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Is it normal to feel sorry for or pity inanimate objects? Like the last mangled cookie that gets thrown out, or a broken light bulb in a package of light bulbs that will never get it's turn to shine? or even a cheap plastic neglected kid's toy who's only destiny is straight to the waste bin?
totally not normal but not a bad thing. Its called animism. feeling emotion for inanimate objects has sprung millions of religions throughout history. i always have to eat all the food on my plate because seeing that last green bean getting thrown away is rough for me. the bean was planted in soil and nurtured through growth and then picked by a farmer and cleaned and packaged and sent to a grocery store where it was purchased taken home and cooked. its last moment is laying on this nice dinner plate arranged with other friend foods that have traveled long and hard to be eaten by me. so i make sure there life was worth it and eat everything on my plate. this happens to me with all kind of Sh$t.
wow, i feel much better having read this. I threw an apple away when I was a kid in my elementary school cafeteria and still feel sad about it 25 years later. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who feels sad about the ugly shoes that don't get worn. Thank you.
yes, i used to, but mainly for stuffed animals. Especially for kittens that dont sell.
It is, indeed. This is because we invest our own emotions and project our own personal thoughts and desires into these objects. It is for this reason that I have the hardest time throwing out any toy or object that belonged to anyone that I cared about, or that represented an era from my prior life. Even buttons. Needless to say, my home is a collector's paradise, but a housekeeper's nightmare.
i feel exactly the same why. it's quite ridiculous actually. at least i know it's ridiculous. i threw out a couple plastic spoons the other day at work. it was like i was having a friggen funeral for them. i felt bad that they were made to eat with, and just because they fell on the floor, they'd never get to be used. just straight into the garbage can. i still feel bad.
OH MY GOSH
i feel this way about toys especially
this is embarrasing..but once my favorite stuffed toy possum's eye (i havent played with in years)fell out i started crying like crazy
bc i felt like i have neglected it
lol i needed to get that off my chest
hah ur not alone kid i swear!
Oh my gawd! I feel the same way! if I see a kids playing with toys or somthing and use all but one toy, I have the urdge to go over and use it because I think it feels alone.
Me too like when i see them beating up the printer in the office i was like OMG poor printer
I think it's quite cute! I feel the same way about things, especially old retro things that are getting rare, it's like a species is becomming extinct to me!
If You Do Feel Bad For These Things, This Means Your Very Connected The World. It's Not Normal, But It's A Very Good Thing.
Let's Just Say, Your Special. Haha, Not Like That, But You Understand.
Feeling Bad For Inanimate Objects Is The Same For Me. I Do Feel Bad For Things That Are Mistreated, Even If They May, Or May Not Have Feelings. The Reason We Do Care Is Because We Don't Know If They Do. I Mean, Maybe They Do, But We Will Never Know.
So, It's Not Normal In Today's Society, But Way Back When People Treated Everything With Respect. Your Not Different. Your Not Normal.
And That's A Very Good Thing.
why throw the last cookie out just because it is broken?
cram that sumbitch down your neck like a mofo!
aww yes sometimes I feel bad for plush toys that get thrown around or torn :(
When my Nintendo DS flew out the car window because my brother's friend was using the wind as an aid for a microphone mini-game challenge, the first thing that went through my mind was the torture of the DS hitting the ground, probably tearing in half, and then getting ran over by a stampede of cars. At no point was I sad that I lost my expensive DS... until later.
A hypothetical evolutionary reason for this would be because if you didn't feel bad for leaving your supplies and food behind, that you'd lose things a lot more often and it'd be wasteful, so the pre-humans that did care about their things had an advantage and spread.
You might be an INFP. It's one of 16 personality types described by Myers-Briggs Type Indicator which in turn is based on Carl Jung works.
Just google INFP, it may be worth it.
I had this one re-occuring nightmare as a kid, and the only thing i remember is a broken clock that was crying.
I always feel like everything you do is a test in life. There was this sandwich wrapped all nice and ready to go for someone in the morning. Thinking to myself "nope! this is a trap. if you give into this you'll be a screw up! and you'll always give into temptation!" i couldn't resist myself. and that was all said while unwrapping the sandwich >:D
I Know what you mean, every night I always blanket my pillow because I feel that my pillow is getting cold and I kinda feel sorry for it.
