Monday, April 30, 2018

Creep


What makes someone creepy? Inspired by Slate's, Is Robin Hanson America's Creepiest Economist? and the Fark response, I began to wonder. Robin Hanson is kind of creepy, but why? Is it simply that he compares a socially acceptable resource deficiency (money) to a socially unacceptable resource deficiency (sex)((Unless you are Rodney Dangerfield, of course)).

An internet search reveals that there has been extensive research into creepiness. Psychology Today points our that men are more likely than women to be creepy and that clowns, taxidermists and morticians have a high creep factor. Many of the other links about "creep factors" refer to the same survey. Bustle points out 8 things that you can do to be creepy (or avoid as the case may be): Stare, avoid eye contact, take pictures, ask personal questions, overshare, focus on one subject, ignore hygiene and show little emotion). OK, it's really 8 habits all creepy people have, but it could be a guide. Quora puts the question out there and gets 15 answers.

Finally, the Scary Pockets cover of Radiohead's "Creep.":

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