Personification of objects.

Post Reply New Topic

Is it quite an autistic thing to give names to objects and become 'attached' to them.

I bought a 'fidget toy' robot which I didn't know was a fidget toy when I bought it but have been referring to it as 'him' and gave him a name. I have been using it to fiddle with at work when I got stressed - today he broke and I am a bit disappointed / upset but have just ordered a new one as I found a nice website online. I just bought the toy because I was attracted to the way it looked as a souvenir from the robot museum.

In the past I have given my mouse a name (Polly) and I named my Microsoft phone 'Greeney' - it was green.

Just wondering!

Thanks for input.

Yep! I've got Mandy Microwave, Freddy Fridge, Kevin the Kettle, Dumpelina the toilet, and Barney Boiler (central heating and hot water).

People frequently give their cars and boats names.

A girl called Rosie King did a documentary on Autism years ago and mentioned this concept. The video link should queue up to the point she talked about it.
https://youtu.be/ejpWWP1HNGQ?t=71

Also I've heard it was common in native cultures to recognize a spirt/life-force in the non-biological elements of nature.

I received a gift of a stiletto dagger and named it "Mr. Stabby".

I'll suggest "Dolly" if you get a second one.

My car has a name and a personality. He also has a mascot--a stuffed animal that stays on his dashboard. Every car should have a mascot. The mascot, of course, has a name and a personality. My office plant has a name. I'm even working on getting him a name placard like all the other people in the office have.

^ I love that idea!

My car has a name and a dash mascot too.
I name pretty much everything, and I refer to inanimate items as "him" or "her" rather than "it".

I've personified objects as long as I can remember. To that end, if an object is stuck, hard to open, hard to close, etc it's being purposely difficult. It's trying to best me.

Personification of objects is one form of synaesthesia. I personify numbers and letters too. Everything has a personality or I can't conceptualise it (him) (her). There's a thread about it somewhere.

I don't name things, but I do feel sorry for inanimate objects when they are abused or neglected. I have the sense they are "crying on the inside." I feel especially sorry for cheap, poorly made objects because they never stood a chance. I am aware that I often feel deeper sympathy with objects than I do with people.

I like this topic. I feel I have a reciprocal connection to objects in my surroundings. The objects have an awareness. I'm looking around the room I'm in right now: the laundry basket, the down comforter on the couch, the couch, chair, table...each with its own personality.

So I'm not the only one!

THIS ^ ! !

I agree totally, Red. I feel sorry for things when I discard them or if they break. People .... meh. lol

I think it can be easier to feel sorry for inanimate objects than people simply because an object is completely helpless. It can't speak, move out of the way or fight back (except as affected by physics). If someone has the same toy I had as a child and destroys it, I feel upset. However, that could be that I perceive it as a personal attack as if they were saying, "I'm destroying something you like, therefore I don't like this part of you."

So I guess there's more than one way to personify objects.

I don't recall ever doing that.