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Oni2:Slaves of War/Polylectiloquy: Difference between revisions
*cough* it's been a long time since Biology class...
(unfinished thoughts on the Chrysalis) |
(*cough* it's been a long time since Biology class...) |
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:This is the elephant in the room, isn't it? Oni never actually tells us what they are, or even where they come from. But one possible origin seems so likely that it blots out any other ideas in my mind: the Wilderness. | :This is the elephant in the room, isn't it? Oni never actually tells us what they are, or even where they come from. But one possible origin seems so likely that it blots out any other ideas in my mind: the Wilderness. | ||
:If we've gotten that settled, then the next question is the nature | :If we've gotten that settled, then the next question is the nature of the Daodan. What type of life is it? | ||
:A. Animal. | :A. Animal. This doesn't seem to fit, as the Daodan doesn't move about; I can't think of any animals that stay in one place their whole life. | ||
:B. Plant. Flowering plants, in particular, benefit from outside help (from animals) to reproduce; some cannot reproduce at all without animals (Cf. [[wikipedia:fig wasp|the fig wasp]]). | :B. Plant. Flowering plants, in particular, benefit from outside help (from animals) to reproduce; some cannot reproduce at all without animals (Cf. [[wikipedia:fig wasp|the fig wasp]]). | ||
:C. Then there's the "mystery" domain of life, the organisms that are often not considered to be alive at all, but simply invasive or unusual genetic processes. In terms of complexity and independent existence, we have viruses at the high end, but as you go down the scale -- viroids, plasmids, prions, transposons -- you eventually end up with a continuous spectrum that reaches into the basic nature of genetic replication, inalienable from the actual process of life. | :C. Bacteria. Bacteria are the most symbiotic life forms. We typically assume that the Chrysalis is a single organism, but what if it's a colony? | ||
:D. Then there's the "mystery" domain of life, the organisms that are often not considered to be alive at all, but simply invasive or unusual genetic processes. In terms of complexity and independent existence, we have viruses at the high end, but as you go down the scale -- viroids, plasmids, prions, transposons -- you eventually end up with a continuous spectrum that reaches into the basic nature of genetic replication, inalienable from the actual process of life. | |||
:Need to consider the pros and cons of A, B and | :Need to consider the pros and cons of A, B, C and D here.... | ||
:Dropping these terms here for now: [[wikipedia:Host_(biology)#Host_range|host range]], [[wikipedia:Okazaki_fragments|Okazaki fragments]], [[wikipedia:Tobacco_mosaic_virus|tobacco mosaic virus]], [[wikipedia:Mobilome|mobilome]]. | :Dropping these terms here for now: [[wikipedia:Host_(biology)#Host_range|host range]], [[wikipedia:Okazaki_fragments|Okazaki fragments]], [[wikipedia:Tobacco_mosaic_virus|tobacco mosaic virus]], [[wikipedia:Mobilome|mobilome]]. | ||