I once bought a Nikon EM film camera from eBay. I did it just for fun, out of curiosity, whatever you wanna call it. My plan was to try it for a while, then sell it again to someone. On its bottom there was a metal plate reading “Department of Corrections, Facility no:….” (I don’t remember the exact wording). This made me realize that used item journeys is a fascinating thing to ponder on.
Imagine, all the things your used lens has seen, all the experiences around it, all the places it’s been. Someone with a prosaic outlook on life might say “well, hang on! These are mere items, they don’t experience anything! And the people using them aren’t the ones journeying around.”
Although prosaic, this argument is valid. Indeed, used item journeys are not experienced by their users. They are not experienced by the items themselves either, since (as our prosaic imaginary friend mentioned) inanimate objects do not experience. So, what’s going on?
