Just how much do you 'like' your things?

[Charlou]

I recently had a discussion with a friend about atheism, pantheism, and religious belief and the topic wandered from total lack of belief, to belief that attributes and confers power and authority to a supreme being, to a sort of Einsteinian sense of reverence for nature which Einstein described as non-theistic religion, on to Buddhism, and then the Gaia hypothesis.

From there we talked about human anthropomorphism of inanimate objects, projecting personality onto and attributing human traits and qualities to the everyday things we value and even those we think we take for granted.

A sentimental affection for an object we like and hold dear: it gives us pleasure. Some objects are even given names and treated gently, respectfully. There's a sense of gratitude toward the object for the pleasure it brings. Losing such an object is cause for grief.

An active distaste for an object based on the way it makes us feel bad or uncomfortable. Have you ever blamed the object you're using for not operating properly? In your frustration, have you ever had an irrational (acknowledged or otherwise) sneaking suspicion that an object has it in for you? Or that 'something' is conspiring against you, causing things to go wrong?

Why are we inclined to think this way about objects? Is it innate or is it learned? Is it a natural extension of how we feel about everything we are a part of? How far does this extend for you? Your immediate social circle, possessions and surroundings, or beyond that to include the greater natural realm? Even further...?

[ScholasticSpastic]

I couldn't say I'm emotionally attached to any of my inanimate things. I feel some affection for my animals and plants because I've watched them grow up, but the furnishings and appliances in my apartment are just something to sort and dust off periodically. I would be sad if someone broke in and stole my computer, but that's because I need a computer for school and it would be expensive to replace it- not for the sake of any sort of emotional connection.

There are some photographs I feel some connection to, but that's a matter of connection to the subject of the photo, not the photo itself.

So I'd say that not everyone suffers from emotional attachment to inanimate objects. I'll have to check back on this thread after my inflatable sheep arrives and let you know whether I've become attached to it.

[Randy Ping]

I like my action figures. They inspire me.

[EeekiE]

I usually become somewhat emotionally attached to certain cars. I've also referred to them as having personality. I do not for one second think they are alive, but I'd probably break down if I sold my main one. I'll also talk to it if it's struggling or low on fuel I'm again well aware it hasn't the slightest affect on any outcome. I think it's more an outward display of concern than anything else but I still do it.
My brother once had a Mk2 Golf GTI 8v (notoriously robust) that he used to give hell every day for a few years and it never broke. It also flew into a few fields and came out fine. While my car was being mended, I bought it off him as a run-around and it serve me well for months too. There was sort of an inside joke between friend at how it would be the only thing left on the globe after a nuclear holocaust. One day going in to work a van pulled out on me and I ploughed right into it. The bonnet looked like a tent and the from cross member was dug right into the front wheels, and I just started to cry not so much because of the crash, but because of the sentimental value that car had between friends and family. I phoned my brother and he ran out of work to come and help me with it and he looked quite sad about it too. The awesome thing was, we pulled all the front chassis out of the wheel well, and it started up first time and drove me and my brother all the way back home which made me feel really proud of it for some reason. I couldn't be around as the guy came to tow it off to be cubed. So yeah I guess with some older cars I attach a kind of personality to them, even though I'd never invest any kind of faith in them, and know full well they are machines.
Good thread topic.

[bockman]

Things men have made with wakened hands, and put
soft life into
are awake through years with transferred touch, and go
on glowing
for long years.
And for this reason, some old things are lovely
Warm still with the life of forgotten men who made them.

D.H. Lawrence

[Horwood Beer-Master]

Have you ever blamed the object you're using for not operating properly?

I don’t know what your talking about.

[orpheus]

Very interesting thread! Charlou, thanks for starting it.

I don't name any of my things. But I am deeply attached to some of them: a very old score of the Beethoven string quartets that had belonged to my mentor (composer); his widow gave it to me shortly after his death. A pencil used by another composer whose music I love and respect. Things like this.

It's curious, though: I always feel somewhat uncomfortable when something like this comes my way. Usually my attachment to the object has to do with my attachment to the person. And, of course, objects can be lost, stolen, or broken. I'm not superstitious about any of this - not at all. But on a purely emotional level, I always worry about the fragility of some thing. I never take that volume of the Beethoven quartets out of the house, for example.

It's happened before that some such object met with disaster; at such times, it's always taken a big effort for me to overcome a huge sense of frustration and disappointment. I have to remind myself that my memories of that person are still intact. Nothing has diminished how they enriched my life.

