Humanish, Justin Gregg
Humanish, Justin Gregg
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Humanish
What Talking to Your Cat or Naming Your Car Reveals About the Uniquely Human Need to Humanize

Author: Justin Gregg

Narrator: Justin Gregg

Unabridged: 7 hr 56 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/23/2025

Synopsis

A playful deep dive into anthropomorphism (our peculiar tendency to humanize the nonhuman) that will resonate with anyone who has thrown a birthday party for their dog.

Bestselling science writer Justin Gregg explores the science behind our instinct to see ourselves in the creatures and objects around us. Ours is a world filled with emotional support alligators, a woman who married her briefcase, and Soviet super babies that drink dolphin milk. Delivered with a delightful mix of scientific insight and humor, Humanish is a groundbreaking exploration of one of the most powerful—but rarely talked about—cognitive biases influencing our behavior.
 
Through quirky stories and fascinating research, Gregg unravels the reasons behind why we treat our pets like babies, fall in love with chatbots, and talk to our cars. Discover how anthropomorphism drives both consumerism and the coming AI revolution, and how the inverse process, dehumanization, allows us to treat our fellow humans so inhumanely. Explore the brighter side of anthropomorphism’s biological benefits—it helps us connect with other humans and make sense of our unpredictable world. Humanish is filled with captivating stories and invaluable ideas of how we can harness our understanding of anthropomorphism to build healthier relationships and enrich our lives

Reviews

Goodreads review by Migdalia on July 16, 2025

Gregg explores the unexpected role anthropomorphism, or the propensity to see humanity in anything and everything, plays in a broad range of topics like artificial intelligence, racism, religion, ableism, neuroscience, our understanding of psychopathy, debates about consciousness in animals or wheth......more

Goodreads review by Jill Elizabeth on May 28, 2025

This was so interesting! I am definitely guilty of anthropomorphizing everything from the cat to Alexa, so found this peek behind the curtain to be an exceptionally intriguing one. I was familiar with the concept, but the biological and evolutionary science behind the theories was fascinating to me.......more

Goodreads review by Katie on August 25, 2025

Thank you for giving me an early opportunity to read this book. It immediately begins with fun and outrageous examples of anthropomosphism that are relatable and likely triggering my own anthropomorphism. It is quickly followed by a clear definition that readers, like myself, carry with us throughou......more

Goodreads review by Dan on August 01, 2025

My thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for an advance copy of this book that discusses the tendency that people have of bringing human emotions into relationships with things that are decidedly nonhuman, animals, pets, technology, even cars, what this means about us, how this can be a......more

Goodreads review by Kitty on August 24, 2025

Many thanks to Hachette for supplying me with the Kindle edition of this ebook in exchange for an honest review. It wasn't so long ago that animals in general were not considered creatures that could think or feel; sentient beings as it were. And then came the likes of Jane Goodall and Cynthia Moss,......more

Quotes

"Everyone who is interested in both human and animal behavior will love this book. Justin Gregg uses interesting stories to explain anthropomorphism."—Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation and Animals Make Us Human

"Going beyond a delightful explanation of why we dress our dogs in cute costumes, this is an engaging and timely investigation of how we interact with technology, politics, and religion through a unique narrativizing lens—demonstrating that what makes us human is what we see as human-ish."—Adam Aleksic, author of Algospeak: How Social Media is Transforming the Future of Language

"Humanish is at once a riveting read and a breath of fresh air. Justin Gregg opens our senses and our hearts to nature’s whims and to the other beings with whom we share our one and only planet. Identifying with them is a win-win for all."—Marc Bekoff, PhD, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals

“A dazzling, delightful read on what animal cognition can teach us about our own mental shortcomings. You won’t just tear through this book in one sitting—you’ll probably want to invite Justin Gregg over for dinner to spend more time inside his brilliant mind. This is one of the best debuts I’ve read in a long time, and I dare you to open it without rethinking some of your basic ideas about intelligence.”  —Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again (for If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal)

“A snappy read: it left me wondering why we don't respect signals of intelligence from other species—and more deeply consider how our own intelligence works against us.” —Amy Brady, Scientific American (for If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal)

“If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal makes some extraordinary and thought-provoking points. It is not only engagingly written, but its controversial thesis is worth taking seriously… some of the cognitive concepts introduced… are nothing less than brilliant.” —David P. Barash, Wall Street Journal (for If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal)

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