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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Perceptual and Category Processing of the Uncanny Valley Hypothesis' Dimension of Human Likeness: Some Methodological Issues

Perceptual and Category Processing of the Uncanny Valley Hypothesis' Dimension of Human Likeness: Some Methodological Issues

Published on: June 3, 2013

Extremities: thresholds of human embodiment.

Matthew Wolf-Meyer¹, Karen-Sue Taussig

¹Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA. mwolfmey@ucsc.edu

Medical Anthropology

|May 11, 2010

Summary

New life forms present opportunities and challenges for medical anthropology. This special issue explores the changing human status, consequences of fictions, body production, and lived experiences of bodies to understand emergent life.

Area of Science:

Medical Anthropology
Sociology of Science
Bioethics

Background:

The early 21st century presents novel conditions of life.
These conditions create new avenues and obstacles for medical anthropology.
Existing frameworks may be insufficient to address these emergent phenomena.

Purpose of the Study:

To identify key areas requiring further investigation in medical anthropology.
To introduce and contextualize a collection of articles addressing emergent life forms.
To propose models for analyzing these new biological and social realities.

Main Methods:

Thematic analysis of emergent conditions of life.
Review of scholarly articles within a special issue.
Conceptual exploration of the human, life, and biology.

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Published on: January 21, 2017

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Last Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Perceptual and Category Processing of the Uncanny Valley Hypothesis' Dimension of Human Likeness: Some Methodological Issues

Perceptual and Category Processing of the Uncanny Valley Hypothesis' Dimension of Human Likeness: Some Methodological Issues

Published on: June 3, 2013

Measurement of Vibration Detection Threshold and Tactile Spatial Acuity in Human Subjects

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Published on: September 1, 2016

Psychophysically-anchored, Robust Thresholding in Studying Pain-related Lateralization of Oscillatory Prestimulus Activity

Psychophysically-anchored, Robust Thresholding in Studying Pain-related Lateralization of Oscillatory Prestimulus Activity

Published on: January 21, 2017

Examination of the production and experience of bodies.

Main Results:

Four critical areas for attention are identified: the evolving status of the human, the impact of anticipatory fictions, intensified body production, and the lived experience of managed bodies.
The collection provides diverse perspectives on these emergent phenomena.
Models for approaching emergent forms of life are presented.

Conclusions:

Medical anthropology must adapt to address the complexities of emergent life.
Interdisciplinary approaches are crucial for understanding the human and biological sciences.
Further research is needed to explore the societal and philosophical implications of new life forms.