What is an appropriate translation of 親和感?


In 1970, Masahiro Mori proposed the theory of the [Uncanny
Valley](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley), which states that

> "when human replicas look and act almost, but not perfectly, like actual
> human beings, it causes a response of revulsion among human observers."

English translations (like the above linked Wikipedia article) depict Mori's
Uncanny Valley in graph form as a function of `human likeness` versus
`familiarity`, which is an odd term to use, as a low `familiarity` would not
be expected to cause revulsion in the common use of the word.

In his original article, Mori used the term 親和感. I have translated 親和 to
`friendship, fellowship` according to [Denshi
Jisjo](http://jisho.org/words?jap=shinwa&eng=&dict=edict) and 感 seems to mean
`sense of`.

However, `sense of friendship` still doesn't seem like a particularly adequate
translation. I am wondering if there are any other
interpretations/translations of the term that Mori could have had in mind.

![The Uncanny Valley graphed as a function of human likeness versus
親和感](https://i.stack.imgur.com/lHy0K.gif)




Personally, I don't have a good enough intuitive sense of the meaning to
decide what the _best_ translation is, which is why I was reluctant to post an
answer.

Luckily, I don't have to explain it myself. Let's take a look at an article
titled [Robotics' Uncanny Valley Gets New
Translation](http://www.livescience.com/20909-robotics-uncanny-valley-
translation.html):

> [T]he first English translation was done between the early morning hours of
> 1 and 2 a.m. in a Japanese robotics lab in 2005 — a rush job that has
> finally received a painstaking revision in 2012.

So you may be correct that **familiarity** isn't the best way to put it. The
article goes on to talk about the various translations of the term (
_familiarity_ , _likableness_ , _comfort level_ , and _affinity_ ), and it
goes on to say:

> Such English words fail to capture the full essence of Mori's original
> Japanese, said Karl MacDorman, a robotics researcher at Indiana University
> who served as one of the English translators for the uncanny valley essay.
>
> "I think it is that feeling of being in the presence of another human being
> — the moment when you feel in synchrony with someone other than yourself and
> experience a 'meeting of minds,'" MacDorman said. "Negative 'shinwakan,' the
> uncanny, is when that sense of synchrony falls apart, the moment you
> discover that the one you thought was your soul mate was nothing more than
> smoke and mirrors."

If the article is accurate, then Karl MacDorman doesn't believe any of these
English words accurately convey the meaning of _shinwakan_ by themselves. In
fact, he's one of the two translators credited on the 2012 revision ([The
Uncanny Valley, IEEE
Spectrum](http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/the-uncanny-
valley)). This new translation has been authorized and reviewed by Masahiro
Mori himself, so that lends credence to his words.

So what _is_ the best translation, if not one of the above? Well, it appears
that they chose the word **affinity** , despite its presence in the list! But
why, if it failed to capture the meaning of _shinwakan_?

Ultimately, words mean _what you explain them to mean_. In this context,
**affinity** means what the translator explained above _because they've
explained what they meant_ , and although this may not be exactly what the
word usually means, it is nonetheless close enough to be the term that was
chosen by the new translators and approved by Masahiro Mori himself.

As a result, I think we can say that **affinity** is the best translation.




Personally, I don't have a good enough intuitive sense of the meaning to
decide what the _best_ translation is, which is why I was reluctant to post an
answer.

Luckily, I don't have to explain it myself. Let's take a look at an article
titled [Robotics' Uncanny Valley Gets New
Translation](http://www.livescience.com/20909-robotics-uncanny-valley-
translation.html):

> [T]he first English translation was done between the early morning hours of
> 1 and 2 a.m. in a Japanese robotics lab in 2005 — a rush job that has
> finally received a painstaking revision in 2012.

So you may be correct that **familiarity** isn't the best way to put it. The
article goes on to talk about the various translations of the term (
_familiarity_ , _likableness_ , _comfort level_ , and _affinity_ ), and it
goes on to say:

> Such English words fail to capture the full essence of Mori's original
> Japanese, said Karl MacDorman, a robotics researcher at Indiana University
> who served as one of the English translators for the uncanny valley essay.
>
> "I think it is that feeling of being in the presence of another human being
> — the moment when you feel in synchrony with someone other than yourself and
> experience a 'meeting of minds,'" MacDorman said. "Negative 'shinwakan,' the
> uncanny, is when that sense of synchrony falls apart, the moment you
> discover that the one you thought was your soul mate was nothing more than
> smoke and mirrors."

If the article is accurate, then Karl MacDorman doesn't believe any of these
English words accurately convey the meaning of _shinwakan_ by themselves. In
fact, he's one of the two translators credited on the 2012 revision ([The
Uncanny Valley, IEEE
Spectrum](http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/the-uncanny-
valley)). This new translation has been authorized and reviewed by Masahiro
Mori himself, so that lends credence to his words.

So what _is_ the best translation, if not one of the above? Well, it appears
that they chose the word **affinity** , despite its presence in the list! But
why, if it failed to capture the meaning of _shinwakan_?

Ultimately, words mean _what you explain them to mean_. In this context,
**affinity** means what the translator explained above _because they've
explained what they meant_ , and although this may not be exactly what the
word usually means, it is nonetheless close enough to be the term that was
chosen by the new translators and approved by Masahiro Mori himself.

As a result, I think we can say that **affinity** is the best translation.

