Creepy Clown

About this and That

A lot of people find clowns unsettling. The reason for this is that our brains are super tuned to read faces and the myriad signals conveyed there. Colorful make up caricatures one emotion but we might see or ‘feel’ a completely different emotion in the face we are viewing.

This confuses our brains. We don’t like to be confused or in doubt about another person’s emotional state. Our safety and security may depend on our perceptions.

On the other hand an emotionless cat face like Hello Kitty is lovable. Why is it loved? Maybe because Hello Kitty is not mad, or sad, does not judge us, is not disappointed. Maybe big eyes and big ears are a trigger for our nurturing instincts.

So a clowns actions might also scare us. Exaggerated body movement and strange behavior might be funny to some and at the same time threatening to others. Our survival depends on recognition of danger. Clowns trigger a couple of those buttons. Funny and scary!

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