Perceiving other beings’ agency is required to overcome species loneliness

Evidence

It’s in the combination of the special capacities of Nanabozho and Linnaeus that I can begin to understand the nascent feelings I have toward the different forms of life I observe. This version of the observational eros doesn’t just recognize or appreciate the inhabitants of a place, but is willing to perceive the special agency of those beings and receive their attention in turn. Overcoming species loneliness is impossible if our subjects appear inert and lifeless to us, be they hummingbirds or rocks. — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing, 494

Categorization

• DEFINE: Distinguishes Odell’s ‘observational eros’ from passive appreciation — it requires perceiving agency and accepting the other’s attention in return.
• XREF: connects to: Naming beings by name is how humans forge relationship and forestall species loneliness — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 753