Exchange of Realities

Now it’s time to answer the question: If you’re dealing with a new, Other race or species, what makes it different? This is the part where we really get to both enjoy ourselves and show off, so take your time, open your mind, and let’s have some fun. For starters, have some examples.

Let’s begin with lifespan. Changing this up is a common way to differentiate between demi-human varieties, or to set post-humans apart from their more mortal counterparts. But what does it mean to live longer? Do creatures with naturally different lifespans perceive time differently, so that everyone feels like their lifespan is the same length? If so, those that live a shorter time might have quicker wits and faster reflexes than those who live longer. A lot of people portray the longer-lived as taking their time to come to decisions and as making a point of thinking carefully, but don’t look too far past that. What about developing an interest in change? If they’re nature-oriented, this could involve watching the local equivalent of evolution or admiring erosion patterns. Or a more arrogant long-lived species might try social engineering on shorter-lived creatures for social engineering’s own sake. Or perhaps a shorter-lived race among longer-lived races might live by the idea that that which is remembered is immortal, and concentrate on trying to make sure that their names and deeds live on.

How about perception? On Monday, leftbower pointed out that living in a different environment might produce an aesthetic towards a different sort of beauty, but fell into a trap that we humans often do by assuming that visual beauty would still be the first thing they paid attention to. This isn’t necessarily true; moreover, even another visual-dominant species might not see the way we do. Cave-dwellers or nocturnal creatures may be more focused on intensity than hue, or have a highly refined system of differentiation between metallic lusters and textures but have about as much luck telling green from blue as some of us have trying to tell fuschia from magenta. But why even focus on vision? We have plenty of other senses to play with; yes, they’re harder to put into words, but it’s worth it in the long run; they change communication, they affect transmission of information, they have all sorts of potential for setting up plot incidents, they might lead to a focus on new art forms or standards of beauty entirely—what’s not to like?

If you’re looking for more obvious physiological differences, what not consider something basic like claws? They’re just longer fingernails that might actually be useful in a fight, right? Not exactly. First question: do they retract? If so, the finger has to be large enough for the claw, or the claw small enough for the finger. If not, they’re going to get in the way of many of the tasks we take for granted. To give yourself an inkling of what this might be like, try spending a day wearing long false nails, or rubber-band paper clips to the backs of your fingers, and then engage in your normal routines. I tried this a few years back—it’s not easy.

This isn’t even touching mental differences. What if there were a variety of creature that had a complete understanding of their own deaths, knowing exactly when they were going to die and what would happen to them afterwards? What about those who are mindlinked, in symbiosis with something else, or in some other way never truly alone? How about the real cultural results of everyone knowing exactly how everyone else is feeling?

The fun part? This little list is only scratching the surface. There’s plenty more to deal with than just those; you could spend weeks coming up with ideas and still be missing most of what’s out there. Tomorrow, we’re going to look at where these features might have come from and how that can further impact the creatures that bear them.