to clear ground of brush and large stones for vegetable growing, she said facetiously, "I do believe in the malevolence of the inanimate, and of all inanimate objects, stones are the most malevolent." Resistentialism is the basis for the poem "Nightmare Number Three" by Stephen Vincent Benét, which was dramatized by George Lefferts for the 1950s radio drama series X Minus One. In Clifford D. Simak's science fiction short story "Skirmish", first published in 1950, machines start to become self-aware and revolt against human control. In Avram Davidson's science fiction short story "Or All the Seas with Oysters", first published in 1958, inanimate objects breed and undergo metamorphosis. The concept appears in the Discworld novels of English author Terry Pratchett, where it is referred to as malignity or malignance; one practical example the author gives is the tendency of garden hoses, no matter how carefully one coils and stores them, to unloop themselves overnight and tie the bicycle to the lawnmower. It is associated with Pratchett's Auditors of Reality, and possibly also with Anoia, whom he describes as a "goddess of things that stick in drawers." Thomas Pynchon's novel V. features the character of Benny Profane, who is under the impression that he can only deal successfully with animate objects. Throughout the novel, the dividing line between animate and inanimate objects become blurred, such as the Bad Priest, who is mostly machine, a talking protective suit named SHROUD, and sewer-dwelling alligators who are aware that they were intended to be toy pets for children. Farin Urlaub's single "Dusche" is a rock song in which the singer believes the contents of his house are planning to assassinate him. See also Animistic fallacy Intentional stance References Further reading An expanded Report on Resistentialism, Paul Jennings, Town & Country. Reprinted in Oddly Enough, 1950. Developments in Resistentialism. In: Even Oddlier, Paul Jennings, 1952 Eckler, A. Ross (2012) "Logological Resistentialism", Word Ways: Vol. 23: Iss. 4, Article 15. Borgmann, Dmitri A. (2012) "Order in a Resistentialist World", Word Ways: Vol. 21: Iss. 1, Article 12. External links "On Language: Resistentialism", New York Times Magazine", Sept. 21, 2003 "The case of the disappearing teaspoons" An application of Resistentalism to complex systems X Minus One, 1950s radio show, episode 10: "Nightmare" Nightmare Number 3, poem by Stephen Vincent Benet Parodies Fictional philosophies