Monday 14 June 2021

Anthropomorphism

 


Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, and intentions to non-human entities such as animals or even objects. In most cases, there is nothing wrong with that. For example, Donald Duck is, strictly speaking, a duck; yet it has been dressed like a human, it talks and can do human things like drive a car or cook. It has been given the character of a human and behaves as such for the purpose of the cartoon story in which it, or he, appears.

By the way, have you noticed that normally Donald Duck wears a jacket and hat and nothing on his lower half; yet, when he comes out of the shower or bath he has a towel around his lower half. What's all that about? Certainly not a human characteristic. I certainly don't go around wearing nothing but a jacket!

Anyway, I digress.

As I was saying before I was interrupted by Donald Duck, certain people attribute human characteristics to non-human objects. For example, I was visiting a young couple the other day and as I was leaving them they said they were going to pick up their children from school with Sophie. I thought Sophie was their children's nanny. But they jumped in the car and as they were reversing out of their drive I asked, "Aren't you going to wait for Sophie?"

They laughed and said, "We are in Sophie! Sophie is John's car. My car over there (said the wife) is called Bernard. Our cars have a character of their own. Sophie is more gentle and welcoming!"

I smiled and said nothing.

How can a car be gentle and welcoming? Can it be temperamental and refuse to start on a cold morning because it wants to tease or upset you? Or is it perhaps because the battery is low and it will not start the engine?

I thought nothing of it until a few days ago when the subject arose again. I was in the pub with John, the young husband in this couple of which I speak, nursing a beer when I noticed he looked somewhat forlorn.

By the way, by nursing a beer I meant drinking slowly. I did not mean I was nursing it because it was ill and needed medical attention. It was just a figure of speech and I was in no way anthropomorphising the pint in my hand. I wish you would stop interrupting my train of thought.

I asked John what was the matter and he explained, "For a while now, after I wash up the dishes and dry them, I put them away in the cupboard in a stack on top of each other. If I have four plates in hand, and there are already two in the cupboard, I put the four plates underneath the two so that next time the two at the top would get a chance to be used. I don't want them to feel left out and unloved by not being used. So I raise them to the top of the pile so that they are used next. This also happens with saucers, cereal bowls, and cups. I move the old cups from the back of the shelf to the front, and put the newly cleaned ones at the back."

For a moment or two I said nothing as I caressed my beer glass pensively. Careful now, don't go interrupting me again!

I then asked, "What does your wife think of this?"

"That's the point," he said, "until recently she did not know anything about it. They say couples should not have any secrets from each other, but there I was, after three years of marriage hiding this from her!"

"It's not as if you were having an affair!" I said.

"The principle is the same," he replied, "until recently it was a secret I kept from her. Now she knows. But what is worse, is that apparently she has been doing the same all along. I caught her taking all the plates out of the cupboard and moving the ones at the top of the pile to the bottom. I asked her what she was doing and she confessed. She has been doing the same thing as me all along!"

I smiled inwardly and said nothing.

"Can you imagine?" he continued, "there is probably a poor plate or saucer which feels unloved because it has not been used for ages. I put it on top and she moved it to the bottom of the stack again!"

"But ... but ... it is only a plate," I stammered, "it does not have feelings and it does not think like you and I" (Certainly not like you and your wife; I thought silently).

"And what is worse," he said, "when I saw my wife moving the plates up and down she accidentally dropped one and it smashed into pieces. Dead in the prime of life. We'd only just bought that set."

As delicately as I could, I said, "Look John ... this is some kind of OCD that you both have ... you should discuss it with a doctor."

"OCD?" he asked.

"Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It's when people do something repeatedly, like over-cleaning or washing!" I explained.

"Tell me about it," he said, "she is so cleaning mad you'll not believe it. The other day we had an argument and in the heat of the moment she threw a cup at me from a distance. She did not want to pick up the broken pieces so she put the cup in a plastic bag first, tied it up, and threw it at me. That way all the pieces were in the bag! Then she cried over the death of a cup."

I was at a loss for words because I did not have my dictionary with me. I bought him another pint and made my way home.

I took a taxi because my shoes were too tired to walk all that way back.

21 comments:

  1. Dearest Victor,
    Haha, you could not walk after your beer?!
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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    Replies
    1. Yes, my shoes were too tired.

      God bless, Mariette.

      Delete
    2. Sometimes Victor, your forced humor tires me too...

      Delete
  2. Good golly! I do the same things as your friend, John when putting up our plates and cups, glassware, etc.! So far, I don't suppose Tom's paid any attention - or would care one way or another. I've been (rightly) accused of humanizing my dogs, but stop short at inanimate objects.
    Thanks for such an entertaining visit!

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    1. I understand about humanising animals, or treating them lovingly and well. I do so with our dog. But John takes things too far in believing some plates will feel left out if not used. Or naming their cars. I've often spoken to my car - but I dare not repeat whet I said here!!!

      God bless you, Mevely.

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  3. I've been known to rotate my plates, but only because I want them to wear out at the same time so I can get new ones.

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    1. I can understand that, Kathy. You rotate for reasonable reasons, not because the plate will feel ignored.

      God bless.

      Delete
  4. This is an example of anthropomorphism gone a bit too far, Victor. However, we are all guilty of doing this to some extent, aren't we? I'm just going to make sure I don't name the flowers on my plants. :)
    Blessings!

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    Replies
    1. In a way, it is an endearing quality in human nature to want to connect with plants, animals and so on by naming them and talking to them. This couple however seem to have gone too far in attributing human emotions to cups and saucers.

      You carry on naming flowers, Martha. Nothing wrong with that.

      God bless you and yours.

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  5. At the very least this couple had OCD in common. I’m not sure that is enough to keep a marriage going, but it is a start. I have a set of duck dishes; I hope the ducks don’t start speaking to me. Have a great week and blessings galore, Victor.

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    1. As you say, Nells, they have OCD in common, as well as their cutlery and crockery. I sometimes wonder whether the world is going mad.

      Wishing you happiness always. God bless, my friend.

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  6. Now I'll never think of dishes in the same way, I just pile the used ones on top and forget about them. Who knew that people would place them at the bottom. Learn new things every day, :)

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    1. It's amazing how some people think, Bill. Yes, this couple move the plates and cups and things in a certain order. Amazing.

      God bless you.

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  7. This made me laugh because I rotate my dishes too so I wash different ones each time. :)
    My son had a jeep once that he named Eugene.

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    1. Nothing wrong with rotating the dishes, Happyone. You're not doing it because they have feelings.

      God bless you and yours.

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  8. Okay I an't feeling sorry for the plate on the bottom, But for sure we enjoyed the visit to your house. Now she knows to put a dish or cup in a bag before throwing it. What a great idea (I think)
    Try to be good.
    Sherry & jack
    PS: But honestly we cdo appreciate the prayers.

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    1. I am so pleased to see you visiting here again Jack and Sherry and enjoying my writings. Thank you so much.

      God bless always. Praying for you.

      Delete
  9. I'm glad none of my plates or cups have feelings, real or imagined, since I use the same ones all the time and the rest just wait until the most used one finally breaks. Which hasn't happened yet despite those plates being over twenty years old and used daily. At least the unused ones will be in "new" condition when I die and the kids get my stuff.

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    1. It's amazing, River, how many people actually attribute feelings to inanimate objects. What's the world coming to?

      God bless you and your family.

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  10. We name our cars (mostly based on their color or model) but of course they don't have feelings. Only toys do.

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    1. Ah yes ... toys are a different matter altogether!

      God bless always, Mimi.

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