Evan Woods9/2/2015The Object Stares BackJames Elkins

The world around us is simply a network stringed along by the physical and mental awarenesses of all things in this world sensing the other. If the world were seen as a big game of “6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon” but rather than using celebrities we used our innate sense to be able to ‘feel’ the things that surround us, we would all be some degree away from every piece of matter that exists on this earth. Elkins’ “The Object Stares Back” is trying to make us believe these notions.

What are we aware of but cannot see? What is staring right at us but our perception of this earth limits our scope of what is visible to us? How do we fit into this world? How can paintings and pictures make us feel about our role? Are we all just “pictures”? While reading this, I didn't get the presence of “elite ideology” that I find in so many other books that make us question our perception or at all relate to a psychological idea. Elkins presented his theories and findings on common ground, realizing how the world works simply while he lay in bed thinking of the objects in his room. There was no obese language or painful sentence structures. I easily identify with his view, but because of how he presented it. The notion of my mirror staring back at me while I sleep could’ve easily been explained in a way that would’ve made me want to put the book down and give up on the ludicrous remark.

Quote: “Perhaps it’s because I am half asleep, but I would almost say that the whole world could be connected by this kind of direct and indirect sight, so that everything is visible at all times and nothing is hidden.”

Question: Should I give more trust to the sight with which I cannot see: the sight with which a mirror looks through, or the sight that I have known I’ve been using ever since I was born: the power through our eyes?