What makes things creepy?

Previously I had talked about what makes things cute, called kinderschema, and the evolutionary reason for them. Today I want to talk about the probable opposite of the cuteness, creepiness. We are all familiar with the feeling of creepiness. It's the feeling you get in the middle of the night, or when you you feel something supernatural or sinister. This may seem like just an human phenomenon that has developed alongside urban legends and scary stories but there is actually a discrete scientific and evolutionary reason for the feeling of creepiness.

When something is creepy, people say it lives in the "uncanny valley". I used to think that the "uncanny valley" was just a place that the supernatural lived. The term "uncanny valley" derives from the area between survival response and rest, or in other words, the area between fight and flight and rest.

Our body is hardwired through adrenaline responses and total physiological changes to respond to a threat with a instant reaction. The problem comes when our brain isn't sure whether there is a threat or not. This in-between area means our body isn't sure whether to respond or not to a possible threat. This creepiness caused by perceptory discrepancies is why many things are creepier at night. This causes the feeling of uneasiness and fidgeting that is characteristic of a response to being creeped out. A video on Vsauce talked about how this uncanny valley can be used in scary stories. The stories about things like ax murderers feel creepy because it convinces us that there is a threat when our minds tell us that there isn't a threat. It is this discrepancy that causes the feeling of creepiness associated with scary stories.

Another theory about creepiness is one by Masahiro Mori about human familiarity. Basically the theory is that as things become closer to resembling humans they get creepier and creepier until they reach nearly exact resemblance with a human such as a picture or a living human which stops being creepy. This is illustrated in a graph by Mori in which creepiness occurs as soon as the human brain tries to recognize the object as human. This is why stuffed animals and mannequins are not creepy as they barely have human features, while humanoid robots, ventriloquist dummies and dolls are all creepy.

There are several other theories about what makes things creepy. These theories involve the avoidance of pathogens, such as why dead things are creepy. These collection of factors provide the large scope of what is scary and creepy in our life.

One video that shows the varied aspects in person is the urban legend "Jeff The Killer". Here is his picture

So what makes him creepy? The almost humanoid features in combination with distinctly inhuman features create a feeling of unease. The smiling face in comparison to the killings in the urban legends and the unsettling surroundings create the contrasting perceptions that also create a feeling of unease. It is these combined factors from both theories that make "Jeff The Killer" creepy. These same factors will lead to the uneasiness that some people will feel at night due to seeing this picture.

Vsauce- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEikGKDVsCc
Masahiro Mori Curve- http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/040210-who-is-afraid-of-the-uncanny-valley

What makes something cute?

When looking at Youtube it is impossible to miss the wide variety of cute animal videos. There is certain aspects of a creature that makes it cute. The cuteness is actually a built-in perception that humans have to something that they deem not to be dangerous and that we should protect.

Cuteness has it's origins in evolution. In order to protect the vulnerable young of our species we began to gain a strong affinity and protectiveness towards the features of a young child. Some of these features include large round eyes, large head in comparison too body, and a chubby nature in facial features such as cheek. Konrad Lorenz, a scientist who did some of the pioneering research on this, called these common traits kinderschema, which comes from the German root kinder for children. These features disappear during puberty as our young develop independence and require less protection.

This affinity for kinderschema is so strong and programmed so deep into the human psyche that the aspects of kinderschema can even apply to other species. This is why animals that are round, have large eyes, and small noses are cute, such as kittens and hamsters.

Kinderschema is not just some useless phenomenon. Marketing companies and other media has been using this ingrained human response to create characters that seem vulnerable, cute, and like we should protect them. One of the most famous uses of kinderschema was by the great animator Walt Disney. One of Disney's animators, Preston Blair, who animated Bambi and Pinocchio, has written a book called "Advanced Animation", which in one part showed a set of guidelines on how to make a character cute. These same basic guidelines have been used to create many of the famously cute characters we know and love. The cute guidelines are often used heavily in the Japanese animation style of anime.

