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Comment by floatingatoll | Hacker News Reader

Has anyone done a study on pet inanimate objects, such as rocks or coconuts or plants?

Not to undervalue live animal pets, but people are pretty intensely personal about their pet objects, too — and if the same benefit can exist for a pet rock, then you can say that your pet has a small carbon footprint and be twice right.

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That's an interesting thought, especially plants. While my cats are precious to me, I'd put my home garden at a very close second place. Twice a day I go out and review my garden and it never fails to improve my mood. Noticing what is new each day, performing the chores that need attention, discovering little surprises (I saw a stag beetle this morning!).

That's probably more related the fact that going into greener spaces helps our moods.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/sour-mood-getti...

I know too many guys intensely personal about their six-figure jalopies. They don't seem particularly healthy to me but maybe I'm missing something...

You might like this episode of Hidden Brain: [Pets, Pests And Food: Our Complex, Contradictory Attitudes Toward Animals](https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?stor...)

>VEDANTAM: When we come back, do our pets actually improve our lives?

>HERZOG: Pet owners were better off in terms of their psychological and physical health than non-pet owners. But as they pointed out, so are people with Mercedes-Benzes.

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