The other day before class my friend borrowed my pencil. Later that night I had realized I had not gotten it back. So jokingly I texted him saying that was my "lucky" pencil and I could not live without it and then I said I was just kidding. He responded by saying "hey there's nothing wrong with having a lucky pencil." Immediately my mind shot to sociology. He was right that there is nothing wrong with having a lucky pencil, but what has made it okay for humans to have such strong emotional attachments to objects. As materialism grows in society, so has the attachment to objects versus people. Biologically we were made to be attached and to need other humans to nurture us. However, I have been wondering at what point has this attachment spread to objects? Socialization of needing to independent seems to be an answer. Society has taught us the it is super important to be independent as soon as possible, but that is not what we actually need. We need to be nurtured and as we lose being nurtured from people we look to objects to give us what we need. Instead of getting help from others before a test we depend on a lucky pencil to help us get a grade. From this I wonder just how many objects do we have to replace the spots that other humans are ment to fill.
I completely agree, society does teach us to be independent as soon as possible, however we really need a personal attachment to something, either a human or an object, to really move on in life. I also wonder how many objects are slowly going to take the place of humans as we move on in life.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Tons of people have attachments to certain objects. When I was a kid, I had a stuffed animal that I was beyond attached to. Every night, I would tie him around my waist with a scarf, because I was scared that there would be a fire and I wouldn't be able to rescue him. We definitely form strange attachments to unintelligent things...
ReplyDeleteGreat example! And instead of relying on an object, how about relying on ourselves or on an experience; i.e. instead of hey I need my lucky pencil, I need my relaxation, or my rest or my lucky high five or any other experience (as opposed to thing).
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