Notes, Notings, and Common Refrains

Like your horse + cart example.

Ohh, I like your speculation! ^points to icon^

These thoughts are beginning to seem related to my theories on the origins of theology:

Namely, that the brain is as hardwired to recognize the presence of person-ness at an instinctive and pre-rational level, much in the same way we're hardwired to recognize faces automatically (because by the time you make the rational decision that you're looking at a knot in a tree trunk, instead of the gaping, toothy maw of a monster, it may well be too late). Recognizing personality is much more subtle, of course, and the needs for survival are less immediate, time-wise, but humans are such social creatures that, like faces, it may be be better to be safe than sorry, and when in doubt, just assume first that you're dealing with an entity that respects good manners, and worry about whether or not you're making a fool of yourself later, at a safe distance. So just as we see "faces" as soon as a certain minimal pattern is visible (as in light sockets, or the facades of houses), we also perceive a "thou" as soon as we sense a minimal level of complexity. So, entering a forest ecosystem, we sense the presence of forest gods and spirits -- the same with rivers and mountains, and kitchens and households... And we also paint eyes on the noses of our airplanes, and on the bows of our ships.

I haven't quite decided yet whether I sense a personality because a personality is actually there, or because of instinct. Whichever, though: the moral of the story is: it's probaly irrelevant, as long as you're polite to your surroundings, and the creatures there with you.