I have from time to time pondered the phenomenon of the polarizing effect of Lance Armstrong. Last night a parallel occurred to me. Let me try it out on you all.
There is a theory put forth in 1970 by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori that hold that the closer a robot comes to resembling human, the more emotional acceptance it will elicit *until* that point where it is very humanlike but still lacking, at which point the emotional response suddenly shifts from acceptance to revulsion. This theory is called The Uncanny Valley.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley
A corrollary to the theory is:
According to writer Jamais Cascio, a similar "uncanny valley" effect could show up when humans begin modifying themselves with transhuman enhancements (cf. body modification), which aim to improve the abilities of the human body beyond what would normally be possible, be it eyesight, muscle strength, or cognition.[31] So long as these enhancements remain within a perceived norm of human behavior, a negative reaction is unlikely, but once individuals supplant normal human variety, revulsion can be expected.
I would suggest that Lance Armstrong has worked so hard at modelling himself into the perfect hero-image, but has clearly fallen short. Fallen, in fact, into the Uncanny Valley, and for many, their one time admiration has changed to loathing. The tragic part is that all the ingredients may in fact have been there for Armstrong to be a legitimate hero. However, for whatever reason he was not content with that, but felt the need to manipulate, manhandle, and otherwise fabricate the image of Lance Armstrong, the anti-cancer super bikeracer superhero into something that for a large number of people will never be a believable entity. And the result has been disgust and loathing for all that do not buy into the fabrication.
There is a theory put forth in 1970 by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori that hold that the closer a robot comes to resembling human, the more emotional acceptance it will elicit *until* that point where it is very humanlike but still lacking, at which point the emotional response suddenly shifts from acceptance to revulsion. This theory is called The Uncanny Valley.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley
A corrollary to the theory is:
According to writer Jamais Cascio, a similar "uncanny valley" effect could show up when humans begin modifying themselves with transhuman enhancements (cf. body modification), which aim to improve the abilities of the human body beyond what would normally be possible, be it eyesight, muscle strength, or cognition.[31] So long as these enhancements remain within a perceived norm of human behavior, a negative reaction is unlikely, but once individuals supplant normal human variety, revulsion can be expected.
I would suggest that Lance Armstrong has worked so hard at modelling himself into the perfect hero-image, but has clearly fallen short. Fallen, in fact, into the Uncanny Valley, and for many, their one time admiration has changed to loathing. The tragic part is that all the ingredients may in fact have been there for Armstrong to be a legitimate hero. However, for whatever reason he was not content with that, but felt the need to manipulate, manhandle, and otherwise fabricate the image of Lance Armstrong, the anti-cancer super bikeracer superhero into something that for a large number of people will never be a believable entity. And the result has been disgust and loathing for all that do not buy into the fabrication.
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