Thursday, October 11, 2012

On Organic Life

The human body is a truly remarkable system. It begins from two half-cells which merge and replicate over and over and over again. They develop several complex systems to maintain its continued growth and health. When damaged, the human body can repair itself. When attacked by foreign organisms, it fights them off. And it powers all of its processes by consuming materials around it and then chemically breaking them down into their base components to restructure as needed.

Organic life of any kind is truly remarkable for the same reasons. I also am mesmerized at how many ways of sensing the environment there are. Humans have their five senses, but there is so much more. Pit vipers have a sense that "sees" heat. Sharks feel electric waves emitted by any living creature. Many birds navigate by sensing the the earth's electromagnetic field. In fact, basically any measurable thing can be used as a potential sense.

Knowing as much as we do about how organic systems work, the possibilities for story ideas are nearly endless, and so many of them can even seem plausible. I definitely recommend learning about all the cool stuff we can do, and let it inspire you to explore it in your writing.

No comments:

Post a Comment