Objectifying Things

Object (n.) |ˈäbjəkt|: a material thing that can be seen and touched

Thing (n.) |THiNG|: an inanimate material object as distinct from a living sentient being

From the meanings, we can see that the differences between object and thing is that objects are fundamentally everything we see and touchable, while things are objects, too, but the kinds that is lifeless.  Having no life, things can also affect and influence us humans in different ways.

We identify, define what is an object, what is a thing, and we give certain values to it.  Each thing has its own value in our mind, and we then use those things to, once again, define ourselves, making us unique, being apart from others, or blend in, get into the trends.  We say that hi-end gadgets like smartphones, expensive clothing, or sport cars makes us look richer, higher class, and more power, while, on the other hand, low-technologies or old cars would look lower status-wise.  In reality, those objects might not be much different from each other, but our values that we gave to them make we see it that way.

From my point of view, the theory on Things different from person to person, because it depends on perspectives.  What is extremely valuable for one guy could worth nothing for another one, and vise versa.  It depends, too, on cultures and social norms of people.  This theory is useful when designing because the perspective of people can shift when the design of objects are attractive, as we can see that this topic is seriously taken in the movie “Objectified”.