See, I think all the personality that Betsy had was the result of my projecting it onto her. I became attached because I've always formed emotional attachments to objects, but a lot of it has to do with what they represent rather than any consciousness.
Do you
know that or is that what you tell yourself? No offense.
Not being organic matter, she can never truly die, as her metal could be recycled and used again, still existing and serving a purpose.
Maybe, that's a nice way of looking at it. As far as any of my theories for car-spirits seem to work it seems possible. Though you have to wonder what happens to the car's soul that the part is going into, it can't be replaced right? Lol This is way to meta for me to comprehend I think. Maybe it's like that one guy on FA suggested about spiritual energy in every little piece of the car, combined the energies combine and form something complex. So maybe Betsy's self was broken down and put into other cars, though it's hard to say if any of her carried over with those parts or weather she was 'destroyed' when she was taken apart.
So, while it was a bummer to see her go, I don't feel sad, especially after having lost so many pets. They're alive and fully conscious. They have personalities that are separate from the ones we project onto them. Betsy could never comfort me the way my dog could. Betsy didn't come into my room to sleep, check in on me when I was sad, or sleep on my bed with me. My dog did. Compared to when I lost him, no, I'm not sad about Betsy.
See this is where you and I see things opposite. I've been around many people with dogs, cats, pets in general. My family even owns a cat and dog. I've never once felt like our animals care about us, or care about how we're feeling. I feels really obvious to me that all an animal cares about is that it knows you're the one that feeds it or frees it for moments in the day from the prison that is the house when you take it on walks. When your dog excitedly 'welcomes you home' it's really just happy because it's out of food or knows you're going to take it for a walk, or another combination of fulfilling one of it's wants/needs.
I've always felt dogs are really over-rated, which bugs me because my neighborhood is totally dog-crazy, lots of crazy dog people if you know what I mean that obsess over them.
Like I said, I've never felt like a dog ever had any interaction with me or anyone else I've seen that was an outgoing care or love for it's owner, at most, the owner and dog has some sort of wolf-pack like connection where the dog just enjoys being able to to wrestle/play with it's owner. But again, to entertain itself, not because it loves them or something. Not to say humans are any better, we're all about satisfying our own wants and desires when it comes right down to it too.
The comfort a dog 'gives you' by letting you pet it and stuff, the dog isn't giving that to you. Hell the dog's getting something from YOU, our brains just happen to find it calming.
... I guess how I feel about it. A car needs to be fed, and have doctor visits like a pet does. But at least it DOES something for you, a very important thing as matter of fact. What does a pet really DO for you? Outside of emotional comfort, which to be honest is just a side effect of them being around you to pet and play with if you feel like.
I have a feeling that rant is going to piss a lot of dog people off. XD