In Martin Buber’s I-it/I-you typology, what would a relationship to a mathematical idea like “aperiodic tiling” be? It’s not really either an object or a person though it can be integrated into both object relations (tile design) or personal relationships (nerd out together).

I think it’s a third type: I-noo

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I don’t really think this maps very well. I-it/I-Thou is a frame primarily about interpersonal relationships (where the I-it illuminates the potential of reducing the encounter to a transaction)

1. Take all things as seriously as you take yourself.
2. Don't take yourself too seriously.

But glomming it onto concepts I think I can see both possibilities - I.e., relating to a concept purely instrumentally or extractively as a means-to-insight, vs encountering at multiple levels (as in Buber’s “I Consider a Tree”)