The benefit for the asteroids that escaped being gobbled up by a greedy planet is that their evolution was all but stopped just after their formation, meaning they preserve key information about an important phase of Solar System formation."Natalie Starkey
Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the Solar System
planetsplanets jostle, gobble, establish themselves"The time period of the planetesimals was one of 'survival of the fittest'. They had to jostle for an orbit in space and cataclysmic collisions were still common that, in some cases, completely blew them to pieces. Eventually the chief planetesimals gobbled up smaller ones as well as asteroids in their path, to grow into even larger objects. These became the rocky planets we see today. The planets established themselves as the leaders of the pack, gravitationally excavating their clean orbit around the Sun."Natalie Starkey
Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system
quantum theoryPhotons can make decisions"Quantum theory says that a light photon can exist in a strange mixture of two possible states until it is measured – only then does it decide which it is going to be."Brian Clegg – Light Years. The extraordinary story of mankind's fascination with light.
restoring forcesobjects want to revert to balanced positions"A weight will sit motionless on a spring at its balanced position, but tug it down a little the spring pulls back. Similarly, a curved violin string wants to go back to being a straight line. …
It's fairly straightforward to write the differential equation that tells you how strongly any point on the drumskin wants to return to its neutral position."		Lindley, David – The Dream Universe. How fundamental physics lost its way
space explorationa spacecraft can get lonely, hibernates and wakes"The ESA Rosetta spacecraft had a lot resting on its wide, solar-panel, shoulders when it launched at the start of its mission to catch up with a comet in space. Firstly, it had a long and lonely journey into deep space to contend with, requiring it to enter hibernation for a number of years to save energy. There was no certainty it would wake again."Natalie Starkey
Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system
space explorationa spacecraft can be pluckyThe three-tonne spacecraft was made up of the Rosetta orbiter, with its 14m (46ft) long solar-panel wings and 11 instruments, and the Philae lander which piggybacked on Rosetta with its own suite of instruments. This plucky spacecraft launched successfully from Kourou in French Guiana, South America, in March 2004 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket."Natalie Starkey
Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system
space dustearth dust may pretend to be space dust"Once scientists receive their samples they are always on the lookout for terrestrial particle that might be masquerading as space dust in their allocation. Sometimes the only way to tell them apart is by analysing the rock duct in detail, observing the structure of the particle, the minerals it contains and its chemical composition. Only then can a scientist make an informed decision on whether they have a piece of space dust or not."Natalie Starkey
Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system
spleenthe spleen has talents"The spleen is a multi-talented organ: it removes old red blood cells and plays a vital role in the immune system."Catherine Carver
Immune. How your body defends and protects you
superacidsHF has preferences"…the world's strongest acid?
No. That title falls to fluoroantimonic acid – a superacid mixture of antimony pentafluoride and hydrofluoric acid. You see, HF loves the idea of donating a fluorine to SbF5, and the resulting SbF6- anion is relatively stable."		Article by Ian Farrell in Education in Chemistry
substances substances have desires"…these cosmic rocks…might have delivered life's all important building blocks: proteins, amino acids and the essential solvent, water, needed for life to thrive. All that these life-giving ingredients desired was a calm, welcoming environment to bed down in; somewhere not too hot and not too cold."Natalie Starkey
Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the Solar System
tectonic platesplates jostle, attempt"The Earth's major jigsaw pieces, encompassing areas greater than 20 million km2 (7.7 million sq miles), are the tectonic plates that carry the landmasses. But unlike a normal jigsaw, these plates jostle for position as they attempt to seamlessly float on the Earth's somewhat squidgy underlying mantle."
"When plates attempt to move past, or towards, one another they often get stuck, which can result in huge earthquakes when they eventually becomes unstuck.
The San Andreas Fault in the western United States is one example of two plates attempting to glide past one another."		Natalie Starkey
Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the Solar System
unitsA stubborn unit"The calorie has been officially banned from commercial use as a unit since January 1st, 1975. In spite of this, the calorie is still holding on stubbornly and its replacement, the joule, is therefore having a hard time establishing itself."Schwenk, E.
My name is Becquerel. (Book issued by Hoechst Aktiengesellschaft)
virusesviruses have skills"…they harnessed the skills of a type of virus well versed in the dark arts of integrating into human DNA, a retrovirus."Catherine Carver
Immune. How your body defends and protects you
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