triple O

Object Oriented Ontology or OOO is a concept that on one level makes completely valid and necessary points but on the other hand, confuses me. I feel as though the notion that humans are not the centre of the universe is extremely important. The understanding that not every revolves around humans and that we are in fact part of a much larger ecosystem of things. OOO asserts that everything exists equally, that there is no hierarchy.

Personally, I find it difficult to view the concept of OOO objectively simply because I am a human. There is a part of me that believes my species is superior. A potentially misguided, human-centric part of me. I want to believe that everything exists equally but I am struggling to.

An aspect of OOO in which I find intriguing is the power and reference it gives to things, non-living things. It is actually quite funny, the fact that I’ve never thought about the amount of power things actually hold over me. Humans have created a lot of the things we so greatly rely on ourselves. However, the fact that we have created them has no bearing on the power they still hold over us. This brings me back to the relations we have with everything that surrounds us, and takes us away from the centre of the universe and situates us as a small chain in a series of relations. It forces us to question, as Bogost so eloquently suggests, that things do not exist solely for our use.

image: https://bilaga.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/websten1.jpg