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more about things

since childhood, we're taught that nouns refer to people, places, and things.
let's look more closely at the definition of both nouns and things.

click below for a diagram showing the common definition of nouns.

nouns

now let's consider the idea that it's possible to think of places as things (not too hard), and—though it may seem slightly disrespectful—it should be clear that people, in a broad sense, could be thought of as things as well.

click below for a diagram showing this slightly expanded definition of things.

things

now for another small leap.
let's expand the notion of things to include events, actions, ideas, various phenomena, etc.
certainly this is not out of the realm of possibilities.
people talk about these sorts of...uh...things...all the time, just as they do about people, places, and all that we commonly refer to as things.

click below for a diagram representing this fully expanded definition of things.

fully expanded definition of things

so, we see how the premise for this exhibition is quite plausible—that the world truly does consist of nothing but things.

as a little test, try now, with the expanded definition of things in mind, to think of anything that's not a thing. you can't.

so here's a working definition to consider: whatever can be defined, described, or somehow represented, is a thing.

keep this in mind as you go about your daily life.
remember how simple things really are.
don't get overly caught up in things.

 

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