Human Shape of the Holy Land
Chapter 1 - What is Anthropomorphism?
Anthropomorphism
is the attribution of human characteristics to animals, inanimate objects,
nature forces and so on. The source of the word is from Greek and it means:
"Human Form".
Current
religious beliefs regard it, generally, as improper to describe the God of
Judaism, Christianity and Islam as Human. God is abstract in them in his shape
and characteristics. However, it is very difficult for the average man to
describe God without an anthropomorphic framework. It should be mentioned that
the Biblical story of creation describes God creating man in his shape.
Michelangelo – God create man – The Sistine
Chapel – 16th century
Various
religions dealt almost entirely with anthropomorphic divinities that had human
attributes such as jealousy, hate and love. The Gods in the Greek Mythology
such as Zeus and Apollo were described as having human shape.
Zeus and his wife Hera
In the Indian
religion Anthropomorphism exists in the ten different human characters that are
the incarnations of the god Vishnu.
The Indian god Vishnu
Anthropomorphic
animals are common in the myth of the American Indians. They were used to
describe various principles of life.
A hummingbird in the lengh of more then 100 yards
engraved on the Nazca Pampa of Peru
In
Alternative beliefs the importance of Anthropomorphism is noticeable through
the creation of imaginary characters that are the incarnation of abstracts,
such as 'The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Neil Gaiman,
in the Comics series "The Sandman" anthropomorphized the seven aspects of existence, named the Endless: Destiny,
Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delusion.
The Destiny character in "The
Sandman"
Anthropomorphism
is common in literature, especially children books. Examples are: "Esope's
fables", "The Animal Farm" by George Orwell, The books by Beatrice
Potter and Louis Carroll and "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth
Graham.
Mr. Toad and his friends from "The Wind
in the Willows"
A major part
of children's time is dedicated for watching animated movies, where Anthropomorphism
is very common. It is used mostly for describing stereotyped characters that represent
attributes which the author designated for them. The characters of Mickey
Mouse, Kermit the Frog, Bugs Bunny and so on, are heroes for imitation that
assist the children in understanding the boundaries of the adult world.
The heroes of Disney Studios
In daily life
it is common to think of certain objects as having same as human attributes,
although only few people think that this has a true meaning. Examples are
calling a car in a name, or begging from a machine to start working. The advancement
in artificial intelligence may cause this human weakness to become a
substantial phenomenon, especially when the computers will start operating
under vocal orders. In addition, advanced computers are able to perform
specific human behaviors, such as learning from mistakes, expecting certain
information, playing Chess and other games which demands human talent and
ability, and of course in the future there will be robots with human shape.
A dialog with the
computer – A caricature by Randy Glasbergen
In the art of
speaking Anthropomorphism is a type of popular metaphor in use for creating
emotional impressions. Examples are: The bosom of Earth, The howling of wind.
According to
the lows of Logic, the use of anthropomorphic caricatures, or the attribution
of human characteristics to abstract concepts, is defined as: pathetic fallacy.
Bibliography:
Anthropomorphism
- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia