Anthropomorphism

Steve blogged on this earlier today. What I want to know now is why we insist on attributing human characteristics/impulses to objects that, unlike us, are inanimate; or in the case of less advanced lifeforms, cognitively incapable of the actions that we ascribe to them. Gigantic suicidal planet. (MSN) Really? It's a catchy hook, I suppose. But it's misleading as hell from a scientific perspective.