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STOP MAKING SENSE posted:If you do come back, can you bring us some Melrin food? Oh! Give us an example of Melrin cooking! Melrin cooking generally involves very high heat. You sear the outside of food and leave it almost uncooked inside, much as you would with that style of steak you guys have. It's the best way of bringing out good, strong flavour. |
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2009 16:26 |
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comaerror posted:Mr Boone, Astonishingly enough, you've got the basic body shape of a melrin there, although we're not so spindly around the chest. My copy of Spore should be here tomorrow so I'll give that to you guys then. |
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2009 16:28 |
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winvirus posted:Welcome back. =) Whatever you need them to. Mine are programmed to respond to sensations of pain and investigate, then cauterise any wounds and disable any bacteria that may have gotten in. They also help me regulate temperature on your scorching planet. |
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2009 16:31 |
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.haze posted:So is there any news on the Spore model of your species? I'm really looking forward to seeing that. Not really, I don't enjoy art and thus don't really look at it. Mystery Steve posted:I'm sorry I worded that completley wrong, I meant is writing and speech dependant on sex. No. It's hard to transliterate but we use genderless words followed by the actual gender as a qualifier. |
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2009 16:33 |
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poopdog posted:How closely do in appearance are the 'highly evolved' species? Predominantly biped with two quadruped species on the network. Everyone has sight (though to different degrees), no intelligent species I know of has sonar as a method of doing anything. Sure, given enough time to evolve. I'm not really sure what you mean. |
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2009 16:35 |
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.haze posted:A couple of humans use sonar in their daily life, they use it as a replacement for vision - As nearly all of them are blind. It would be more feasible to reconstruct vision for a blind melrin. |
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2009 16:40 |
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niethan posted:Biologically or implants? Biologically is the closest definition, I guess. The same technology that allows me to pose as a human allows a melrin to alter their biology, too. STOP MAKING SENSE posted:Are there any other planets you've come across in your travels that were at our stage? Did you interact with them in this way as well? What were they like? Are there any other [lonely] planets near our [lonely] planet? I have, and I believe I've answered most of this question already. As for nearby lonely planets, there are are none significantly close to you, nor are they significantly far away. |
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2009 16:47 |
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Arkanomen posted:I know right now were a bunch of warlike xenophobic savages, but what do you think is our most redeeming quality? You guys really know how to cook. |
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2009 16:48 |
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poopdog posted:First off, thank you for answering. I'm really enjoying reading all of this. I can't answer that in any meaningful way as I only know of 26 species in the network, but all of them have grasping appendages, yes. I don't know of any method by which you could evolve to not use tools any more, although it would certainly be possible to live as a melrin without using any, I suppose. |
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2009 16:50 |
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Sally Slug posted:You've missed these a couple of times so I'm going to try posting them again if you don't mind. No. Genetic structures are simply too variable for there to be any real chance of inter-planetary inter-species mating. Cross-species attraction does occur, and 'taboo' is a laughable concept. Most cherished memory... probably the few years I spent in my own dwelling on Ulath, using it as a base for forming social groups and making friends. Good times. |
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2009 16:52 |
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Sally Slug posted:One more if you don't mind that I've been wondering about. I'd be returning because it would be familiar to me, not because it was an excellent place to visit. I might want to see how you'd changed over a span of a few years. |
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2009 16:55 |
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sclark13 posted:Alright space traveler. Answer me this. What did you observe outside of your space ship as you traveled at speeds faster than light? Very little, as going outside a spaceship that's travelling faster than lightspeed is foolhardy at best. |
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2009 16:56 |
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.haze posted:I think you've already answered this(but really it's 31 pages) - Is there a species that's entirely technological? Or more precisely, was there a species that created an artificial intelligence, the A.I revolted and killed the original species and then the A.I took over as the dominant species on the planet? No. That's silly sci-fi. |
