Do you anthropomorphize? You can tell me…really, this conversation is just between the two of us and perhaps some inanimate object that you are currently best friends with. Do you consider your pets to have human qualities? Do you make friends with things around the house…not of the human variety?
Thought Number One: According to Wikipedia we have been anthropomorphizing for a very long time.
From the beginnings of human behavioral modernity in the Upper Paleolithic, about 40,000 years ago, examples of zoomorphic (animal-shaped) works of art occur that may represent the earliest evidence we have of anthropomorphism. One of the oldest known is an ivory sculpture, the Lion man of the Hohlenstein Stadel, Germany, a human-shaped figurine with a lion’s head, determined to be about 32,000 years old.
(according to American Heritage Dictionary)
(an-thruh-puh- mawr -fiz-uhm) The attributing of human characteristics and purposes to inanimate objects, animals, plants, or other natural phenomena, or to God. To describe a rushing river as “angry” is to anthropomorphize it.
Earlier this week, I was talking to a friend who was having repairs done to her home. We were commiserating about how every time we have one issue taken care of something new rears it’s ugly little head. One could logically say that it is just physical deterioration or functional obsolescence but in this particular conversation my friend said “My house hates me!”
As you might remember from some of my recent posts, my house has let me down a bit over the summer with a few “surprises” but I hadn’t given thought to the possibility that my home is angry with me. I was pretty secure in the fact that my house and I are pretty friendly. I probably love my house more that it loves me but I am OK with that. I am not OK thinking it is “out to get me”.
Frankly, I have never thought too much about things like houses, cars, computers, etc. having grudges against me but it did get me thinking.
Now, I can add another worry to my rather lengthy list of worries. What if my house hates me?
I want my house to be a friendly house. I drive by a house fairly often on the way to my daughter’s home. Now this looks like a friendly house.
Yes, I am a happy house…look at my smile
If it were my house, maybe I would take it one step farther…or maybe not.
Thought Number Two: My Cats and I Are Very Pro-anthropomorphism
Ahh…how cute were the Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh stories? Yes, very cute. ( But just to point out the obvious if this little guy, Christopher was our kid, we would be asking ourselves, “ Where does active imagination end and schizophrenia begin?”
Yes, Pooh is quite cute. As with most things, we are evolving.
Are you familiar with the TV show Wilfred. Wilfred is a real dog that his owner sees as a human-like dog. Wilfred has a very naughty mouth and smokes like a fiend.
Disclaimer: Two cats…even very human-like cats….. doesn’t make me a cat lady.
Another Disclaimer; the opinions expressed by Carmen and Chantel do not express the opinion of Cheryl P.
Disney characters that talk and dance, not excluding tea pots, teddy bears, candlesticks, dogs, rabbits, elephants that fly, lions, puppets and even human size mice are quite lovable.
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