Do you think inanimate objects are alive?

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Popee
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26 Mar 2009, 1:14 am

Eire wrote:
I do feel like inanimate objects have feelings. I get attached to objects sometimes. I hate when people trash things.


I hate this too, though I find myself always saving everything because I think its going to be valuable or needed in the near future; I suppose junk/being a pat-rack, is a different thread in its own!



mmstick
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26 Mar 2009, 4:14 am

MegaAndy wrote:
"the symptoms most commonly produced by Enrichment Center testing are superstition, perceiving inanimate objects as alive, and hallucinations."
Portal :lol: i had to pop that quote in


I was deeply disturbed when I had to incinerate my Companion Cube....
Still am.....
But the game was the best!
But that may be because I am a complete VALVe freak...


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Spinetrak
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26 Mar 2009, 5:42 am

outlier wrote:
Yes. And still do it.

Same here. I don't throw out things because I think it'll hurt 'em. I'm 29. Damn.


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not_a_drop
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26 Mar 2009, 6:03 am

I dertainly can't say if they are alive of aren't (though i felt a great deal of life coming out of them) but i know for sure that some objects have their own dignity.



rainbowlolly
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26 Mar 2009, 7:06 am

I don't really think that.
Though I can see why some people would...



dalcassian
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26 Mar 2009, 11:28 am

yes. Absolutely. And not only do i think it, I believe it's true.

I have no less reason to believe that inanimate objects are alive and sentient than to believe that animals and other humans are alive and sentient. The only reasons to think otherwise is that they don't move or speak or eat or reproduce; but this is because of their physiology. they don't have the appropriate body parts to move and speak and all that.



capriwim
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26 Mar 2009, 12:06 pm

I did as a kid. I thought everything was alive. I would go round the house saying 'Hello wallpaper', 'Hello lightswitch', 'Hello door', truly believing they could hear me and appreciated my acknowledgement of them, as everyone else seemed to ignore them.

As an adult, no, I don't believe they are alive. And I don't talk to them.



jamesp420
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26 Mar 2009, 12:11 pm

When I was little, of course. All my toys seemed alive and had personalities. Now the closest I get to it is when my car won't start I'm like "Come on girl," or something like that.


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Ladarzak
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26 Mar 2009, 12:17 pm

I'll have to stray from the trend here. No, I am not concerned about things being alive in that way.

I always felt rocks and soil were alive -- but turns out soil actually is.



Hala
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26 Mar 2009, 1:55 pm

Some of the time I feel like I'm more empathetic to inanimate objects than real people. I remember when I was quite young I saw a programme in which someone was being hit with one of those old-fashioned, very solid teddy bears. I practically burst into tears because I thought the bear was getting hurt and I thought that was hideously unfair; poor helpless bear didn't deserve such a brutal attack. I didn't feel any sympathy at all towards the person getting hit, however.

To an extent I am still very much like that.
For instance, I still feel sorry for the car when my mum shouts at it. :lol:



millie
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26 Mar 2009, 2:29 pm

my closest and best friends are things...objects....
I spend most of my time with things and objects.
making things is how i make a living.

my teddy = the one i was given at birth - is alive, as far as i am concerned. as are the brass thigns on my window sill, the objects on my dresser etc.



Huskywolf
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26 Mar 2009, 6:27 pm

Transplantman wrote:
Absolutely! In fact for much of my early life if somebody offered me something I would never reject it for fear I would hurt the feelings of the thing being offered. I wouldn't call something "stupid" or if I did in anger I would feel bad. My theory is it is related to synesthesia as I always helplessly imbue things with personality and intention. Brave little toaster was a powerful movie to me. LOL.

Me too! That was my favorite movie when I was little.

I have always felt that objects were alive in a way. I'd get upset whenever someone threw one away, threw it on the ground, or called it stupid, junk, etc. It's like that. When I am mad or yell at an object (such as my ipod when it stopped working for a short while) I feel sorry for it later and say sorry.

I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking this. I remember when I got these plastic animal toys, my sister wanted to see them and I remembered that she didn't like a specific animal, so I hid the toy of that animal because I was afraid she would say bad things about it and make it feel bad. But I also felt bad for having to hide it too. I also remember a time when I went outside in a storm and saw a balloon that had blown up against a tree. I quickly brought inside and I felt that it was lucky to have gotten caught where I could see/reach it, and I remember wondering about the adventures it had had as it had obviously been let go and then blew by my house in the storm. I kept that balloon until it ran completely out of air, and even then I felt sad that it got thrown away. I never really told anyone about these things except for my sister because she understood, and people would sometimes get angry at me if I objected to them throwing away or mistreating an object.

Like some others have said here, I feel really close to objects. My stuffed animals have names and personalities, and unlike with people I know that they will never hurt or insult me or judge me for the way I am. Whenever a toy of mine gets broken, I do my best to fix it and even if I can't I still keep it. I have a lot of small plastic cats and two of them got chewed up really bad by my pets but I still keep them beside all the others like I feel the others will take care of them. I know the objects can't really feel, but I can't help thinking that they do, so I always try to treat them carefully.

I also get attached to cars and devices and other objects besides toys-I named my computer and ipod and talk to them when no one else is around. I'm sure people would think that is really weird, but I see it as not much different from talking to yourself, only you are talking to something.

