In this episode of The Psych Files, I explore anthropomorphism—our tendency to attribute human characteristics to non-human entities—drawing from Justin Gregg's new book "Humanish." I discuss both helpful and harmful examples of anthropomorphism, from Soviet dolphin-assisted births to Japanese raccoon imports inspired by anime, and explain how this connects to Theory of Mind, our ability to attribute mental states to others. Gregg, an expert on animal cognition, argues that anthropomorphism isn't necessarily bad if used reflectively, citing Jane Goodall's approach of using intuition as a research starting point rather than proof. I examine surprising findings about animal cognition, particularly in reptiles like crocodiles who display play and social relationships, and discuss the important distinction between biological consciousness in animals and non-conscious AI processing. The episode addresses the fundamental question of animal consciousness and Gregg's precautionary approach: when uncertain about whether animals can suffer, we should assume they can rather than risk causing harm. I also talk about the latest research on the use of puzzles and their effect on dementia.

When I receive a new script, my first step surprises people. I create an audio recording of every scene I’m in – not just my lines, but everyone’s lines. Using apps like LineLearner, I record each cue line followed by my response, all delivered in completely monotone voice with zero inflection or emotion.
This approach might make acting coaches cringe, but it connects directly to Sanford Meisner’s teaching philosophy. Meisner had students rehearse lines in monotone specifically to prevent them from “setting” a line reading too early. The goal? When you’re actually performing, you can react naturally to whatever happens in the moment and deliver your lines however feels right.
But there’s a deeper psychological reason this works so well.

When we say "please" or "thank you" to ChatGPT, we're witnessing the remarkable power of human social psychology in action. Our brains have developed such deeply ingrained social scripts over millions of years that they automatically activate whenever we encounter conversational situations—even with machines. Through social scripts, attribution theory, and automatic processing, we treat AI interactions just like human conversations, complete with politeness and courtesy. This isn't a flaw or embarrassing quirk; it's actually a testament to how fundamentally social we are as humans. Our ancient social instincts are so robust that they extend even to artificial entities that can't reciprocate our politeness. Rather than making us naive about technology, maintaining these social habits with AI might actually help preserve our humanity and social skills in an increasingly digital world, showing that even as technology advances, our evolved cooperative nature remains beautifully consistent.