Inexplicable Aesthetic Preferences?

I'm watching an anime called Guin Saga, based on a medieval epic series of novels written in Japan, from 1979 till now, with considerable inspiration from Robert E. Howards, Conan the Barbarian. Anyway, there is a race of ape people (not necessarily "bad" by default, like orcs or goblins and so on) and I'm really biased against them. It's just, for some reason, Non-Human hominids, namely, monkeys, apes, and so forth (not Prehistoric Neanderthals for example), I find just "annoying." I've never liked apes, monkeys, chimps, and so forth, and I'm having a hard time understanding why. They are a popular motif in various cultures and mythologies, something I do enjoy reading about. But they just seem "off" for being an "animal." Maybe it's because they are too human-like but not quite human. Not uncanny valley however. That being said, I don't have a good reason, or even an easily discernible reason, for disliking them.


Anyway, feel free to comment on my idiosyncracies. Does anyone else just dislike something without any good reason?

I would love to hear your thoughts on evolution.

I've been a long time fan of Planet of the Apes. I always thought it was cooler for the apes to take on the human communication, etc over the physical appearances.

desertexile said:

I'm watching an anime called Guin Saga, based on a medieval epic series of novels written in Japan, from 1979 till now, with considerable inspiration from Robert E. Howards, Conan the Barbarian. Anyway, there is a race of ape people (not necessarily "bad" by default, like orcs or goblins and so on) and I'm really biased against them. It's just, for some reason, Non-Human hominids, namely, monkeys, apes, and so forth (not Prehistoric Neanderthals for example), I find just "annoying." I've never liked apes, monkeys, chimps, and so forth, and I'm having a hard time understanding why. They are a popular motif in various cultures and mythologies, something I do enjoy reading about. But they just seem "off" for being an "animal." Maybe it's because they are too human-like but not quite human. Not uncanny valley however. That being said, I don't have a good reason, or even an easily discernible reason, for disliking them.


Anyway, feel free to comment on my idiosyncracies. Does anyone else just dislike something without any good reason?

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I've never been overly fond of them either, lol. No idea why.

AmytheTemperamental said:

I would love to hear your thoughts on evolution.

I've been a long time fan of Planet of the Apes. I always thought it was cooler for the apes to take on the human communication, etc over the physical appearances.

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I'm fairly drunk and very happe. I can't claim to fully understand evolution. I do know that Neanderthals and humans interbred from about 50,000 BC and onward, which is why most people in Eurasia have a small percentage of neanderthal dna. As it happens neanderthals were probably NOT "dumber" than contemporary humans. Their brains proportionately were larger and the stuff I've read from physical anthropologists argue they probably had larger occipital lobes. I know I can't spell that word no matter how hard I try. Neaderthal reconstructions, do appear a bit ugglier than normal humans, however if you put one in a suit on the metro, there wouldn't be a panic, some have argued they may have been very slightly smarter than contemporary humans. Evolution is pretty esoteric. The best data comes from hominids rather than other animals. Crocadilians (Crocs, Gaters, Kamen, etc) are very similar to what they would have been 80 million years ago. And I wonder, (and boy would it be interesting) if some portion of the dinosaurs (probably in the ocean) ever survived into human times. Very unlikely, but not impossible. New evidence from south America suggests Terror Birds survived as late as 20,000 BC or even later. Though they aren't exactly dinos. Some critters found their evolutionary sweet spot, like that fish that still exists nearly unchanged after 140 Million years. Im probably off on my dating but the point still strands.