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Oni2:Slaves of War/Polylectiloquy: Difference between revisions
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:*Another universe: | :*Another universe: | ||
::This would follow the science-fiction tradition of alternate planes of existence, following the [[wp: | ::This would follow the science-fiction tradition of alternate planes of existence, following the [[wp:Many-worlds interpretation|many-worlds interpretation]] of quantum physics, and most famously explored (at least in American pop culture) by TV show [[wp:Sliders|''Sliders'']]. | ||
:*Another place: | :*Another place: | ||
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:If we've gotten that settled, then the next question is the nature of the Daodan. What type of life is it? | :If we've gotten that settled, then the next question is the nature of the Daodan. What type of life is it? | ||
:A. Animal. It's true that most animals are quite mobile, but there are some that are perfectly content to find a home and stay there forever; e.g. [[wp: | :A. Animal. It's true that most animals are quite mobile, but there are some that are perfectly content to find a home and stay there forever; e.g. [[wp:Coral|coral]] and [[wp:Barnacle|barnacles]]. | ||
:B. Plant. Flowering plants, in particular, benefit from outside help (from animals) to reproduce; some cannot reproduce at all without animals (Cf. [[wp: | :B. Plant. Flowering plants, in particular, benefit from outside help (from animals) to reproduce; some cannot reproduce at all without animals (Cf. [[wp:Fig wasp|the fig wasp]]). | ||
: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? | :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. | :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. | ||
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:'''Enigmata''' | :'''Enigmata''' | ||
::Pros: Preserves the mystery of the Daodan, especially if it's even more low-level than a virus. Cf. [[wp: | ::Pros: Preserves the mystery of the Daodan, especially if it's even more low-level than a virus. Cf. [[wp:Viroid|viroids]], [[wp:Plasmid|plasmids]] (rolling circles, electroporation and replicons, oh my!), [[wp:Prion|prions]], [[wp:Transposon|transposons]]. | ||
::Cons: It's complicated! Much easier to just say that the Daodan is a special plant. Also, if the Daodan is transferred on the genetic level, might it be contagious? That would run counter to Hasegawa's notion of the Daodan needing to be implanted, person by person. This would have story-changing implications. | ::Cons: It's complicated! Much easier to just say that the Daodan is a special plant. Also, if the Daodan is transferred on the genetic level, might it be contagious? That would run counter to Hasegawa's notion of the Daodan needing to be implanted, person by person. This would have story-changing implications. | ||
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:Much speculative sci-fi agrees that, although circuits and silicon are neat-o, the "final frontier" of technology is organic, not mechanical. The near-future world of "Ghost in the Shell" represents a natural extrapolation of current technology like robotics and computers, whereas the organic frontier is something much further out. After all, living things can repair themselves, adapt themselves, and reproduce themselves. That's the magic of life, and our silicon-based inventions are pathetically primitive by comparison. Sure, we could eventually develop nanomachines that self-replicate, but they're likely to feel like a pale imitation, an inefficient attempt at recreating what living cells have been doing for eons. | :Much speculative sci-fi agrees that, although circuits and silicon are neat-o, the "final frontier" of technology is organic, not mechanical. The near-future world of "Ghost in the Shell" represents a natural extrapolation of current technology like robotics and computers, whereas the organic frontier is something much further out. After all, living things can repair themselves, adapt themselves, and reproduce themselves. That's the magic of life, and our silicon-based inventions are pathetically primitive by comparison. Sure, we could eventually develop nanomachines that self-replicate, but they're likely to feel like a pale imitation, an inefficient attempt at recreating what living cells have been doing for eons. | ||
:So perhaps this hypothetical race that lives on the other side of the veil developed the Daodan on purpose. What purpose would it have? Well, consider the effects of the Daodan: it makes living things stronger by adapting in "real-time". Currently, life forms take generations to adapt and improve. Sometimes a distinction is made between [[wp: | :So perhaps this hypothetical race that lives on the other side of the veil developed the Daodan on purpose. What purpose would it have? Well, consider the effects of the Daodan: it makes living things stronger by adapting in "real-time". Currently, life forms take generations to adapt and improve. Sometimes a distinction is made between [[wp:Macroevolution|macroevolution]] and [[wp:Microevolution|microevolution]]. Macroevolution is said to take place over thousands or millions of years; microevolution, also known as adaptation or natural selection, takes place over a much smaller scale, perhaps a couple centuries. By contrast, the Daodan enables instant adaptation within the lifetime of a single organism — nanoevolution, if you will. | ||
