Anthropomorphism as a contributor to the success of human (Homo sapiens) tool-use

Abstract

Humans anthropomorphise: as a result of our evolved ultrasociality we see the world through person-coloured glasses. In this review, I suggest that an interesting proportion of the extraordinary tool-using abilities shown by humans results from our mistakenly anthropomorphising and forming social relationships with objects and devices. I introduce the term machination to describe this error, sketch an outline of the evidence for it, tie it to intrinsic rewards for social interaction, and use it to help explain overimitation—itself posited as underpinning human technological complexity—by human children and adults. I also suggest pathways for testing the concept’s presence and limits. With its explicit focus on individual variation and cognitive overload, machination holds promise for understanding how we create and use combinatorial technology, for clarifying differences with non-human animal tool use, and for examining the human fascination with objects.