People enjoy cute because it triggers a sense of protectiveness and care. Videos or pictures that have high levels of kinderschema become extremely popular. One website called "Zooborns" accesses this kinderschema through pictures of baby animals, and has become extremely popular. A recent video, that had sparked my interest in the subject of cute was of a hamster eating tiny burritos. The second video enhanced the kinderschema by personifying the hamster through using human cuisine, as well as small versions of silverware and restaurant decorations. In many ways, kinderschema is a very tangible and effective literary and visual strategy that can be used to evoke a sense of vulnerability and protectiveness or empathy.


The Science of Kinderschema- http://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/blog/babies-cute-explained/
Preston Blair's Guidelines - http://stevenbrisson.tumblr.com/post/150100380/disneys-definition-of-the-cute-character-as
ZooBorns- http://www.zooborns.com/\
Hamster with Burrito- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOCtdw9FG-s

HeTube or SheTube

Something I recently noticed, mainly due to the discussions that we are having in class about gender discrimination in our society, is that most of the Youtuber's that I watch are male. When I think of all the people I regularly watch, a large percentage of them are male. I became really curious to find out whether this is simply because I am a male and therefore enjoy watching videos on topics that are typically addressed by males or if, on Youtube, there is a misrepresented amount of female Youtubers.

My belief that it may simply be my gender was sparked by personal interactions. I have female friends that do follow female Youtubers. I was shocked at the amount of female Youtubers that I had never heard of. I was first introduced to the ever-popular Jenna Marbles, but than came a wave of others such as Hannah Hart, Justine Ezarik and others. The reason I had not found these Youtubers before became clear when I watched their videos. They appealed to their gender. Their topics were ones that other females could relate to and therefore enjoyed watching. I didn't understand a majority of the references or jokes because I hadn't experienced them. In the opposite direction, it made me realize that some of the Youtubers that I find funny may not be funny or entertaining to the opposite gender for the exact same reasons. This entertainment gender line comes from the societal gap in the roles each gender plays. The same gap applies to male vs. female comedians.

Yet at the same time I still believe that there is a misrepresentation of female Youtubers, and that it is not merely my own view being clouded by personally experiences. The reason I have to believe this is the all-important top Youtuber's list. Only 8 of the top 50 subscribed Youtubers are female, and about half of those show up in the last 10.

Do these stats show a misrepresentation of female Youtubers or is it still just societal trends. To know this, we would have to see how many people who visit Youtube are male or female to see if male Youtubers are more popular because a majority of the people who watch videos on Youtube are male.

Even if it is simply a case of men preferring to watch videos by men because they are relatable and vice versa for women, I would encourage people to reach out across the gender lines and attempt watching a Youtuber of a different gender. Maybe it will be just another step towards the gender equality that many yearn for in our society.

Effort

If there is one thing I can respect it is effort. I believe that almost anything can be accomplished through sheer force of will. That if you work hard enough, you will eventually get there. The challenge I find is in our finite lifespans. We only have so much time. We can't perfect everything. We don't even really have time to perfect one thing. So how do we decide to spend our effort.

In my mind there are four categories of effort. Those that have a lot of effort or don't, and those that succeed or don't.

Those that have a lot of effort and succeed are the rewarding stories. Stories that uplift others and make them want to work their hardest. A wonderful example would be CorridorDigital's channel. They spend large amounts of time meticulously animating their videos, and were rightfully rewarded for their work with fame and money. A perfect and inspiring story that makes you want to spend time and effort on something.

On the other side of the spectrum is those that put in a lot of effort and yet don't succeed. These are the nightmare stories. People who put years of work into something that resulted in nothing. Sticking along the lines of animation, the one example that comes to mind is "The Thief and the Cobbler". A movie that was completely hand-animated, in which every single frame was drawn by hand. The production of the movie took 30 entire years and was intricately detailed, as well as containing twice as many frames per second than needed just to make it look smoother. Yet right before it was released, a CGI movie with a similar story stole all of it's success and many thought that "The Thief and the Cobbler" was a ripoff. What movie did they think it was a ripoff of. You may know it, Disney's "Aladdin". Please watch this video to pay tribute to the incredible amount of work that went in. A link to one of the scenes is at the bottom.

Some people post very lazily and don't succeed. They deserve it. It's not impressive or inspiring or teaches a lesson. It merely occupies space and is possibly the worst of the four categories. I don't feel like posting an example because that is encouraging the creation of more.

