What an Animism/Panpsychism Worldview Looks Like

This hand-drawn illustration humorously visualizes the core of animism, the belief that all natural things have spirits or consciousness. The scene depicts a forest landscape where every natural entity, including trees, spotted mushrooms, rocks, grass, flowing river water, fish swimming in the river, a wild brown bear, and even small berries growing on a plant, are all drawn with the same neutral, deadpan human-like facial expression. This visual choice implies every object and creature in nature is sentient and observing the world around them, with the consistent deadpan expression across all entities giving the work a dry, humorous tone.

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Overview

This hand-drawn illustration humorously visualizes the core of animism, the belief that all natural things have spirits or consciousness. The scene depicts a forest landscape where every natural entity, including trees, spotted mushrooms, rocks, grass, flowing river water, fish swimming in the river, a wild brown bear, and even small berries growing on a plant, are all drawn with the same neutral, deadpan human-like facial expression. This visual choice implies every object and creature in nature is sentient and observing the world around them, with the consistent deadpan expression across all entities giving the work a dry, humorous tone.

Origin notes

This original illustration meme was first shared on X (formerly Twitter) by Chinese user 由依, accompanied by a Chinese title explaining that it depicts what an animism or panpsychism worldview is like. It was later reposted across multiple social media platforms, gaining popularity for its simple, funny visualization of the spiritual belief system.