Its like that scene in the pilot of community where Jeff snaps the pencil:

Jeff Winger: What makes humans different from other animals? We’re the only species on earth that observes Shark Week. Sharks don’t even observe Shark Week, but we do. For the same reason I can pick up this pencil, tell you its name is Steve and go like this…
[breaks pencil] Abed reacts in shock
Jeff Winger: and part of you dies just a little bit on the inside. Because people can connect with anything. We can sympathize with a pencil, we can forgive a shark, and we can give Ben Affleck an Academy Award for screenwriting.

Humans are good at anthropomorphizing everything. Even aliens.