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2009 16:57 |
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Arkanomen posted:How would you describe your architecture and design styles. I know we tend to go with simple curvi-linear and recta-linear shapes. Does your race adhere to what we call euclidean geometry style, or is it a more freeform organic style fitting with your people's lifestyle. Buildings on my planet follow the structure of a wide, usually square base with vertical walls, then the next floor is a lot narrower, the next either narrower but by a lesser degree, or the same size. The base floor is always the biggest. We end up with a kind of pyramid structure, although with a 'curved' side, if you see what I mean. One of the most disorienting things about your buildings is the lack of a wide base. Your buildings look like they've sunk into the ground and had the upper floors paved around. |
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2009 16:59 |
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BBW MAN. LOVE EM posted:Would you say that of the cultures that you have experienced, do those cultures tend to not talk about things that we would find normal but that other cultures (the melrin culture specifically) would find abhorrent or have no response? There are no 'taboo' subjects, if that's what you mean. Everything you could ever talk about is part of living, and to be embarrassed by part of living is a very strange concept. |
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2009 17:06 |
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FateFree posted:Doesn't it bother you to think that you have been effectively killing yourself over and over, and letting someone 'else' take over your life? It almost feels like you are taking the 'life' out of being alive, and merely building complicated machines that once, long ago, resembled a living being. What, exactly, is the problem that I need to deal with? My old self simply stops, painlessly, and I am reborn in exactly the same way. My consciousness has not altered in any tangible way, and for me my life has just continued as normal. It's simply not the original. Yes, it can and has happened, though not in my experience. I understand that it is rather disconcerting to talk to someone who knows and thinks everything you do. |
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2009 17:09 |
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Amish Ninja posted:I know you said you're against wars, weaponry and violence in general, but what do you think of "violent" competitive sports? I suppose I'm thinking of things like boxing and full-contact mixed martial arts matches, if you've seen any of that before. They're violent by nature but not practiced with ill intent. Does your anti-violence stance make all forms of violence unappealing? Honestly, if you people want to beat the crap out of each other in a happy, friendly way it's no skin off my false nose. It would just be considered a complete non-sequitur on Ulath. It's an evolutionary thing. The mind can be and is digitised for some things, but physical age is not the only thing that determines lifespan. After a few hundred years, your very consciousness itself begins to become old and slow, and after a longer while you either get bored of it and let yourself die, or it loses the ability to support a body. |
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2009 17:23 |
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Amish Ninja posted:This is something I can't wrap my head around. I don't believe in a soul, God, or any of that stuff, but the idea that my consciousness can be ended, and then made to exist in another vessel as a copy is very strange. From your perspective, is it like falling asleep and then waking? Nothing so drastic. It's like blinking and finding yourself in another spot with a new body. |
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2009 17:24 |
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wickedblue23 posted:Sorry if this has been asked already, but I don't remember seeing it: It has been answered, and to ask if they are illegal shows that you've understood almost nothing. |
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2009 17:25 |
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FateFree posted:It seems to me that one might be able to cheat this aging process by maybe reverting back to an earlier state of consciousness over, and over, and over, if one were so inclined. No. That would be a completely different you. To reset yourself like that, you would necessarily forget everything you'd learned. It would be far closer to killing yourself than a body transfer. Alright, I'm going to head to bed, but today I'm leaving the thread open for whatever you want to discuss. I'm sorry these windows of question-answering have gotten shorter and shorter, but it takes longer than you might think to do it and is rather tiring for some reason. I'll see you guys tomorrow, hopefully with a copy of Spore and a history lesson. However, I think we're fast reaching the point where you guys are just repeating questions, so I'm not sure where this thread is headed over the next few days. Mr. Boone fucked around with this message at Apr 20, 2009 around 17:32 |
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2009 17:29 |
