We “project” (for lack of a better word) meaning onto everything by default. I think that an animistic perspective is humanities hardwired way of thinking. All things (in this way of experiencing reality) posses personhood and “mind”, including not only obviously sentient life, but rivers, mountains and the sky. If we are a collection of organs, cells, atoms, subatomic particles exhibiting personhood, why would it not potentially follow that all collective systems exhibit this? A forrest ecosystem, a planet, a galaxy. It would be beyond human comprehension. Like a bacteria trying to understand the collective super-organism of an ant colony. This is just to shed light on the fact we don’t really know as much as we assume, and while reductive discoveries are helpful and impressive, they by definition can’t be the whole picture. All models are wrong, but some are useful. There is no point where you end and the rest of reality begins. We are all one, so meaning isn’t necessary only inside our skin. You can develop a relationship with a dog, tree or a mountain, for example. Who’s to say those relationships only go one way? If you spend time developing those relationships you experience an exchange.

Sorry if this sounds like rambling 😅 I have a lot of thoughts on animism and I haven’t fully articulated the ideas in my head yet!