Anthropomorphism is the imposition of human forms or ways of being onto someone or something not human. Personification, a literary device in which inanimate objects are given human characteristics, as in references to a clock’s face or chairs’ arms and legs, is one iteration of anthropomorphism. In the context of the theory of the umwelt, anthropomorphism is the result of humans inappropriately imposing their own umwelt on those who are not human. An anthropomorphic approach to birds would assume that they hear their own songs the way that humans do, although Yong shows that the sequence of birds’ notes is irrelevant to many birds.

The Anthropocene is the recent geological era in which human changes to the planet can be detected within the earth. The Anthropocene is often used as an umbrella term for other modern, human forms of destruction on the planet, such as species extinction, climate change, and industrial animal farming, Anthropocentrism is slightly different and unavoidable; it refers to the fact that humans approach the world through their humanness. Humans cannot remove themselves from their own umwelt. Nonetheless, humans can be aware of their anthropocentrism, and this awareness can aid in imagining other ways of being that are not human, helping to avoid anthropomorphism.