So the object is precious, but with it comes a vulnerability.

[gangsteroflove]

I definitely see certain inanimate objects as having personality or emotions, in a way. Logically speaking I know they don't, but it's something that I've had in my brain since childhood, and it's hard to shake! Cars are a strong candidate for this, along with childhood toys and blankets. A few months ago our car broke down and we had to push it into the parking lot of a strip mall and leave it there... I felt a lot of guilt about just "abandoning" it, and it really took a conscious effort to force that down.

I like what you said about feeling gratitude for things that bring us pleasure and comfort. I have a little terry cloth rabbit that I've had since I was born... I've held that rabbit and slept with it and wiped tears away with it's ears forever, and I find I feel guilt about even thinking he might not have any sentient thought or feelings! They'll probably take my atheist card away for this post.

[JimC]

Things men have made with wakened hands, and put
soft life into
are awake through years with transferred touch, and go
on glowing
for long years.
And for this reason, some old things are lovely
Warm still with the life of forgotten men who made them.

D.H. Lawrence

Just beautiful.

Thanks, Bockman.

[lindseyoconnor]

Other than my pets (who, of course, are members of my family), the objects for which I feel the most affection are my books. They are a joy to me - not only in reading them but even just in seeing them sitting on the shelf. So many are old friends of mine.

[obscured by clouds]

My Corvette hates me, why else is it costing me an arm and leg

[I'm With Stupid]

I think it has to do with how much you interact with a particular object (even on a negative level, there's a level of emotional involvement with the device). I wouldn't be emotionally attached to a phone or pen in the same way as a TV, computer or car, for example. Though with a mobile phone, I might be, because I'd be interacting with it a lot more. I think you'll also often find that Mac users will have a greater emotional attachment to their computers than the average PC user, because Apple put more focus on developing the interface and interaction with the user than Microsoft do (where for a business customer, it isn't important). Equally, a PC user who's built their own machine would have a different type of attachment based on the fact that they know the computer inside and out. I suspect that when AI gets good enough, there will be no doubt about people forming emotional attachments to robots, because the level of interaction will be that much higher.

Take Star Wars for example, and the Millennium Falcon is almost a character in it's own right, because it saves the characters, it has flaws, it has unknown quantities. A typical example of an emotional attachment to an object, I'd say.

I remember reading a while back that humans are naturally predisposed to have an emotional attachment to objects as some sort of way of making sure they don't give away things that may one day save their life. I think most humans accept the concept of ownership without question, and I don't see how that's entirely socially constructed. I also know that men are more likely to collect objects, but I don't know what relevance that has.

[Or Bar]

I like my action figures. They inspire me.

Hmm, we need a Dawkins action figure, where when pull the string it says "Science rules, and if you don't agree you can fuck off!"

[DantheAtheist]

I've read some posts where people say their pets are objects. Dunno what the deal with that is, I don't view my cats as objects at all (possessive pronoun used to denote them living in my house, not actual ownership! Anyone who has a cat knows that they don't own it at all). Objects I'm quite attached to are certain books, my external hard drive (because it has all my music on it) and my stereo because I've had it a while and it enables me to hear music. Other than that, I've not given it much thought.

[lindseyoconnor]

DantheAtheist....I agree with you about cats. As the saying goes, "Dogs have owners. Cats have staff."

Another saying I particularly love: "Owning a cat is like going to a five-star restaurant in Paris. The food is terribly overpriced and the waiters will insult you repeatedly. Yet, you come away somehow feeling as though it has all been worth it."

[qoquaq]

I work for UPS and drive a 7 and half ton Mercedes Benz, known as a P80.For some reason P80 drivers do become 'attached' to there vehicles.When mine is off the road and I have another,although another P80, it's just not the same.. as mine! (I'm sure those of you on the other side of the pond will know the vehicles I'm refering to)

Robin

[Cwazy Cat Lady]

I admit I have some atachment to possessions. My more treasured ones: photographs above all; then maybe old schoolwork and things I made as a kid; then the things that remind me of people in my life...

It's all dependent upon the context of the 'possessing.' I have a VERY HARD time parting with certain things or thinking about the need to part with them in the future...

It killed me when my grandmother sold her house (to move into a granny flat next door)... The thought of my parents ever selling their house/my home (only lived in one place with my family!!) makes me ill...

I still have my kitty's old collar, jewelry from when I was a kid... loads of stuff.