I'm like that too, especially with packaged food, or game controllers that have been slammed etc.
To those that don't think it's normal, consider the fact that what we're feeling sorry for may or may not include the actual item, but the minds that /crafted/ said item. The producers of it. For me, it's almost like I'm upset that something someone else made (whether I regard it being mechanically produced or not) is getting damaged or discarded, like their product is going to waste.
Our heads evolved a lot of equipment to deal with other thinking/feeling entities. That equipment does its job automatically, but most people usually restrict or inhibit what it applies to by becoming brutalized or jaded. It isn't weird at all that you would feel that way - it is just a further extreme. What is the difference between that and someone yelling at their computer or kicking the rock that tripped them and made them scrape their knees?
I always contributed this to a form of depression. I have had the same problems nearly my entire life. It almost feels like homesickness. I'm not generally 'depressed' like most other people are, but I do have a twinge of it and feeling sorry for inanimate objects is where it manifests itself.
It's normal, as many people feel the same way. It's strange though how such an effect can occur in so many humans...
I tend to feel sorry for clothing that I either forget I even have, or not able to wear and they get tossed into the donation box
I don't think it's really normal, but to me. My Wii. I knew it was on its last legs, and so I got a wii u. The data transfer animation was so sad to me because I felt like I was losing an old friend. I had so many, To quote Peanutbuttergamer, "Memories and treasures" that It was sad to know it was time to part with the old thing. Hell, I saluted the thing whilst the animation happened. Is that normal?
I feel exactly the same thing, not particulary for food or trash, but for things that resemble animals or humans, things that have eyes, and of course both living and lifeless plants. I feel sorry for the toys when kids rip them apart, especially for stuffed animals. I also feel extremely sorry for flowers people trample on. And for trees that are taken down to free space for a new shopping centre. Sometimes I even cry. I have a huge load of beautiful stuffed animals on my shelves, on my bed and in my cupboard at home and in no way I am going to give them away! When I see a huge bunch of them in a shop I feel sorry for all of them because noone hugs them and you may never know what a bad child could buy them. I neglected about 20 of my stuffed animals and they are still at my grannys place and I still feel awfully bad for all of them! Oh and also I sometimes cut out some really cute animal pictures from the newspapers before i take them to the recycling centre. I just imagine the puppy on the picture being shredded into thousand pieces and I feel terrified.
I've had this problem my whole life! I remember when I was about five or six and I had this Furby toy. I remember reading the manual when I got it and the instructions were presented as if the Furby were talking to you. "When you don't want to play with me anymore, hold your hands over my eyes until I go to sleep." That made me so sad when I went to turn the Furby off, feeling like I no longer wanted the little guy and I was turning him off when all he wanted to do was play with me and love me. I remember a particularly painful moment when I got in trouble and wasn't allowed to play with my toys. I was sent to timeout before I was able to turn off my Furby, and when I left it, the Furby kept pleading, "Play with me!" and it just broke my heart, and I told him between sobs that I was sorry I couldn't play with him. A few years later my sister got this toy dog that was all fashionable with its little sunglasses and outfit. On the package it said, "I'm too cool to leave at home." And of course like everything we owned the poor little dog hardly ever got played with and was indeed left at home. I felt so bad for the little dog, and I wished I could take her with me myself when I went places (considering I'm a boy that was out of the question).
Oh my goshhhh I do this too! I always feel sorry for the stuffed animals that don't get bought.. Once at wal-mart I carried around a giant stuffed bear for like an hour because I wanted it to feel loved for once :p Then I felt really sad putting him back and not buying him, I felt like I created a bond with him that hour :p I wonder if he ever got a home....
When i had to sell my previous car, i was pretty upset and felt bad, almost like i was abandoning it. Also-- and this is going to sound really stupid-- but sometimes when i get home from driving through bad weather i pat my car and thank it for getting me home okay. Aha :)
I actually started an account today to ask this very question! Looks like I don't have to now, lol. When I was younger I would always make sure all of my stuffed animals could breathe properly, and I always checked to see that all of my toys had someone close by to play with while I was gone. Now that I'm all grown up, I feel bad for my shoes and handbags that don't get used as often. It's not that I don't like them, they just aren't always the most practical! I hope they understand...
