Sheesh.
… it is known, for example, that hurricanes tend to kill more people if they have feminine names, because they are perceived as less dangerous, meaning people are less likely to take adequate precautions. [“Why do we feel the need to humanise everything, from dogs to cars?“, Elle Hunt in a book review, NewScientist (27 December 2025, paywall)]
I suppose if we labeled them with numbers some folks would think that’s a severity rating; animal names, danger ratings; etc. Our tendency to look for hierarchies here in the West is either inborn or a product of society.
And does it really need a re-think?
