It's a thing.

1. Is it a living thing? No, unless you are one of those truly out there romantic philosophers. For everyone else, the answer is No.

2. Is it a tool? No. Once again, those existentialist wind-bag poets might classify it as some kind of tool, but it isn't mechanical at all. The answer is No. All that other babble is probably misleading. Just ignore it.

3. Does it have anything to do with 300? Trick question. You've heard of 6 degrees of seperation? It is not 300, movie, soundtrack, comic or book.