The Map is Not The Territory
On Purple, Perception, and the Psychology of What Gives Meaning to Watch Collections
Is a watch more than just an inanimate object? No, of course not – but also, if you ask a watch collector, I’m pretty sure they’d argue it is much more.
Lots of people believe watches exist solely as functional objects to keep track of time. Fewer people (I’d estimate) believe watches transcend their physical properties and happen to be ‘vessels of meaning’ (or some other fanciful concept along these lines).
I believe a more accurate view than both of these, is that meaning does exist in a watch but only in the specific way that “purple” exists as a colour1.
Let me explain.
Estimated reading time: ~11 mins
Before I get into why I believe this, let me clarify what I mean when I talk about ‘having meaning’. I’m referring to when people perceive objects as having qualities which exist psychologically, but they interpret and act on those qualities as being more than psychological. Folks may think these properties correspond to something in the physical world when they don’t, or think they have an existence independent of psychology, when they haven’t. The point is that such perceptions change how we interact with the world around us.
To frame this more clearly, let’s start with a couple of examples.
Dead people. No sane person sees the lifeless body of a departed soul as ‘organic matter which will be returned to the earth’ even though that’s exactly what a dead body is. When it’s someone we knew or cared about, we tend to imbue the body with the essence of the person we once knew. This is why there are funerals with open caskets, why people visit graves with flowers, and why the desecration of human remains feels profoundly immoral. A lifeless body becomes a vessel which somehow (irrationally but no less powerfully) still connects the living to the departed. Intellectually or logically speaking, we know the dead are not here on earth, but emotionally, we might behave as if something of them still lingers.
Intimacy. People have a tendency to elevate intimate human interactions to near-mystical status. A first kiss, sexual intimacy, or even a particularly meaningful embrace can feel transformative in ways that far exceed their physical reality. Humans mark these moments as pivotal life events sometimes, and treat them as though they have fundamentally altered us, even when biologically speaking, nothing actually changed. The psychological impact becomes interpreted as something more – like a change in our very being.
Coincidence and serendipity. Remember when you thought of someone randomly and they called you soon thereafter? Or when that song which was playing during some special moment suddenly comes on precisely when you are reminiscing about it many years later? People tend to instinctively reject all statistical explanations that prove, given enough time, these kinds of overlaps are inevitable2. People love to interpret patterns, signs and otherwise random events to suggest the universe is somehow acknowledging our individual journey on earth. It’s also potentially a good example of the spotlight effect in action. These types of moments feel significant, in a way that far exceeds their mathematical probability.
The wilderness. When you stand at the edge of Victoria Falls or at the foot of a giant pyramid in Egypt3, you might feel something more than simple appreciation for giant waterfalls or ancient construction skills. A lot of people experience a sense of presence, as if the place itself possesses awareness of some kind. You could laugh it off as poetic sentiment, but I speak from experience when I say people can genuinely feel connected to something greater, and sense intention or consciousness where science tells us this is nonsensical.
Cultural artefacts and monuments. Think about how people treat certain objects – the Crown Jewels, the Liberty Bell, or the Rosetta Stone. Yes, they are historical items, but they have also become avatars of national identity or repositories of collective memory. Damaging them would be vandalism, perhaps, but I’m sure you’d agree it would also feel like an assault on the cultures they represent. Humans have transformed material into meaning so thoroughly that the distinction becomes quite blurry.
Ritual objects. This list would be full of random items like wedding rings, religious symbols like crucifixes or stars and so on; certain items have the ability to transcend their material properties entirely. A crucifix isn’t just shaped metal or wood to a devout Christian, for example. These objects become conduits to something transcendent, they represent metaphorical bridges between physical and spiritual realities in the minds of these people.
Childhood comfort objects. I vividly remember my favourite mini blanket, and others may have had a well-worn teddy bear or something else which provided security and comfort to them as a child. These items were never valued for their material properties at all. In fact, they actually became more precious as they deteriorated physically! These sorts of objects embody safety, comfort, and constancy in a way which far exceeds the stuffing or the fabric which they are made of. Even as adults, people still sometimes maintain these kinds of sentimental connections as they are unable or unwilling to discard worthless items just because they are ‘repositories’ of emotional security.
Now, when I said a watch’s meaning “exists” but only in the specific way that “purple” exists, what does that even mean?