“domestic stones” keep younger generations company

They are sold between five and seven euros to fight against loneliness. The phenomenon of “domestic stones” is growing in the country. A need for connection which reveals the feeling of loneliness which corrodes our societies.

You of course knew about pets, and their electronic version, the Tamagotchi. In South Korea, now, it is the “domestic stones”, “pet stones” in English, which keep the younger generations company. The owners of these stones dress them, decorate them, paint faces on them, give them little names and even buy miniature beds for their rest.

If the phenomenon emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic, out of a need for contact, it has since grown to the point where public figures, notably Korean pop stars, have presented their own pet rocks. Now, therefore, a whole bunch of websites market pet stones, highlighting their very practical side and their low price. They cost between five and seven euros.

The idea is not new. En 1975, an American, Gary Dahl, after a joke between friends, had this crazy idea of ​​marketing “Pet Rock”. Pet rocks that Gary sold with a Training Manual containing this type of instruction: “If when you take the rock out of its box it seems excited, place it on some old newspaper“. Orders “do not move” And “sat” are rather simple to make him execute. “At the foot“is impossible to learn, which is not surprising after all, but”attack” is quite easy with a little help from the trainer. The marketing of “Pet Rock” only lasted six months, but allowed Gary to become a millionaire by selling simple stones.

Stones, which nothing alters, have always held an immense fascination for humans. And many societies grant them virtues and powers, like in the Andes where the Aymaras who consider them to be alive, certain farmers raising them a bit like children. The difference being that Aymara farmers do not order them on the internet, but pick them up on the roads. No doubt, they would also find it quite strange that we dressed them like humans, that we drew eyes or a mouth for them as if they absolutely had to look like us to establish a connection. A need for connection which undoubtedly says a lot about the feeling of solitude which consumes our societies.