Also (yes, I'm aware that I'm rambling-I can't help it! xD) two things happened today and yesterday that relate to this. Last night the internet on my computer stopped working (though later it turned out it was the internet in our house that was the problem, not the computer) and I was so worried something was wrong with my computer I started crying (this is coming from someone who barely ever cries) because I was worried about the computer. Not the internet-not anything I was doing on the computer, but the computer itself. I was afraid there might be some problem with it and I stayed up really late worrying. I was so relieved that the problem didn't have anything to do with the computer itself-I love my computer, it makes me calm and happy when I'm around it and it (along with my other objects) is a very comforting thing to see. It's hard to explain why I feel so close to an object, like a friend, but it's good to know there are others who feel this way.

The other thing that happened was with my stuffed animals. When I was little I tried so hard to give them equal attention but I don't do that so much anymore (I do give them company of other stuffed animals though) but I still feel like they have feelings. I love organizing things, so certain types of stuffed animals are in certain places. I have a hammock thingy near the ceiling which is where I put my (store-bought) Pokemon stuffed animals. There is room for a lot more and other areas are overcrowded but I feel like only the Pokemon ones should go there and I shouldn't move the others because they belong in their own special places. I also have a place for stuffed animals I have made myself. One of them, the one I'm most proud of, is a stuffed animal of Scyther (a Pokemon). Since my parents really liked it and it can't stand up on its own they bought me this stand thingy to put it on and put it on my dresser. Recently though, no matter what I do I can't get it to stop looking like its staring sadly up at the hammock where the store bought Pokemon stuffed animals are. Despite the fact that I know better, he seems so sad, and it's been bothering me lately and making me feel sad when I look at the stuffed animals. I might move him up there with the others soon. :D I know a lot of people would say I care too much about objects, but if I didn't care they really wouldn't have much of a point to me. And I like caring about them because even though it does make me feel a bit sad sometimes, the majority of the time they make me happier.

I'll stop before I get any more carried away than I already have. :lol:



ruveyn
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27 Mar 2009, 3:58 am

Sora wrote:
Do you?

Or did believe so when you were a kid?



Only when I trip over things. I get mad, feel hostile and swear at the inanimate obstacle. This is irrational and very silly, but it is my reptilian brain at work.

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alba
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27 Mar 2009, 8:36 am

Do you think inanimate objects are alive?

Absolutely! Some more than others though...
A rock, for instance, seems to me to have a great deal more personality than an empty plastic soda container. And an animal is way more alive than a rock.

On an absolute non-local level, however, we're all made of the same stuff and everything resonates and communicates with everything else. Distinctions between life and non-life, to me, are basically useless from a non-linear perspective.



racemare
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29 Mar 2009, 5:32 pm

Huskywolf wrote:
The other thing that happened was with my stuffed animals. When I was little I tried so hard to give them equal attention but I don't do that so much anymore (I do give them company of other stuffed animals though) but I still feel like they have feelings. I love organizing things, so certain types of stuffed animals are in certain places. I have a hammock thingy near the ceiling which is where I put my (store-bought) Pokemon stuffed animals. There is room for a lot more and other areas are overcrowded but I feel like only the Pokemon ones should go there and I shouldn't move the others because they belong in their own special places. I also have a place for stuffed animals I have made myself. One of them, the one I'm most proud of, is a stuffed animal of Scyther (a Pokemon). Since my parents really liked it and it can't stand up on its own they bought me this stand thingy to put it on and put it on my dresser. Recently though, no matter what I do I can't get it to stop looking like its staring sadly up at the hammock where the store bought Pokemon stuffed animals are. Despite the fact that I know better, he seems so sad, and it's been bothering me lately and making me feel sad when I look at the stuffed animals. I might move him up there with the others soon. :D I know a lot of people would say I care too much about objects, but if I didn't care they really wouldn't have much of a point to me. And I like caring about them because even though it does make me feel a bit sad sometimes, the majority of the time they make me happier.

I'll stop before I get any more carried away than I already have. :lol:


When I was young, I was convinced that all of my stuffed animals had feelings and were really alive. I had at least a hundred of them and I worked out a complicated system so that each was treated fairly and shown love. I would rotate 2-3 of them into my bed every night and when I slept I even tried to rotate snuggling time with them. I still have all of my stuffed animals today as I still cannot bear to part with them and sometimes I even feel a twinge of guilt that they are packed away in boxes. I also name all of my cars and hate to sell them (I still have my first car). I never realized that these feelings towards inanimate objects could be related to being an Aspie, so this thread has been very enlightening!


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glider18
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29 Mar 2009, 7:30 pm

Though my common sense says inanimate objects are not alive---I still regard them as having feelings. I have always done this. When I was a child I used to roam through the garbage and dig out certain things---broken toys, etc. and bring them back into the house. I still do it---and I am 44 years old.

When I was in junior high school I couldn't find my Christmas stocking that I had since I was little---and I mourned over it. At school it was about all I could think about. Finally, the stocking turned up.

But I am still like that. Is this an Asperger's thing? I think I read about it once, but I can't remember for sure how they worded it on this. I am interested to know.


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