Then there are the lucky ones. The ones you wish you could be yet at the exact same time you hate for being so successful with so little effort. Sometimes it's the unpolished nature that makes it so good like Sir Fedora or the off-the-wall antics in NigaHiga's ADHD posts, that seem very friendly and real. Sometimes the Youtuber just somehow strikes a chord that resonates with a large amount of people for some strange reason, such as NyanCat. They are like a needle in haystack and are very hard to predict most of the times. They can be extremely enjoyable yet probably not something you should place your hopes on.

Effort is tough and taxing. It is hard to constantly expend effort, even when you love what you are doing. But it is rewarding and I encourage everyone to find something and give 110% on it.

Corridor Digital's channel- https://www.youtube.com/user/CorridorDigital
Thief and the Cobbler- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdJbo-4rg1k#t=33
Nyan Cat- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH2-TGUlwu4

Power of Youtube

I just finished watching a eye-opening Youtube video by Matthew Patrick, otherwise known as MatPat, the Youtuber that runs the channel "Game Theory". His channel attempts to scientifically analyze the different aspects of video games, such as "Why do we play video games?" "Why is the faceless protagonist so common?" "Does Mario have diagnose-able psychological diseases?". His recent videos were about the success stories and the failures of the gaming industry. What causes a game system to be successful?

In general, gamers tend to like to stick to a pattern, which is why sequels are so popular. Buying a video game is now a $60 investment and so they tend to stick to games that they know will be good. The interesting thing he looked at is innovative games. He tried to examine why some innovative gaming systems flop, such as the Virtual Boy, and why other innovative gaming systems, such as the motion-controlled Wii, go on to be the most profitable and successful gaming system yet.

The basic idea is found the Diffusion of Innovations Theory. Essentially, only 2.5% of the human race are considered "innovators". They are innovators because they have become powerful and influential enough that they can take the risks associated with trying something new. Behind them are another 13.5% of the population referred to as "early adopters". They pick and choose from the innovator's ideas and spread them, which is slightly less risk than the innovator. These two groups set the trends that eventually lead to the majority appeal and viral diffusion.

Youtube contains this same system for gaming. It is no surprise that the main innovator for all of Youtube's gaming community is Pewdiepie. It's no surprise because he was named King of The Web, and has one of the largest amounts of subscribers than anyone else. Pewdiepie can innovate by playing lesser known games. If these games are successful, the other gaming channels serve as the "early adopters" and do their own videos on them. The games then reach the majority, us, who start to play these games.

One of the ways this affects things is by causing the viral gaming trends. Flappy Bird got extremely popular around the same time, January 27, that Pewdiepie posted a video of himself playing Flappy Bird. Soon after that, the "early adopter" channels posted their own videos, until the game had mass viral appeal and publicity that reached almost everyone.

In the same way that Flappy Bird exploded in popularity, games and game systems can be stifled by lack of publicity. One of the reasons that the WiiU extremely under performed is because Nintendo has a very strict copyright policy for their games that makes Youtuber's hesitative to play those games in fear of the blocking of their video due to copyright issues. This has led to a lack of support from innovators and early adopters which leads to a lack of interest in the popular majority.

This system of innovation and hierarchy of ideas shows how Youtube can have serious real-world applications. As Youtube continues to grow in size and influence this effect  becomes more obvious. When used correctly, Youtube can be the most powerful marketing tool in the world. However, a lack of publicity on Youtube can, at least for gaming systems, easily kill a product.

MatPat's video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyXcr6sDRtw&list=PL35FE5C4B157509C9

Satire is Tough

Most Youtube comedians use the form of satire as their comedy. Satire is basically pretending to support an ideal that you actually criticize by emphasizing it's flaws. This can be absolutely hilarious and extremely effective, which is why it is used by so many people. Some examples of Youtubers who use satire extensively are Ryan Higa, Jack Douglas, and Ian and Anthony from Smosh. They all pretend like they believe outdated or offensive things in order to show the ridiculousness in believing those things. These topics can range from something trivial such as varying pop culture fads or serious topics like homophobia and racism.

