Meaning and inanimate objects.

Shawn December 28, 2017 at 03:07 3225 views 4 comments

How is meaning ascribed to inanimate objects?

In the span of 1-2h I grew to like and have a mental image of a character I saw on a movie screen. His picture is my avatar. How is this possible for me to have feelings over an inanimate and distant object such as a volleyball inscribed with a hand on it?

I dare not mentioned iconoclastic images of people, and how that can get them moved.

So, my question is how is meaning ascribed to inanimate objects and how do we agree on whatever meanings are formed in our head shared collectively by a common name?

Comments (4)

Wheatley December 28, 2017 at 03:55 #137770 0 likes

Maybe the inanimate object can be some sort of symbolism. Why did people used to worship idols? Why do Americans worship the American flag? Because it stands for something.

Akanthinos December 28, 2017 at 06:24 #137786 0 likes

Quoting Posty McPostface

So, my question is how is meaning ascribed to inanimate objects and how do we agree on whatever meanings are formed in our head shared collectively by a common name?

How do you decide you are happy with your signature?
I have no clue how one would go about defining elegance, but I feel its explanation would go a long way about explaining the question of the OP. How one can go about finding something as practical and pragmatic as a signature elegant?

Noble Dust December 28, 2017 at 06:38 #137790 0 likes

Quoting Posty McPostface

His picture is my avatar. How is this possible for me to have feelings over an inanimate and distant object such as a volleyball inscribed with a hand on it?

Because your feelings are feelings about the aesthetic of the film itself. The film created the context in which the feelings about Wilson evolved. That's an aesthetic experience. The aesthetic is only activated when it touches your personal experience; when it touches you.

Quoting Posty McPostface

So, my question is how is meaning ascribed to inanimate objects

One way, then, is through the aesthetic.

Quoting Posty McPostface

how do we agree on whatever meanings are formed in our head shared collectively by a common name?

Not sure what you mean here.

T Clark December 28, 2017 at 19:42 #137945 0 likes

Quoting Posty McPostface

So, my question is how is meaning ascribed to inanimate objects and how do we agree on whatever meanings are formed in our head shared collectively by a common name?

It is common for people, including myself, to be emotionally attached to inanimate objects. In my experience, the process is personification - ascribing the characteristics of people to other living or non-living things. I have always thought, without any specific knowledge, that personification is a process humans developed to bond us to other people. Even so, being the emotionally flexible organisms we are, it is available for application to other things also.

People love their cars, their houses, the world, their country. Makes sense to me.