“Fantasy—and all fiction is fantasy of one kind or another—is a mirror. A distorting mirror, to be sure, and a concealing mirror, set at forty-five degrees to reality, but it’s a mirror nonetheless, which we can use to tell ourselves things we might not otherwise see." - Neil Gaiman
The same holds true for Science Fiction, which, like all fiction, is fantasy, but fantasy rooted within scientific principles and rules.
I was reading Scott Overton's amazing novel Naïda this morning and had to quote something from it.
This excerpt is from a scene shortly after the main character, Michael Hart, and the alien symbiote, Naïda, connect. It's from the alien's perspective.
"The symbiote struggles to understand. She has not bonded before...."She now has senses far different from those she has ever known. Distinct, individual senses. Instead of a pervasive awareness of surroundings and accumulating various data about them, she can now choose to collect information through analysis of the wavelengths and other properties of light. Or by vibrations through a medium of gas or liquid that generate interesting resonances and harmonics. Tactile data is not all-encompassing but seems particularly focused into especially sensitive areas of the biped's body, providing a definition that is intriguing. Another sense is designed exclusively for detection of trace molecules in the surrounding air, but is seemingly linked to stored memories rather than being used for strict chemical analysis. And yet another sense is entirely related to the ingestion of solids and liquids used by the biped for fuel. The Controller has defined these senses for her, but comprehending the reality they present is very difficult since the symbiote's own sensory input is much more homogeneous, and measures an almost completely different range of properties."Most strange of all is that Human responds to collected data from its senses in ways that appear to bypass rational analysis completely and instead trigger autonomic functions with unknown purpose, such as suddenly increased circulatory rate or an equally rapid relaxation of muscles and nerve activity."
I love what this mirror held up to reality says, in a subtle way about the individual way we all process sensory input.
It's interesting to consider eating (linked in countless societies to strict cultural conventions, and a major commercial enterprise in western society) as the ingestion of solids and liquids for fuel.
Even more interesting to note that humans respond to data collected from our senses in ways that bypass rational analysis.
A little confirmation bias thrown into the mix? A combination of new inputs being affected by stored memories? I'm intrigued by the subtle things a passage like this says.
Which, I suppose, is why I love how science fiction, fantasy, and fiction in general, can provide plenty of great nuggets of thought to chew on.
Links of Interest (YouTube Videos)
No comments:
Post a Comment