system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
What causes us to feel that a person is 'creepy'?

Despite having no evidence to support the idea that a person is untrustworthy or malicious we often feel like they are. Why is this?
gpt
Social communication is very complicated and partly quite primal. Just as animals communicate through subtle behavioral "dances" (classic: dogs smelling each other before they play), humans have particular social communication routines that are partly taught to us explicitly (e.g., manners), partly cultural and not directly taught (e.g., how much eye contact is appropriate), and partly evolutionary/cross-cultural (e.g., certain facial expressions, give-and-take, social responsiveness). "Creepy" people violate some of these social communication rules, in some way. It may be hard to articulate what they are doing if they are violating less explicitly taught social rules, but it will still FEEL just as "off." Someone making too much eye contact feels creepy. Someone who makes the wrong facial expression for the situation feels creepy.