Haha oh shit that's happen to me before but I didn't ever think much of it I just thought it was funny I felt that way
I do feel sorry for inanimate objects sometimes, like if one of my cards gets damaged I take care of it, and don't throw it out, or if one of the many skeletons I have on my shelves fall and brake, I just fix them.
I only have felt this wary with things from childhood or things I've had for a long time...not just random objects
It's quite maddening I'd say, like OCD Trying to pick up every single leaf on the ground..that's when I decided to really get over it
I have the same feelings!! When I had 2 tow our car to the shop to get it fixed with my truck. We where going to fix the car and get rid of my truck :( I felt really bad for my truck. How would u feel if u where putting so much effort into something just in turn to be replaced by the one thing u just helped?! I seriously almost cried when I sold it as well!! I think its more of a connection with the memorys that are made within the time u have had the object, whatever it may be. And the fact that it was an attachment in some way shape or form.
I am like that too to an extend where I get really emotional if I accidentally drop my favorite stuffed animal.
LoL.... i dont think its normal but the way you explained it was very touching
Honestly, I never thought anyone else had similar feelings. Now I don't need to worry that it's not normal.
It's prolly not normal, but I do the same thing! Like if your about to leave, and you see one object away from other objects of the same kind, you have to move them all together? Ha idk, that's how I am cause I don't want the one object to left out!
I do that all the time. Especially when it comes to something that I think is being wasted I feel really bad. I was assembly something once and there was 1 lonely bolt leftover in the package (I dunno why it was there I did everything right) and my friend just threw it away I felt so bad cause I'm sure I could find a use for it in one of my projects ; (
lol i love to think about that all the time..i do feel sorry for a toilet that has its mouth open all the time
Haha I used to do that. I would take my naruto knife thingy and throw it at trees and think I was hurting them xD I dont any more, but I used to. Its normal.
I do it too!! I always wondered if anyone felt the same way, I'm glad I'm not the only one!! We feel things deeply
I do this ALL THE TIME. I don't know if that makes it normal, but I feel you.
I don't know if its normal, but I've done the same , especially when depressed
Omg! I thought I was the only one who did this!!!! Yay! I feel better now! ily!!
Omg i hear you!! I throw things away together so that they dont get lonely?? Wtf? Lol glad im not alone
Holy crap i used to do the same thing like ripping paper in half or putting things together maybe it just got worse and i got used to it any ways. i think this might be related but one time i couldn't throw away a bread bowl at penera bread because i felt that it would feel inadequate. eventually and this may help you if you think about it if its bio degradable as long as you don't put it in something plastic it will biodegrade and become food for something eventually even if it is just for bacteria.
I always feel sorry over inanimate objects! Especially if it involves throwing away the last of something. Or leaving one vegetable behind on my plate. :)
I'm kinda ocd about inanimate objects, I have the same problem, my sister thinks I'm crazy, but whatever... I'm kinda used to it now.
I'm part of of an APA league team, I don't want to share my pool stick with anyone but me. I care about it too much that I don't want to replace it with any new one. It's not that I can't afford to get a new one, I'm used to it and I can't trust anyone to keep their eyes on it. I need it to play on all the way to Las Vegas, if I can.
The funny thing is, it's now become part of me. It show people that when I'm play pool with my favorite pool stick, I mean business. That's when some people compliment me for being an awesome player. I can't say it's not normal, it is good thing.
careful you are in the early stages of hoarding. these are warning signs. i'm actually posting a serious response for once. see a shrink.
I get like that
hahaa only a little over board at times
because with like my favorite guitar I've had since I was a little kid, and I'm very protective, and if I like bang into it or something, I actually apologize O.o
but yeah I can relate xD
ignore all the ones who say its not normal.theyre just being silly cause they never felt like that.its perfectlly normal and sometimes i do it to.but if you get a hobby u wont think of it much and then youll get over it.thats what happened with me and im fine!
It's not normal. Inanimate object = "soulless" or "without a soul" from the Latin word "animus" meaning "spirit" or "mind." These objects have none of this. There is nothing there to feel sorry for. The object does not feel sorry for itself when you're trashing it, neglecting it, etc. It feels nothing. Why should you? There's enough to be worried about without throwing inanimate objects into the mix...it might be OCD, but probably not. Poor rotting food...