Definitions HQ

The Object (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a late invention of perception: it is what organizes the first slopes of pull into a world.

The Object (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a late invention of perception: the mind posits a thing as the “source” of pulls it first felt only as directions.

An Object (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a workshop word: literally what is set in front of you, like a plank on a bench waiting to be built in.

The Object (n.) came ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠first as a technical one: before something is detached from the world, there is only a milieu, not a set of things.

An Object (n.) sealed ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠shut betrays a child: the ideal associate of the ego must not be a tureen no one may open, nor a Bluebeard's door.

The Object (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the exception: what we usually perceive is a whole polarized world, and a lone object turns up only in artificial situations like the laboratory.

The Object (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a workshop word and the subject (n.) a temple word; neither fits the world, which is first neither one nor the other.

The Object (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not given: it is a provisional stabilization of dynamisms, and a figure against a ground is not yet one.

An Object (n.) that ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠is old is understood only when it is lifted back into becoming: to grasp its meaning is not to know its structure but to re-install it in the world.

An Object (n.) condenses ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a crowd of needs, desires and expectations into one body, and in return the user's image of it and the thing itself talk to each other directly, which is how invention happens.

An Object (n.) that ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠stands alone forces a long detour: once the solution is a separate thing, its own constraints drag in more of reality than the problem asked for, as life does in Lamarck's story.

The Object (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠as primitive as the parent: the child's earliest relations are not only to beings but to things, and psychoanalysis has treated them as mere stand-ins for people, which may be anthropocentric.