[Antipotheosis]

I have lots of books, comics, dvds, computer games and so on, and they provide me with an escape when I'm feeling down. Some bits and pieces have enormous sentimental value for me, fortunately almost everything can be replaced if disaster strikes...

I don't see being materialistic as a bad thing like some religious people accuse me of... it's not as though my money (what little there is of it) would really be better spent elsewhere... I don't smoke, I rarely drink alcohol, I don't gamble, I don't throw away money on rubbish... right now my biggest priorities are being able to pay off my HECS debt (student loans for my university education) and being able to one day own a house to live in and being able to support myself and anyone who depends on me...

[EeekiE]

If churches were so against material items a church would just be a box with a cross in it. I have no stupid golden shrines or statues.

I used to have a christian friend who said me having my obsession with cars was materialistic and bad, yet he was the most tight-fisted person I knew. He was always trying to rip people off on eBay by selling links to stuff he'd found. Or shamelessly selling old worthless stuff. He'd even sell stuff he didn't want anymore to friends or family. Always trying to make money out of people.
That's far worse in my eyes. Anything I'm finished with gets handed down to my little brother/dad etc. I'd feel dirty selling something I care nothing about anymore to a friend.

[Victoria Silverwolf]

I know that some devices annoy me. The biggest example would be telephones. I can't stand them. Nasty things, always screaming for attention.

[Cwazy Cat Lady]

I know that some devices annoy me. The biggest example would be telephones. I can't stand them. Nasty things, always screaming for attention.

I'll second that... Having a cell phone is like a being leashed or under a form of probation.... (unless you leave yours off all the time, as I tend to do).

I hate the fact that a phone allows people to contact you on their terms!!! In most cases, I'd prefer you send me message and I will get back to you when I can or have the desire...

[jbblack]

Agreed. People call you on the cell and automatically assume that wherever you are and whatever you are doing, you can (and should) stop everything to take their call. Some people even get rude if you try to explain that it isn't the best time, or if you don't call them back immediately. So I can't blame you for feeling like it's a leash. It really is.

Thankfully, there are tools: The ringer and the charger. Only during certain times of the day do I keep my ringer on, and if someone complains to me about it, I remind them that humanity lived for millions of years before the cell phone, and somehow I think they can manage to wait for two to four hours before I check it.

The other tool is the charger. By "accidentally" forgetting to plug it in, your phone becomes an incredible efficiency-boosting device that doubles as a paperweight. Nice!

Oh, this is off-subject, but CwazyCatLady, is that your sphynx in your picture? His markings are almost identical to mine!

[Mysturji]

I love my car. It's a Mazda RX-8. It's black. It looks really cool. It goes like STINK!
Rex likes me, because he likes to be thrashed, and I like to thrash him. "A redline a day keeps the carbon away". He is a thirsty beast, and he only drinks the best. But he's worth it.
I bought it in May. I smiled for a month. My face hurt from smiling so much! I still can't look at it without smiling and thinking "Fuck, that is a gorgeous piece of machinery!"
Rex is cool. Have you seen X-Men 2? Cyclops had one (Black, of course!) Wolverine stole it! How cool is that? I also have an RX-8 Transformers^TM "Shockblast" toy.
Once, I took off from the lights, and I didn't get the clutch quite right - I had a bit of a judder and didn't start off as fast as I could have. Next thing I know, there's a souped-up Renault Clio (FFS ) one & a half car-lengths ahead of me. The road was clear ahead, so I thought "Right, ya bastid!"
Whatever he had done to that engine, it was impressive. I never gained an inch, but neither did he.
But I still love my car, because speed isn't everything. There is such a thing as style, and at the end of the day, it was still a fucking Clio!
Perhaps that's childish, but I don't care. Take one for a test drive, and you'll see what I mean.

[Koppis]

When I first read the title of this thread, in a hurry, I thought it was about.. ahem..

Moving on...

Actually, I like to throw away old things. It gives me a sort of fresh feeling.

[la bella fortuna]

I like my action figures. They inspire me.

Hmm, we need a Dawkins action figure, where when pull the string it says "Science rules, and if you don't agree you can fuck off!"

I want my Dawkins action figure! As long as he doesn't say (a la Barbie) "Science class is hard!" I'll stage battles between him and those Jesus dolls that recently came out...

Hey, don't knock inanimate objects. Some of my most meaningful relationships have been with inanimate objects.

I still don't name 'em, though!