Inanimate Objects as Characters
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- čas přidán 31. 05. 2024
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There’s a world of characters all around you that you probably rarely think about. Which is honestly reasonable, because they aren’t really people, are they?
Let’s talk a bit about personification, projection, and what we can learn about our own world from Patrick Rothfuss’s book The Slow Regard of Silent Things.
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AUDIBLE ➤ www.audible.com/talefoundry/
Sign up for a free 30-day trial of audible and get any audiobook of YOUR CHOICE for FREE! Including The Slow Regard of Silent Things, which we talked about in this video! It's a great way to support the show for free!
I have read the book a while back and i gnow what you mean. I think it is one of my favorite stories of the past years. So it is nice to See this Video. I hope you have a nice day.
Just a nitpick but can you guys pick a title for the video and stick with it?
It gets confusing when trying to search for a video when it doesn’t even have the same name.
I named the family car and when I speak about said car to mom, I use his name, Kit (a 2007 Jeep)… I do the same thing with my mobility aids… edit, when one of my canes (Kane) broke in my hand I said he died, and for me, someone who depends on my mobility aids, Kane’s death was traumatic
Ĺ
Or maybe atomic behaviors of the basics of want color is wave length emotions are wavelengths
“Have you ever bumped into a desk and apologized to it?” When I bump into a desk I usually swear at it. The two types of people.
So would I
I would just go ”aw you rectangly idiot table MOTHERFU-”
Yeah. The stuffed animal analogy hits hard, though.
Duality of man
“Ah you fookin bastard”
I've loved Tale Foundry for a few years now - but I feel like I don't state my appreciation enough. Thank you for putting so much passion, work and knowledge into these videos, I enjoy them so much and learn even more. Thank you!
Aw dude, that's so nice of you to say! Really brightened my day a lot! I'll share this with my team. Credit to Sylvan, my research assistant, for coming up with this video's topic and doing the research.
-Benji
You both create amazing videos! The atmosphere you put into your scp content makes them super immersive.
Hey 2 of my fave CZcamsrs interacting
You two are both marvellous producers of the most exquisite content!
Cue Mr. Peanut Butter
Yes to all the questions. It's a known symptom of autism, that we can overly attach to objects, we can feel more strongly and that the objects really are kind of alive.
I think it's neat.
That explains a lot
i remember spending hours as a child trying to process the fact that [insert inanimate object here] couldn't sense the world around it. this pen doesn't know it's a pen. this bagel doesn't know it's about to be eaten. and then i cried because i fell over and hurt the floor anyway. and now i still say goodnight to my phone when it runs out of charge and apologise repeatedly to my computer when i spill water on it. i also think it's pretty neat!
It is
Its neat in all kinds or ways and thinking of how inanimate sympathy can extend to all things its really nice to be able to experience it. Honestly i could imagine myself having a nice chat with the grass XD you can learn alot of things from it :)
Sounds very unhealthy to me.
When I was little, my older sister often threw tantrums and one day during lunch she had stormed off to her room, and my mom couldn't convince her to come back downstairs. Getting a little desperate, she decided to tell her that the slices of bread were really sad and crying on her plate because she wouldn't come eat them, but that just made my sister respond with a grumpy "no". Returning to the kitchen, however, my mom found me sobbing really hard because I felt so bad for the bread :')
I actually did personify objects a lot during my childhood, and though it's not as bad anymore as back then, I still find myself doing it nowadays. But I ended up using these ideas as an inspiration for a characters powers in a story I'm working on right now, which I'm having a lot of fun with, and this video only made me more excited about it :D Thank you for talking about this topic
might I ask what you are currently working on
got a good chuckle out of me 😂
@@definitelynotat-rex72 It's a comic about two friends (one is a wizard, the other not very familiar with the world of magic) who do odd jobs and help people in a fairytale like world. The wizard has the ability to sense the emotions people attach to objects and sometimes bring objects to life, but I still got to work a little on the details of how it works :)
I wish you the best of luck in your endeaver. 🍀🐞
@@TesnuzzikArt: That sounds interesting.
Terry Pratchett put it best: "Imagination, not intelligence, is what makes us human"
@@flameofthephoenix8395 yeah no
@@flameofthephoenix8395 try and debate the 4th and 5th dimensions with a squirrel. Ill wait
Maybe its both.
breaking up with a partner because you had a dream that they cheated is the most human thing ever 💀
In my story, mana when it's consumed, or more accurately, burned it screams. Nobody is quite sure if its just a sound or something more. The main character compares it to a hawk, but there's an emptiness left in its wake.
Seeing as mana is primarily burned as propellant in firearms, its hard to say if the feeling is from the mana scream or from the gun firing.
In Deadlands they have a "superfuel" called ghost rock that, if I remember correctly, is actually made of souls, and it screams when burned and people have said they see figures come out of the smoke.
The general consensus?
"Eh. It's probably fine. Throw more on the fire."
That it is a really interesting concept, sounds like a good read
that reminds me of the flame from Promare!!!
Idk why but this comment made me think of FF6-7 and Full Metal Alchemist
aaaaaaAAAAAAA A A A A A A AA A A A A A A A A A A A A AA A AAAA A AA A A A A A A A _A_ A A A A AAA
Objects as characters is one of my absolute favorite… tropes? Literary devices?
Have you read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane? It one of my favorite books with this trope
You like objects as characters? Well if you haven't I could recommend you the OSC? (Object show community)
@@CreativitySkys THE OSC
I might choose not to watch this video, in favor of reading _The Slow Regard for Silent Things_ myself. Because honestly, if it was worth an entire fifteen minutes of video dedicated to it, I think I want to experience it firsthand.
[EDIT] Why was this so popular? I just felt guilty for stopping three minutes in!
Don't worry my friend, they didn't spoil it too much to ruin the experience, you can still watch the video, the only things they mention is the worldbuilding, setting, the existence of a certain character and that one character's main quirk
Edit: grammatical correction.
Well, you can get the audible version for free. See 12:13 for more detail.
It is such a fabulous read, please do!
An interesting personification I found is the Human created spaces like buildings at night or empty rooms. Liminal spaces is probably an example, yet there is so much to it.
A gothic cathedral in Barcelona, may seem noble and melancholic. As an artist, is always worth exploring the feeling or mood a building could give, if the viewer contemplates it enough.
Liminal spaces are pretty interesting
I can agree. Cathedral, churches (old once) and monasteries are beautifull.
But I can't stay in one for long, since the only time I've been in one of them, it was for something boring. Like, going to pray or just sit still and listen to whatever the other person infront of you is saying.
Those memories still haunt me.
Considering we have sayings like, “if only the walls could speak,” I’d find it more strange if we did not invest any care into what thoughts inanimate objects could have; even if we know that isn’t true, what if?
From the title, I thought this was about how to design "inhuman" characters, or characters who have not only different beliefs/culture but fundamentally different thought processes. Like how most stories handwaive demons as "oh, they're destructive and they can't be reasoned with" as enough characterisation to why demons do demon things. I admit I am very limited in reading stories, but the closest I have seen this been attempted is in "Frieren at the Funeral", where they explain demons as nearly identical to humans in capacity for thought, but lack the concept of malevolence. Another is a video which tackles the idea of communication and how it may differ between different types of beings, humans use words, computers use code, godly beings use imagery, etc.
I guess I have been trying to think of this myself, or in how to create a character which has conceptual abilties which humans do not and which aren't hand waived away. I appreciate that this is nearly paradoxial since I am a human trying to think of a concept which cannot be fathomed by a human, but if i can't think I can at least invoke that feeling I hope. A sense of knowing that something is logical but not one explained using human concepts.
I watched this looking for a how-to-make-a-specific-kinda-character video, but I find myself now questioning my way of existing.
If locations can be characters, so can objects.
Robots are objects and yet they're characters
That's such a Black and White way to put it, though.
@@RF-Ataraxiais it not true though? Robots aren’t sentient and have no life. They’re objects
Not exactly, most robots as characters have gained personhood.
I personally say hello to my house and plants and such every day when I leave and come back, and I find it makes my day a lot better to treat things that I know aren't sentient, as if they are. It's like giving compassion to the world itself and it humbles you by giving it back.
I even ran into a particularly low hanging branch, and rather than getting annoyed when it poked and prodded at my face, I just laughed it off thinking "I deserved that for not paying attention to where I was going, that was a very good and light-hearted prank the world decided to just play on me. Okay I'll be more mindful of where I'm going next time!"
that reminds me of how I sometimes tell branches "thank you thaaaaaank you okay-" whenever I ask them to move a little bit while I'm moving through them
i used to talk to my bedroom! it's the only place i feel safe so it felt like it was looking after me. i thanked it by keeping it clean. i imagined there was some sort of spirit in there, for want of a better word, who stopped people from coming in. i guess it's part of why i've never felt comfortable letting anyone, even those i trust, into my room, cause it was alive to me.
Makes me think how one of the things I like to imagine is that even if objects are just, well, objects and don't have souls, they can develop one if they're cared for. Because those who care about it pour their feelings into it. Pour parts of their own souls. And depending on how realistic the world it can either be a mirror situation (you smile and get a smile back) or the thing can actually develop a soul and sentience. Imagine having a cybertronic dog, built from scratch. And you treat it as a real friend and take care of it that once someone rewrites the program to make the dog attack you, the dog fights back against it because the feelings are strong enough to oppose the program.
Besides... why does it matter if a thing has a soul or not? Why not treat it well by default? Regardless of if the thing feels it's surely healthier for us to treat it well rather than take our anger on it "just because we can and it's ok 'cuz it can't feel." If you emanate rancid vibes the world around you, much like a mirror, will reflect them to you. So why not be nice, patient and understanding and get back those things instead?
I find myself doing this a lot with machines. I imagine most of them as temperamental and quitters. During work some times the signal is bad and it feels like if I use my phone while in a bad place it just doesn’t work the same way than if I started in a better area. I think to myself “come on you lazy phone! Just because I woke you up in a bad place you’re just going to quit on me?”
My PS4 is an old man that can still do the job but struggles every step.
My Car is such a trooper and reliable
Grown up I loved personifying objects though especially things like my house where the TV remote and I definitely always felt bad for abandon toys wherever I would find them and Maddie me and my relationship when claiming that toy out of something like Toy story
Just like the spren of Roshar in the Stormlight archives. Personification is so fun and I really love how every little object that they mention have their own applied personality. From the empty feeling of loss of the broken pieces of statues. To the simple minded complacency of the stick. It's really interesting how everything's personality just works.
I am a stick!
When I write, it's not me making the story. The story already exists, somewhere out there in the infinite multiverse, and it NEEDS to be told. It's like the original meaning of the word Genius; there's these spirits of knowledge that occasionally possess worthy artists or inventors, and channel divine knowledge through them. When I find inspiration, I do not imagine a story, I FEEL its presence, and when it recognizes my ability as a writer, it SHOVES its way into my fingertips, FORCING itself to be told. I can barely keep up with my brain and hands. I _hear_ the essence of it in my mind, all its beats and emotions and soul, and through my knowledge of language, I let it into our world. I tell every emotion, every important bit of knowledge, in exactly the pacing it desires. And when I'm done, the story has unfolded before me, like sunlight pouring out of a star. I have no choice in the matter, either; when the story finds me, it will pester me untill I let it out; I once tried to leave the ending of a short love story ambiguous, but when I went to bed that night, the rest of the story just kept pounding at my brain, NEEDING to be told, so I got out of bed, went to my keyboard, and wrote it all out. It's even on CZcams, in the comment section of a the video that inspired it, under my alt. account's name, "Monster? No. Defineable? Never." The video is "The writer" by Lucas King, and the story is "The writer and the poet". By the time I was finished, the story had quadrupled in length. I ontended on writing the final part the next day, but It wouldn't let me sleep untill it was finished.
So I know for a fact that stories ARE alive. They NEED to be told in as true a form to what they are as possible, I am just the Messenger.
My own thoughts expressed perfectly.👍
My family calls us folk channe
Same for me. I'm an artist, and quite often I get these "visions" that are like lightning-fast glimpses of complete images, sometimes even sequences of animation. They're spontaneous and then I'm left with the task of making it exist. I can force myself to make stuff by thought and technique, the visions never fail to be liked by people.
Big part of why I draw is so people can see what I see so easily, impossible worlds of wonder and awe
@@toniann3416 Of course, the surprise that I have talent in the field certainly helps, but yeah, I cannot fully take credit for my stories, I am but a puny mortal vessel ekeing out their existence into our language.
Most of my writings come from my dreams. Actually visiting the settings, and for a time living in those settings. Sitting around, learning about characters from themselves. People sometimes have suggestions on stuff and tend to feel a bit dejected if it's something that just wouldn't fit. But, I have to remind them that I can't just do X willy-nilly, because these are characters and places I interact with regularly in my dreams. For filling in details, or times when I'm actively crafting stuff beyond what I dream of, it does feel very much like like you describe. Trying to force things to work tends to backfire. The trick is figuring out what the details are supposed to be, rather than just saying that something has to be A, while the feeling is that it really needs to be B or C.
I have a little story where abandoned buildings hold memories in the walls, trapped by roofs, and at a certain time at night, you can hear the voices of those who lived in the buildings, and sometimes, even see them.
When someone dies, sometimes the building feel so hurt or misses the memories of the inhabitants so much, they trap them in as ghosts just to feel the warmth again. Really, this story is more of a personification of the feeling certain buildings give off, and to me, the personaliy of some buildings.
It's probably one of my favorite things to think about, and sometimes I find myself patting the walls and asking them "you've seen a lot, haven't you?"
I do feel like we do give objects a bit of life. Sometimes situations and objects react to our desires thoughts/ and feelings. Like asking a mechanism to work and it does.
*Looks at BFDI*
Hmm.. I don’t see why not Objects can’t be characters
But nice video!! :D I love this channel so much
Yes.
_its as if objects can do challenges_
Honestly non-living entities are probably the most fascinating thing to ever explore.
Chris Gosden, author of 'The History of Magic', describes similar moments where the distinction between inanimate and animate objects breaks down such as swearing at a printer when it isn't working. He considers this an example of magical thinking, though that isn't something he says to be strictly derogatory. He considers magic to be 1 of 3 major strands of thought in human history: science and religion being the other two. It says that humans, being part of the universe, can participate in the universe and it can participate in them. Reality is hugely interconnected in this way of thinking. Gosden uses the example of Early Modern Astrology. The belief that the planets and stars above somehow affect us humans down below in such a precise measure as to make us ill or healthy on a given day? This is now thought of as crazy yet it formed the basis of scientific inquiry that led to astronomy since ancient times in Babylon, only being separated once more rigorous standards of evidence were formalised.
Rather than concertedly sticking to the detached rationalism of science, and its assertion of a cold uncaring universe, sometimes it helps (or rather, sometimes it is necessary) to make the universe habitable again. To think of ourselves as intimately and inevitably situated within it. To recognise our mistake when we treat a stone as a living creature, but not seek to eliminate this imaginative and empathetic component of our psyche. I think if we truly did, then there would be nothing wondrous about the universe at all to us, and we would cease to even care to investigate it further, except maybe in the dire and desperate hope that we might find some meaning under the microscope rather than within our own psyche. The more I think about this the more significant it seems, but I should probably leave it at that.
One piece the going merry. Yeah objects can have character even without a personality. Other anime bleach the swords have souls but they all have unique designs and we can see how they work with the characters
Robots I do like seeing the difference between a normal one and one who gains sentience as it goes into exploring the line between human and machine.
I believe the idea of Objects as Characters is called Romanticism.
Charles Dickens books are a nice example☺️!
Well, they can certainly be Tsukomogami!
This is a perfect explanation for hoarding you build a bond with items and can't get rid of them (i as a hoardercan conferm this)
why is this whole video art? the visuals are gorgaous drawings and the audio is perfect poetry and sweet music god i love this
No, YOU'RE a work of art. Because wholesome comments like this are so rare. Thank you.
can’t believe i’ve only just stumbled upon this channel
The toy part was true. I still have this plush horse I saw on the side of the road one day while I was driving home from work. Passed it by at nearly sixty miles per hour, thought about it for a few moments and turned around. went back, over shot, turned arund again, stopped and picked it up. He sat on the passenger seat all the way home, listening to classic rock with me and listening to me gripe about my day. After that, he was carefully washed, dried and placed on my desk where he sits to this day.
However, it is the tiny giraffe that now rides upon the dashboard of my truck, seeing the world go y through the windshield. A proper co-pilot through rain, and cold, hot days, dark nights. aggravating traffic and wide open lanes. a few occasions he's been knocked from the perch only to be quickly placed back with a word of apology..
I know that they're just polyester fluff and so forth and they're not alive. That's not the point, sure there are perhaps thousands like them, mass produced, but they are not the ones I have now. Found on the side of a highway or plucked from the pile of dirt and trash swept from the floor of a store. Discarded from whomever had them before carelessly, and that I found sad. Sad that for all of our life we collect things, bits of our lives that someone else has no connection to at all. That after we are gone, all those things can end up tossed in garbage by careless individuals, Each bit of our lives whittled away and forgotten. That maybe someone will pick them up from the side of the road, give them a wash and smile when they look at them and take them as part of their life so that in small way, we can live on wit the thought that at one time, someone before us loved and cared about the thing we leave behind.
That is absolutely an adorable thing to read through
There’s a thing developers do where they have a rubber ducky and they talk about the problem in there program or game and sometimes just saying it out loud helps them think
Human being's pack bonding instinct, the psychological processes that allow us to recognize, empathize and care for one another, especially our young, is famously just ALL jacked up and oversensitive. We put so much of ourselves into just about anything that we can imbue emotion onto.
See anyone who has ever pet a roomba.
3:35 I can hear the excuses now: "I'm sorry professor, but the Haloed-Hair Girl stole my homework."
I was very surprised when the “true names” video from a few months back never covered kingkiller, but I am very happy we are now seeing your take on the stories rothfuss has made!
I'm fairly certain that video does mention kingkiller though
-Benji, showrunner
Oh did it? Damn I need to rewatch it I did not remember that
0:54 mmmm fabric mother, it's an interesting experiment that was done. the infant monkeys had the choice between a metal mom with food and a fabric one but with no food. the monkeys always chose the fabric one, taught us a lot about the need for comfort. i recommend checking it out :]
As a fan of the Supernatural series, I can tell you that inanimate objects can, indeed, become characters.
Example please???
Oh shit. The Impala is the prime example 🤦♂️
@@danecarrington4326 Yes, I was talking about the Impala. XD
There’s also a type of yokai that’s latterly an object given life after 100 years of use
To go a slightly different route with objects having personality and emotions, I'm a fan of when inanimate objects become malicious due to lack of use, specifically with buildings. Such as The Oldest House from Control, a building that shifts around you and has seemingly existed longer than humans have. Or the house from Anatomy by Kitty Horrorshow, a house that was abandoned and now hates you to the point of breaking the game and growing teeth to consume you. Or even the titular Monster House from Gil Kenan's Monster House, which terrorises the protagonists. Jacob Geller has a great video essay about it, and I think it's a fantastic world building/character trait
I find that there are so many areas in my life where I do this more than I thought.
I distinctly remember the afternoon I replaced my old drawing tablet with a new one. Almost as if it were an old friend I was parting ways with, I gave my old tablet a hug as a sort of "parting gift" for it's service in all my time as an artist, and I distinctly remember radiating a warmth that I would in a real hug.
And then there's the times when I use Autodesk Maya for my honework, when I beg for mercy and interrogate the program why it behaves the way it is
I KNEW IT! JUST FROM THE TITLE! Honestly I was so excited to see you cover this book! It's one of my favorites!
I love audible! And have read/listened to “the slow regard of silent things” and loved it. Currently listening/ reading “rhythm of war” by Brandon Sanderson.
This is my first time watching your channel and I love your calm demeanor and voice, I absolutely adore your avatar, I've always loved gears and trinkets and vintage knickknacks, your whole persona just warms my heart.
Finally! They drew something humanoid without giving them robo-arms! They're trying out different styles!
I always love TF's poignant take on stories. I get the feeling that this book appealed to your aesthetic more than most.
Maybe theres also a belief we want the world to be more alive than it already is. Like singing happy birthday to the mars rover, or getting attached to your roomba. We appreciate what these objects do for us, but they can’t and won’t accept that appreciation. But we do it anyway because we’re social like that, and we like to think that they know they’re loved.
I cannot thank you enough for doing a piece on "A Slow Regard for Silent Things". Rothfuss is my favorite author when it comes to immersive fiction, and despite my deep love for his other work, I firmly believe that this is his best work, for exactly the reasons you spoke about here. The meaning she pulls from the world around her is a beautiful stained glass window. Seemingly needlessly complex, and incredibly difficult to actually peer through, yet it remains hauntingly beautiful all the same.
Not to mention the deep respect I have for writing anything in stream of consciousness format. That shit is ridiculously hard, at least to me and those I know. It has so much potential, but all my work with it comes out garbled and almost condescending when you take more than a page of it together. blegh
Never has a channel more quickly earned my subscription.
Boosting the video cause I love yalls stories, they are so well made and yall deserve so many views.
Been coming back to this channel for a while honestly for videos that are extremely long this one keeps my attention. 👍
I was too in my head and just needed this. Thank you! 🖤
WOAH EPISODE FEATURE THE SLOW REGARD!!! LOVE THAT ONE!
Oh, also, in context of PR's works, I'd assume that Auri is a knower she knows the nature of things, and where they belong. There are many kinds of magic in the world of Temmerant, and The Fae, (Faerant?) including sympathy, sygaldry, possibly yllish knots count, and naming. To name is to understand the true name of part of the world, and in doing so exercise control. And I do think that Auri is aware of the hidden nature and desires of the world.
Ah. You understand the slow regard.... *nod* that explains so much. So few people do.
That’s why I love Object shows (aside from a good idea and tdi and survivor inspiration) are kinda one of these things making living objects talk or have personalities,Pixar for a bit of it’s time did the same for objects in there movies and heck I before watching this watched a “Alphabet Lore” video and even tho is random the fact it exist and the video actually or pull a tiny bit of my heart strings or knowing the “characters” is amazing (I don’t know how much to a point for this case there are some I saw that maybe touches on what you said (object shows and the other stuff I saw but like I said I don’t know tho.)
Everytime i hit an object harder than i should i instantly apologize and give it a kiss if i can. It has become so natural to me that i dont really look much into it at this point, it just kind of happens
Something about your voice is oddly soothing and helps me get in the mood about writing
OMG, Slow Regard is me favorite book 💜🖤 I read it every time I feel a bit sad or alone
thanks tale foundry! i love listening to yalls stuff while i make breakfast :]
as a Toby Fox fan,i can say Ralsei's character design is absolutely GOATed
thank you for this video. I am currently writing a novella about personified fingers and this video has helped alot
I see the way we think of things as it is true pain they feel. But in us. As we create their pain when we think they’re in pain since they don’t actually have a soul, and are bound to creativity. So think of that 😌
Something that I would like to mention is that when I see something like an abandoned teddy bear or a work of art, the feelings you described can also come from imagining the story behind it. For example, the abandoned teddy bear is a toy that a child supposedly abandoned for whatever reason and thinking about that reason, even if it’s simple like the child grew up can be a surprisingly solemn experience. So, other than personification, the imaginary stories we can create in our heads surrounding that object can also do the trick. Maybe that is a part of personification to begin with and is a reason why we do it as a means to interact with a deeper level of the world around us. Not so much ‘What is the teddy bear doing here?’ but ‘Why and how is it there?’
if anybody reads this I recommend them to find out how to use a wayback machine
it's a website that can save other websites for us to look back on so that we'll be able to see any changes in the future, it's like saving history but for websites
I'm saying this because I think I might be able to make a difference to few people who'll realize that they can save their work online using it making their own history and maybe even using it creatively like changing descriptions of their own playlists to talk to the viewer on different topics over they years
Something else that comes to mind with personification is actually how in video games people can get attached to characters that aren't meant to be part of a story the developers have written. We know they're just software
I know in the Call Of Duty franchise, some will go out of their way to save the randomly generated soldiers and try to keep them alive. Random characters designed to die for dramatic effect, you got nothing but a name and some players will go to some stupid crazy lengths including breaking the game to try and save as many as they can.
Another example I can think of is Pokemon Nuzlock runs, which for those that don't know is just a bunch of self imposed rules, in those one of the most important rules is you are forced to name each Pokemon you catch specifically so you get attached.
I have a few personal examples, Skyrim with some mods for extra companions and some improvements and has actually once made me draw tears due to losing a companion that I had for a long time, but the most impactful I ever had was with Rimworld. In that game your colonists are randomly generated, granted you don't have a mods on (which I know your lying if say you don't), to which in my case lot characters are "mostly" random. Characters that are throw away, nobodies, pawns designed for disposal. But I end up caring about a lot of them, even if someone them get upset after they choose to not eat without a table, I try everything I can to help them to not only survive but thrive. Even if I have a play through goal, like my current one is to gather as many of the same race as I can and only recruit that race into the main colony, I'll end up doing things that goes against what I was trying to, such as letting a individual that isn't part of the same race take residence because one of the colonist feel in love with them or making a bunch of outposts because I wanted to free some of the natives from slavery but couldn't let them into the main colony. Whatever it is, I'll go out of my way to try and make the best and happiest future for these pawns who are made of literal collections of 1s and 0s because they shown off so well despite just being randomly made with no bigger purpose I end up personifying them.
Your videos are always awesome😊! They make me think deeply & differently about anything around myself!
[🤔By the way, have you ever heard of Gothic Fiction or Gothic Horror or made a video about it? Is it related to cosmic horror? Or human experiments? What's the core idea behind it? Worst monster is human? Realizing something you shouldn't have? Or something else?]
Empathy that overflows naturally, without intention. Sometimes, empathy towards objects and fictional characters comes easier than towards very alive and real human beings. I feel awful when mistreating objects which have kept me company for many, many years. Guilt from not playing with decades old toys creeps in from time to time. But it's not all bad: when moving far, far away from the home and the beloved people (and cat) I've always known, one of the first thigns I did was decorating my new habitat with a number of things I took from home with me.
It helped to feel much less alone. I give love to these inanimate things and, in a way, they give it back to me. It's a comforting thought.
8:54 For some reason, I think the image here of a Taleoid with its eyes closed and heart showing looks beautiful.
Woow... I do the same. Ironed my toys like living things and now as an adult feel the same with my car 🚗. Thought it a bit crazy like some say, but helps me love them more.... like some of my plants and home. It's also inspired me to try writing ✍. 😉
Great video!
i once read a story in which a character was a robot who had never lived and yet he was scared to die and it was a story that has stuck in my mind since i read it
your voice is very calming and fits your robot avatar really well
Love u guys!
*Sapient is a better term to use since it means you are aware of the self, sentient means you have senses.
I was thinking of writing an autobiography but in the point of view of the a Treecko doll I used to have. But I haven't gotten the slightest clue where or how to start because I don't remember how I got it. I also don't remember much of those child days. All I can remember is making my own little world with it.
i do thanks and say sorry every time i drop something off table(or just drop it) or klank plate(or something) too againts anything as "thanks not breaking/sorry for doing that"
Whenever I think of personification, I think of the Finn sword. Uncivilized Elk had a video on it if I remembered correctly. This topic and similar ones just make me mesmerized. I love this channel. To anyone reading this, I’m sorry for the rambling.
When you called her Ori my heart stopped because that's my name and she sounds exactly like me.
when you started, I thought you were going for the characterization of the inanimate, in regards to storytelling significance. for example, I immediately thought of how coinage in the Kingkiller Chronicles functions kinda like a character of its own, giving weight to certain scenes, and becoming familliar, or even creating powerful emotional responses to the receipt or expense of them.
when you then immediately mentioned Rothfuss, I was dumbfounded. doubly so when it was about a very different topic than I initially thought!
Oh yes, one of my favorite books I love whenerver this channel ends up talking about one that I know
Although I also love when it recomends books, it ends up giving some new favorites
I actually have a slender man toy on my shelf and I felt so sorry that he couldn't use his hand anymore, we reattached it with duct tape, let it look to another direction or even let it look at text for it to read to pass the time and let it sleep on 3 other blocks placed together like a bed
heck I even thought of how the other toys would try to attack each other after waking up so I just put the weapons and items to places which would give the weaker ones a bigger advantage
this hasn't happened when I was a small child either
Omg, ty for the great reminder, read it years ago!
Though I am certainty too old to believe that stuffed animals are alive (and on a fundamental level, I know they are not) I refuse to hurt them in anyway. The other day I was reaching for a stuffed animal that I had dropped off the side of my bed, and when I grabbed onto its leg and tried to pull it up… it’s leg popped off. I cried and apologized and rapped a bandage around his stumpy leg, than wrapped the detached leg in cloth and placed it in a drawer. I still can’t look at him without apologizing, even though I know he can’t hear me and I did nothing wrong. It’s pretty crazy how stuff like that works.
Auri is one of my favorite characters in the series. Her heart is so pure. And I tend to think about it like way some Native American tribes do, every object can have a spirit.
I like to think that our personification of objects gives them a sort of ethereal life, not embedded in the objects themselves, but rather life through the perception of their beholders. When we discuss the inanimate as if it is alive, we create a sort of life that exists as an emergent property of our social interactions. Like what's said in the video, the act of empathizing with the inanimate actually allows us to "share" our emotions. Our social behavior acts as a sort of vessel for the feelings of the inanimate
So yea...I think we do this to understand our own feelings about an object. It is self-reflection externalized. Of course, it is more whimisical when you read about someone else doing it. I wouldn't think it proper to stifle it in a person, especially if they are their own sounding board.
It loses an ephemeral quality when I say, "The rain made me feel sad.", instead of, "The rain was melancholy that day.". Hmmm...the fine line between a lie and a truth said in a different way.
Nice video, thanks.
I'm not gonna watch any more of the video before I comment this but since you said "art is indifferent to its beholders" I just had a powerful idea for a magic/supernatural story.
Im going to write my book with this in mind.
I get the idea that more complex objects tend to be seen as more developed "mentally". Machines like cars and computers often have devious plans or carry on despite any adversity - in people's eyes. In my bubble at least, these are the things most yelled at and most coerced or persuaded to do your bidding. Extra points foe yelling to the screen instead of the tower. Way to shoot the messenger.
Funnily enough, I once created a race (the Desreki) for a SciFi-rpg that had this very same belief made into the base of a culture and held these so-called cybernetic souls sacred. They are a tribal and spiritual culture who see the universe as full of souls. People destroying natural objects to create man-made ones also creates these cybernetic souls; the bigger and more complex, the more intelligent. So, sharpening a stone to cut something is not a big deal, but things with lots of moving parts or power usage... The most advanced cybernetic soul is supposed to have super-human wisdom and nests in the largest space station reactor. Shamans confer with it in what is known as the Machine Oracle.
Creation puts responsibility on people's shoulder, as they made not only an object, but a living thing and so these people value them highly. This leads to them being the best mechanics in the known universe, because repairpeople are basically doctors in this culture.
Of course, nothing about all this has any tangible effects. Is the Desreki the best mechanic, because they burn sacred herbs while performing the repairs? Is the chanting appeasing the ship to go that bit faster or is it a memetic tool to remind them of all the routines? Who knows?
Patrick Rothfuss is by far my favorite author of all time. The name of the wind is an excellent, excellent book.
I like to think, that when I apologize or thank an inanimate object... I am giving myself something I need more of. I hate it when I am walking through an area and I get bumped into, no one apologizes because they are in a rush and don't think it's more important than what they are rushing to. So when I am rushing around the house and I bump into something... I make sure to put aside work over decency I am not used to getting everywhere else.
I really felt that intro
There are characters in a game series I love who look human but are just Personified Game Consoles and Game Companies giving them full on human characteristics
A character named Noire in it, is a Personification of Playstation home systems her sister is the PSP/PS VITA
They both look human but are just the Creator of the series giving the Console Wars faces to each of the Consoles
Because I like the series so much I basically start giving the emotions of how feel about the character of Noire with my actual PlayStation (I love to play games one playstation)
Rolled high on Inland Empire check and suddenly everything alive.
Great video.
For some reason your videos gives me intense Coraline vibes, i think it's the quiet musics that sound nostalgic and similar for me with the background somehow, it's feels nice tho.
Now if only he could finish the book series!
The anthropic principle,in affect...
Wow never thought to hear the day our robot friend saying "jackass"
I'll be back to this video as soon as I finish The Slow Regard of Silent Things. My apologies for any hit to watch time, it's just already been on my TBR so I've been trying to avoid spoiling it
Have you ever read the *Young Wizards* series? It's fascinating world building. The oath young wizards must take. Their eternal battle against entropy. How everything has its own persona and wizards have the gift of communicating universally. For instance, to get your wand you must ask a tree for a branch. To walk on air, you must coax the air to remember a time it was trapped in a solid shape like ice. There are 3 major wizarding species on earth (humans, cats and cetaceans-dogs sacrificed their chance and chose to stand by humans instead) and many more alien wizards across the universe who have all taken the same oath- including an entire species of robots. So much magic has been used in Ireland over the millennia that there are strict laws for wizards there because of how the immense magical residue left behind can scramble and amplify spells if not handled carefully.
Saw the thumb nail and i thought
"Showdown bandit?"
The animation reminds me of The Ocean at the End of the Lane video.😊