In Defense of Papyrus Font

 Here is a very interesting article about the use of the Papyrus font in the title of the movie Avatar.

In Defense of Papyrus: Avatar Uses the World's Second-Most-Hated Font to Signal the Downfall of Civilization (designforhackers.com)

Material dishonesty is a symptom of cultural illness. Material honesty is the pursuit of one thing, at the expense of everything else. This is why material dishonesty matters, and this is Why You Hate Papyrus. In the movie Avatar, the Na’vi are fooled by the false representations of themselves, and it leads to tragedy. You don’t only see material dishonesty in your furniture, and your bathroom tile. Material dishonesty seeps into every nook and cranny of civilization.

In robotics, there is a concept called the “uncanny valley.” This is the phenomenon that we are okay with humanoid figures that either look perfectly lifelike – a feat yet to be accomplished – or that take on their own characteristics, like a cartoon character; or a Na’vi, for that matter. Anything in that valley between caricature and reality creeps us the fuck out. Anything between those two peaks is in the uncanny valley. There are a number of theories about why humanoid figures in the uncanny valley make us uncomfortable. Some think they remind us of our mortality. Others believe they trigger the same reaction that would make us avoid someone sick with a contagious disease. But I think there’s a more important reason: It’s that we’re evolutionarily wired to be averse to deception. Not only are we averse to deception, but it also worries us when others aren’t attuned to deception.