The Modern Unnameable
Moderators: mgmirkin, Moderators
Aleister has brought up a very good point- that the DNA structure an animal was born with does not change over the course of it's life. You can not "imprint" anything into an animal's dna structure, but you can in fact simply have it learn from its mistakes or its teachings. Of course, that would take a memory to memorize that. Idolcrash, thanks for pointing out that careless mistake. Oh, i was guest. I had forgotten to log in. And my alias on Cthulhumud is Maxime if anyone cares.
this place is awesome
This is the best mythos-related post i've ever read (well I just registered today). The subject of discussion is the one of the most interesting elements in lovecraft's writing and i must say this forum rocks.
(I too wish it should have stayed on topic, the idea of the unnameable that was discussed in the beginning is what was particularly interesting to me)
(I too wish it should have stayed on topic, the idea of the unnameable that was discussed in the beginning is what was particularly interesting to me)
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fhhtagn?
fhhtagn?
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Daemon Incarnate
- Mi-Go Brain-Bait
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Sat Jul 30, 2005 10:47 pm
Well
Well, the idea that somthing can be totaly outside of our belief structure (to the point that seeing it drives one insane instantly) is very interesting.
Think about this, Humans have a vauge (sp?) idea of what happens at the singularity of a black hole (the known laws of physics break down), but if a person were to be suddenly put in that situation, their's no ammount of knowlage thart can prepare one for that. Our five sences opperate on the laws of physics and without them, we are blind, deaf, knumb, etc... So even if you understood where you were you would still be completely out of your element and be likely driven insane. (that and your body's life functions would be unable to...well, function and you'd be as good as dead.)
I have no idea where I was going with that...
Just ignore me and maybe I'll go away...^_^
Think about this, Humans have a vauge (sp?) idea of what happens at the singularity of a black hole (the known laws of physics break down), but if a person were to be suddenly put in that situation, their's no ammount of knowlage thart can prepare one for that. Our five sences opperate on the laws of physics and without them, we are blind, deaf, knumb, etc... So even if you understood where you were you would still be completely out of your element and be likely driven insane. (that and your body's life functions would be unable to...well, function and you'd be as good as dead.)
I have no idea where I was going with that...
Just ignore me and maybe I'll go away...^_^
I think that part of Lovecraft's genius was that he was able to convey such potent imagery whilst describing the purposefully impossible. To my mind, witnessing an optical illusion is the closest parallel reality can offer us to seeing the bizarre colours and objects Lovecraft describes in his work.
Lovecraft successfully challenges the old adage "one can never describe red to a blind man" by describing the emotions of his protagonists as they encounter these unknown sensory experiences. 'Red' is innocuous without context. But make it synonymous with the gore-stained grass on the fields of battle, and you can describe the experience of seeing 'red' without even mentioning the word 'blood'. Lovecraft's colours, by contrast, are never innocent. By their very nature - alien, perverting of convention and trusted laws of physics - they are indelibly couched in emotionally charged contexts varying from curious fascination to inexplicable horror and revulsion.
Therefore Lovecraft admits that he cannot describe, for example, the ultra-violet in From Beyond - but he can induce so strong an empathy in his readers for his protagonist that they can experience all the confusion of the beholding bizarre, undocumented sight without having the faintest idea of the specific properties of the apparition they are witnessing. And although his protagonists themselves do have some sensory input to stimulate and augment their emotions, more often than not the things they see simply breed confusion; robbing the character of understanding rather than contributing to it. In essence, the reader doesn't really need to see what the protagonist sees as long as he feels that sense of terror and loss of grounding in physical convention.
To experience Lovecraft's alien colour and geometry in real life, we will need to encounter holograms and stereographs not in the pages of books or hung framed upon walls, but appearing inexplicably in the dark corners of our homes - in unlooked for places where our prior knowledge of such illusions is blinded by context. I suspect anyone lucky enough to be born colour-blind and then granted the gift of conventional sight should also encounter these experiences in their lives.
Lovecraft successfully challenges the old adage "one can never describe red to a blind man" by describing the emotions of his protagonists as they encounter these unknown sensory experiences. 'Red' is innocuous without context. But make it synonymous with the gore-stained grass on the fields of battle, and you can describe the experience of seeing 'red' without even mentioning the word 'blood'. Lovecraft's colours, by contrast, are never innocent. By their very nature - alien, perverting of convention and trusted laws of physics - they are indelibly couched in emotionally charged contexts varying from curious fascination to inexplicable horror and revulsion.
Therefore Lovecraft admits that he cannot describe, for example, the ultra-violet in From Beyond - but he can induce so strong an empathy in his readers for his protagonist that they can experience all the confusion of the beholding bizarre, undocumented sight without having the faintest idea of the specific properties of the apparition they are witnessing. And although his protagonists themselves do have some sensory input to stimulate and augment their emotions, more often than not the things they see simply breed confusion; robbing the character of understanding rather than contributing to it. In essence, the reader doesn't really need to see what the protagonist sees as long as he feels that sense of terror and loss of grounding in physical convention.
To experience Lovecraft's alien colour and geometry in real life, we will need to encounter holograms and stereographs not in the pages of books or hung framed upon walls, but appearing inexplicably in the dark corners of our homes - in unlooked for places where our prior knowledge of such illusions is blinded by context. I suspect anyone lucky enough to be born colour-blind and then granted the gift of conventional sight should also encounter these experiences in their lives.
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sabersword
- Neophyte
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- Joined: Sun Jan 22, 2006 12:36 pm
- Location: Kansas city, Mo.