CHAPTER DISCUSSION Chamber of Secrets Ch. 2, Dobby's Warning

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 188744

Bart:
snip
> 
>     The House Elves, which were probably created magically, clearly have 
> a psychological need to serve.
snip
 Frankly, it is probably insanity to create 
> an intelligent servant creature more powerful than its masters; the WW 
> apparently put some very powerful safeties into the House Elf psychology 
> to prevent them from taking over (probably on the order of Asimov's 3 
> Laws of Robotics, which he initially considered to be a basic 
> engineering solution rather than the philosophical problem it morphed 
> into). 

Potioncat:
Why do you think the House Elf was created by wizards? Is there something in canon that leads you to think so?

IMO, House Elves were inspired by Brownies (the shoemaker kind, not the US Girl Scout or chocolate treat) and would have been existing magical creatures. Wizards somehow managed to take advantage of the House Elf nature over the course of centuries to the point that exists now.

I also don't see the Wizarding World having the capability to create such a creature, or the knowledge of psychology to think of the safety features you suggest. The WW's understanding of psychology is pretty limited based on what we see in canon.

Potioncat, who will add that the Brownine Girl Scout was also inspried by the brownies of folklore, though none of the ones I knew were particularly eager to help around the house.