I have a tendency to see animacy in everything

Content warnings: some discussion of AI, LLMs and AI psychosis Animism is a word that describes the belief that everything is "animate," or that it has a soul or spiritual essence. "Animism" (en.wikipedia.org) In broad strokes, this is something I believe. I'm not sure exactly when it started, but probably sometime around when I first started studying Earth and environmental science. Around that time was also when I first started reading Robin Wall Kimmerer, and in particular Braiding Sweetgrass, which probably impacted this as well. I'm not sure if she'd call herself an animist¹ but from the way she describes plants and animals it's pretty clear she considers them to be alive in ways that go beyond the typical Western or Christian conception of life. "Braiding Sweetgrass" (en.wikipedia.org) As with a lot of beliefs, I don't think of this as something that could be specifically true or false so much as a way of thinking of things. "Soul" is a pretty flimsy word. I believe I have a…