The Uncanny Valley

The problem with stereotypes is the uncanny valley. Being almost-human isn’t just creepy, it robs people of their humanity in the profoundest way, far more than a caricature that doesn’t pretend.

The phrase was coined by a robotics professor and is most commonly used in the context of CGI (computer-generated imagery) and its eerie similarity to the mediation of real actors. I wonder if moving images felt the same way when they were invented. Maybe not, since the public gravitated toward the new industry rather than recoiling from it.

Any representation, in fiction, nonfiction, visual art, even music, that feels close-but-no-cigar fake yields the same repulsion. It's worse than something that's far off. Way wrong can be funny, but slightly wrong—especially if trying to be right—is just yuk.

Sunday night at a fundraiser, I heard a fellow named Bernie Glassman, who cofounded zenpeacemakers.com and coauthored the soon-to-come The Dude and the Zen Master with Jeff Bridges, say “wars aren’t fought over opinions, only over what’s right and wrong.”

I’ve learned this past year that Buddhism was popularized in America largely by Jews, mostly since the 60s, but also in the 19th Century. They call them “JuBus”! Zen Master Bernie said he’d read my screenplay when it's ready for feedback. I love his “mantra”: “just my opinion, man!”

The near-miss is unnerving, the what-if so troubling. But wars are fought over entrenched polarities, when opinions become opposites in a world of disturbing nuance. The miracle of meditation, if enlightenment is possible, is promising to teach peace in the uncanny valley, equanimity in the face of stereotypes.