:Humans do not simply accept the existence of deadly diseases, shrugging and hoping that we eventually evolve immunity to them in a million years. We try to use medicine and science to eliminate them. Even if an expensive operation is needed to keep a single human alive, we will perform it. This sort of emphasis on the preservation of individual lives might be a natural outcome in any species that develops sufficient intelligence to be able to do something about our own health problems. Perhaps the Daodan simply represents the culmination in medical technology of this alien race. | :Humans do not simply accept the existence of deadly diseases, shrugging and hoping that we eventually evolve immunity to them in a million years. We try to use medicine and science to eliminate them. Even if an expensive operation is needed to keep a single human alive, we will perform it. This sort of emphasis on the preservation of individual lives might be a natural outcome in any species that develops sufficient intelligence to be able to do something about our own health problems. Perhaps the Daodan simply represents the culmination in medical technology of this alien race. | ||
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:A. The Daodan is not perfect, so it cannot make the host perfect (i.e., remove a basic flaw in the cellular processes). | :A. The Daodan is not perfect, so it cannot make the host perfect (i.e., remove a basic flaw in the cellular processes). | ||
:B. The Daodan was designed to improve an organism but not to grant it immortality. The designers may have a philosophical or cultural reason for Daodan hosts or the general populace not living forever. | :B. The Daodan was designed to improve an organism but not to grant it immortality. The designers may have a philosophical or cultural reason for Daodan hosts or the general populace not living forever. | ||
:C. The Daodan has no effect on aging because it doesn't affect the shortening of [[wp: | :C. The Daodan has no effect on aging because it doesn't affect the shortening of [[wp:Telomeres|telomeres]]. It can only heal the body as long as it can create new cells, but since telomere-shortening is part of the program in human DNA, the Daodan will eventually run out of the physical means to keep the body going, regardless of how much energy the Daodan can access. | ||
:D. The Daodan actually shortens the host lifespan because it forces rapid cell doubling. More frequent cell division accelerates the aging process. | :D. The Daodan actually shortens the host lifespan because it forces rapid cell doubling. More frequent cell division accelerates the aging process. | ||
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:*Mai is trying to find her father. It should be for more than sentimental reasons, because those would seem trivial when the world is on fire, but certainly she wants some kind of answers or closure, similar to an adopted child seeking out his real parents. But likely Hasegawa will have data on the Daodan that could be instrumental to whatever is going on. When she finds him, we get to learn what he's been up to all this time. Maybe finding him is just the start of Act Two, as his information sets a new plot in motion. | :*Mai is trying to find her father. It should be for more than sentimental reasons, because those would seem trivial when the world is on fire, but certainly she wants some kind of answers or closure, similar to an adopted child seeking out his real parents. But likely Hasegawa will have data on the Daodan that could be instrumental to whatever is going on. When she finds him, we get to learn what he's been up to all this time. Maybe finding him is just the start of Act Two, as his information sets a new plot in motion. | ||
:*It could also be about a new development in the Wilderness... at first, it was just Daodan-enhanced plant life, polluting our air with the byproducts of its respiration, but now more advanced life is appearing, on higher [[wp: | :*It could also be about a new development in the Wilderness... at first, it was just Daodan-enhanced plant life, polluting our air with the byproducts of its respiration, but now more advanced life is appearing, on higher [[wp:Trophic_level|trophic levels]]. The world, viewed as a "trophic map", shows the large masses of Wilderness plants around the world as one color, then a darker color within that mass, spreading out in all directions, representing level 2, then level 3 heterotrophs -- either coming through the veil, or else our animal life is now successfully being modified by the Daodan as well, or can now successfully live off the foreign flora. Earth as we know it will be swallowed up unless we can stop it -- or failing that, implant all humans with Chrysalises so they can survive the final cataclysm. | ||
:*Perhaps Man is trying to burn away the mutated Wilderness to re-establish a normal ecosphere and Mai feels this is not the right path. Or, alternately, Mai is simply traveling the world to see how the Wilderness is being coped with in different areas. Perhaps there's even a Utopian city that is successful keeping out the Daodan, but at some kind of horrible cost (human sacrifices?). | :*Perhaps Man is trying to burn away the mutated Wilderness to re-establish a normal ecosphere and Mai feels this is not the right path. Or, alternately, Mai is simply traveling the world to see how the Wilderness is being coped with in different areas. Perhaps there's even a Utopian city that is successful keeping out the Daodan, but at some kind of horrible cost (human sacrifices?). | ||