The Viral Umwelt

 Jakob von Uexkull writes in his book A Stroll Through the Worlds of Animals and Men about the “Umwelt” or the idea that all living creatures exist in their own individualized worlds of perception and the only the factors that contribute to this perception are those things which are “carriers of significance”. He uses the example of a tick to discuss how this particular creature has only three things in its Umwelt which are of any significance. Uexkull goes on to discuss how a creatures perception of one of these objects of significance can be influenced by the creatures interaction with the object. He writes, “since all of the traits of an object are structurally interconnected, the traits given operational meaning must affect those bearing perceptual meaning through the object, and so change the object itself”. So in a sense a creature’s (or human’s) Umwelt is to a large degree influenced by the interactions that an individual has with his or her “carriers of significance” because it is this very interaction which contributes to their perception of them.

Uexkull’s concept of operational meaning affecting perceptual meaning can be seen in an analysis of this viral YouTube video that my father in law showed me over Christmas break.  In this video, the object of the dead squirrel (perceptual meaning) is influenced by the operational meaning that the little girl grants it by picking it up and petting it much in the same way she would a stuffed animal. If you continue watching, you can see a perfect example of the Umwelt in the mother’s reaction when she stumbles upon the situation and covers her mouth. Unlike the little girl, the mother does not see an innocent play toy but perhaps the potential judgment that could befall a parent that lets her child play with dead animals. Thus the object or carrier of significance of the dead squirrel is granted an alternate operational meaning by both the little girl and the mother which in turn affects their perceptual meaning of the object as a play thing and a potential object of judgment, respectively. However, this could also work the other way around with the perceptual meaning of the object influencing the operational meaning of the subject. For example, if the squirrel were alive and willing to be in the proximity of the little girl she may attempt to play with it but the operational meaning she grants to the live squirrel would be much different. She would probably spend more time coaxing the squirrel to come close to her and it is unlikely that she would be able to pick it up and moves its head up and down like she does in the video.

Moving beyond the content of the video itself and considering the idea of the “viral video” in light of Uexkull’s theory of the Umwelt, it seems that in this case there is a more collective “carrier of significance” brought about by the object of the dead squirrel. Judging from a few of the comments, it would appear that many people are drawn to the significance of the two parents standing by while their daughter plays with a dead wild animal instead of taking the animal way immediately. A parental umwelt in this case is a field of perception that focuses mainly on the parents; however, is it only parents that contributed to the 3 million plus hits for this video? What are other possible Umwelts that other demographics may have been drawn to in this video? Perhaps the fascination at childhood innocence in the girl not being disgusted by a dead squirrel but on the contrary becoming fixated with it? Or perhaps the mere fact that the video was “viral” or popular drew people to its significance. Their Umwelt in this case would simply be viral videos and the actual content is immaterial since it is simply the “viral”-ness that they are drawn to.