The dangerous part of satire is that, when it is taken out of context, performed ineffectually, or merely misunderstood, can be misconstrued that the satirist actually believes those views. For example, if Ryan Higa performed a satire on how some people are inexplicably racist towards asians by being overly offensive and satirical, it might be thought that he actually meant those offensive remarks and was himself, a racist. This might be slightly hard though as Ryan Higa himself is Asian-American.

Still, there are comedians whose careers and personal lives have been ruined by their misunderstood satire. One of the earliest satirists was Swift in his "Modest Proposal" in which, among other offensive remarks, he offered cannibalizing babies as a method to ease the economic troubles. Even today, I have still met people that upon reading Swift's "Modest Proposal" honestly believe that he was condoning and suggesting eating babies as a serious solution.

Even in modern times the misunderstanding of satire can hurt comedian's careers. One of the great comedians/satirists of our day, especially in the political field, is Stephen Colbert, who satirizes the Conservative party. In a segment in which he satirized the racial comments of the Washington Redskins owner he made a racial comment about Asian-Americans. When taken out of context, many saw Colbert's remarks as racist and Suey Park, a "hashtag activist" started the #CancelColbert hashtag. While this was merely a minor hiccup in the career of Stephen Colbert as many others vindicated his joke and showed that is was satirical and not genuine, it could have severely hurt his career if the majority of the population perceived him and his show as racist.

Two pieces of advice come out of this. One, if you are a satirist, make sure you are clear about your actual intentions so that you don't get misunderstood and accused of supporting the belief's that you are condemning. Two, if you are a viewer, try to look at the quote or segment in context before making rash judgement on whether someone is actually being offensive or satirical.

Swift's Modest Proposal - http://art-bin.com/art/omodest.html
Cancel Colbert Story - http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2014/03/twitter-campaign-to-cancel-colbert-report.html

Enthusiasm

One of the most powerful forces in the world is genuine enthusiasm. It's the reason why our counselors and anyone who gives career advice will first ask you "What are your passions?" When you are enthusiastic about something you will work hard for it. There are all kinds of stories of dedicated fans going to insane lengths to create detailed replicas, homages, and collections. So when Youtubers are enthusiastic about their job they tend to succeed from all the work that they put in.

This relates back in part to my protest against companies like VEVO and highlight pages created by Youtbe being counted as "Youtubers". They don't have any enthusiasm about what they do because they don't create anything. They see it merely as a business opportunity. This trend has not only been showing up in company-run Youtube channels but also in Youtuber's channels. It is standard procedure now for every Youtuber to advocate for themselves and ask for likes, subscriptions, and other social media mention in order to compete with the other channels. In other words, notice and support from the Youtube community means making money, and making money is turning Youtube channels into businesses.

Call me nostalgic or old-fashioned, but I want a return to old Youtube. The Youtube that made the name "Youtube" famous. In which random people decided they wanted to share something with everyone, like a song or comedy skit, and people enjoyed it. There was no such thing as asking for subscriptions or likes, people just did it if they enjoyed the video.

I'm not trying to condemn the idea of likes and subscribers. They can make people who post feel absolutely amazing about themselves and give vindication for all of their work. It is like when a musician gets a compliment on their playing for the first time, or the first piece of art that an artist sells.

While on the subject of the power of enthusiasm I would like to look at the inspirational story that got me thinking about the merits and drawbacks of the "like" system. C Jackson, or as he is known on Youtube as "Sir Fedora" or "One Like Kid" was an unknown amateur vlogger. He made a video all about how one of his previous videos got a like. He was so excited and enthusiastic about the recognition. Someone posted his video of being excited about one like to Reddit. The amazing thing was that when people saw it they started liking everything he had posted. They were so enamored with his sheer enthusiasm and gratefulness for that one like that they wanted to support him too. His video about the excitement for one like now has 181,930 likes. Once I refreshed the page after a minute it had gone up another 39 likes.

Enthusiasm is powerful. Being excited about what you do will make others excited about what you do. Find your passion and work for it.

I just refreshed it again, now its at 182,003. Congratulations Sir Fedora. You stand as a testament to what passion can accomplish

His Viral Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZcDjcaSHvc