Why Do People Anthropomorphise Things?

Unlocking Potential

I had a brain unlock moment yesterday when mowing the lawn (I have to, we rent, but we do have a wild patch).

The moment when things became easier is when I started calling the mower a good girl when we got over the tricky bits. And it occurred to me that this is because I had switched from thinking about the mower as a tool that was tricky to use, to a personality — in which I was now looking after a worker: she’s working for me, and doing a good job.

This had three effects, one: my irritation turned to calm problem solving and care giving when we’d get stuck on a tricky bit — or the mower needed maintenance.

Two: I found her easier to use and manoeuvre in general. In my head she now had an identity and something in my brain went from, “this is a tool I’m using, and I’ll use it how I think it should be used” to “oh, this is how you ‘work with’ her”, and it happened subconsciously.

Three: telling her she did good when things got tough was also a little reward to me, cause it’s now a team effort. I would rarely, if ever, tell myself I’d done good.

But of course, doing the repetitive task the thought was allowed to percolate.

This is actually a good way to be greener. I mean, you’re more likely to try and fix Clive the laptop, or Perry the skateboard if you’ve come to think of an item not as a tool, but as an extension of yourself, or an identity in its own right. You’re less likely to throw Clive out just because he’s a bit glitchy or worn. Not if he can be saved.

Nostalgic Anthropomorphism (yes, I made that term up)

Not everything needs a name of course: that comfy jumper that’s ratty and full of holes, you keep because no other jumper will be as comfy — nothing can replace it, because nothing new has been shaped and softened by you, so it hasn’t worn to how you like it. Also, you have memories of comfort with this item.

That sewing machine, you’re not going to throw away because your Nan gave it to you. It can be repaired and maintained.

Or receiving jewellery from a partner who becomes an x — the jewellery is so often so tied to memories of that X that you don’t feel able to wear it again.

I would consider these forms of anthropomorphising: one you put yourself on the item, and the other someone else’s memory is imprinted in it.

Personalised Impersonal Anthropomorphism (yes, I made this term up too)

Which lead me to my final brainwave. It’s something I think of as Personalised Impersonal Anthropomorphism.

Most phones today have software on it with a name built in, so it comes with its own identity. This is the name you address the device with, so you can’t really pick your own name for it.

Here’s the thing: everyone who has that particular brands device will have the same name for that item. Sure you can change accent, or make the voice male, so it’s more tailored to you, but it’s still the same entity. So your device doesn’t become Clive, or spudinator 500, it’s just ‘my phone’.

Anthropomorphising is Greener?

And here’s the kicker: the same name and voices are carried through to the updated devices, that means you’re less likely to feel any compunctions about getting rid of ‘the phone’, because the same personality is waiting for you on the next device. So you’re more likely not to think about fixing it when it goes wrong, you’re more likely to just replace it. Or not even think about getting the new one just cause you can.

When I had a nokia 33 10 back when I was a wee thing, it wasn’t the same phone as everyone else. We all had different makes and shapes, and we were attached to their quirks.

I had a Samsung music for probably over a decade, until it died and then I ‘had’ to get a new phone in 2016, which was my first (and current) smart phone.

Final Thoughts

Humans have been tool users for millennia, but they were harder to come by, and so those tools were looked after, and often passed down through families, imbuing a sense of personal history on them.

Now we all have our own stuff, which we throw away when we want a change of scenery. So I think if we imbue our objects with ourselves, or our friends and families (or even just give something a name) we’ll think twice before throwing things away, because it should be a wrench to throw things away.

What do you think? Should we anthropomorphise more?