Disneyfying the body

People have probably always regarded animals as being versions of themselves, albeit devoid of everyday speech and with some enhanced senses (smell, vision) or physical abilities (strength, speed). People develop deeper relationships with animals, relying on them as workmates, regarding them as personal friends: their grief at the loss of a favoured pet matches what they would experience at the loss of a child or sibling.

This tendency seems to be an extension of our innate ability to empathise with each other - an ability said to be lacking among people with Autism. It is one step from understanding animals as if they are human to telling stories of them as humans, speaking and wearing clothes. I call this process ‘Disneyfication’ after Walt Disney, who set up theme parks full of humans pretending to be animals, to resemble cartoon characters of animals resembling humans.

Disneyfication does not stop with animals. Genes can be Disneyfied too: Richard Dawkins has sold a lot of books called ‘The Selfish Gene’. I went to a presentation this week on techniques for regenerating cells in the Central Nervous System. The researcher spoke unselfconsciously about neural cells ‘choosing’ between options, and ‘preferring’ one binding site to another. I am sure a Disney or Pixar cartoon of neural cells, dressed as people, falling in love, and plotting with each other to rebuild a brain will arrive soon at local cinemas.