animacy, self-propelled bodies

The actions of bodies are qualitatively different from the actions of other objects: bodies are self-propelled, which means bodies can perform gravity-defying actions, like jumping up in the air all by themselves, feats that baseballs and leaves cannot perform. It is sometimes surprising how much deep essential qualities like animacy are apparent from superficial perceptual features. … whether something moving is animate or not simply from an easily perceivable path of motion.