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Alright, I'm no longer interested in defending accusations of blandness, especially since they're all by the same three or four people. If you can't find the interesting part of doing whatever you want, maybe there's no hope. Just a thought.Kristofff posted:I know this is a lot to read but it pretty much shows that you and your species died out long ago, for the most part, and the only actual living among you are the new born/untransferred beings. The rest of you are simply recent A.I. copies and more likely you are descendant A.I. copies because some brain trust who ran things in your world's history who decided the world would be a better place if they were to create a peaceful "image" to put into either the existing populace's brains or into all new ones and simply sterilized all the naturally occurring ones so that only the new acceptable ones would procreate. No, there wasn't, but that's a hell of a conspiracy theory. How do you even manage to go outside with paranoia like that? Wow. The Ninth Layer posted:I know you mentioned that you're not big into art, but how do we compare with other Stage III civilizations in terms of art, cool ideas and music, etc.? Also is there any music you've heard here that you especially like? I have no real way of comparing, but most of your stuff is a little high-pitched for me, like I said. Someone told me about 'sub-bass' by email and I think I may look into it. papermastermind posted:Do you think psychadelics are nature's aid in progressing us towards your level of society? To boil a very long post into one answer, no, I don't. Psychedelics are what they are, they don't have an agenda. wid posted:Mr. Boone, I find it a bit unfair for you to say we need to resolve our violence tendencies and such when everyone else seemed to had to go through that in the first place. Sure, they overcame and yes, that sounds like the way to go. But if you can make a comparison, is our advancement faster or slower than other species in the galaxy? Slower, but not by any significant amount. Oh, come on. That would be spoiling things. Pavlos posted:Na Nu Na Nu Mr Boone Not in the network, nor on any of the planets I know of. General thinking is that selection pressure for water-based creatures precludes them from growing particularly decent manipulators, so they can't use tools. Puppies posted:Mr Boone, I develop fondness for any planet I visit, just as you might develop a fondness for any other country you visit for a while. If you guys blow yourselves up, I'll be disappointed, I think. It won't completely ruin my day. I mean, when I came here I knew you guys were on the brink, and part of the reason I came if because you're so close to the make-or-break point, so if you do all explode it'll be scientifically interesting. glug posted:Mr. Boone, Take a lot of that power back. That's the most realistic start. Stop letting the humans in power make your decisions for you, because they rarely if ever seem to make them in your interest. I was going to answer questions from the last three pages, but most of that is one guy being unable to let go of the point that I'm not in the same body I was born in. I've just been called away again, more question-answering in about 30 minutes. |
| # ¿ Apr 21, 2009 17:50 |
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marshmallard posted:I thought exactly the same - I can believe that his language technology allows him to use colloquialisms and make mistakes like a normal person, by using something like an average of the language on here, but that statement doesn't sound translated. It sounds native. It sounds goon Honestly, it's not difficult to pick up a bunch of different ways of speaking after living here for more than a year. |
| # ¿ Apr 21, 2009 18:12 |
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Bean Fried posted:I'm loving this thread! A few questions, if you're still answering. If five is too many, If you could please just answer the first three/two/one, I'd appreciate it. 1) Why are there so very few people on your planet interested in holidaying in North Korea? 2) It's about average. Most life-supporting planets have more water than land, since everything needs water. There are a few exceptions, like Ulath, where there is less water. What you find on those planets is that large-scale life exists primarily nearer to the coast, with the inner land being untenably dry. 3) Live birth, although the child is a lot smaller than a human neonate. 4) Most civilisations at this point would not have anything near as advanced as in-vitro fertilisation and stem cell research, for example. In most societies, apart from increased emphasis on sterilisation, medicine develops to about the point you guys were at in the 70s, maybe a little earlier, and stays that way until you start focusing more on science after cultural shakeups on your way to Stage IV. 5) No particular reason other than that I knew you guys would be (relatively) near the end of Stage 3 when I got here. |
| # ¿ Apr 21, 2009 18:23 |
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tiemposdelruido posted:Dear Mr. Boone, I really want to know three things: 1. To evoke interest or enjoyment in those who appreciate art, and as an expression of the artist. 2. Following your heart. Curious human expression. Generally one uses one's "head" to find ways to please one's "heart", I suppose. 3. I think "the way we have learned to perceive our reality blinds us from our true potential" is probably one of the smartest things I've heard come out of a human. |
| # ¿ Apr 21, 2009 18:27 |
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lothar_ posted:That particular way of speaking can only be successfully honed by a man-child who relishes sarcastic humor and delivers it in criticism shaped by a certain length of participation in an Internet forum where a mixture of cunning and pettiness reign. If you're not a human goon, then you're an alien goon, which effectively makes you the same as us. Actually I think I picked that particular method of phrasing up from a Meg Ryan movie a while back. |
| # ¿ Apr 21, 2009 18:28 |
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Creamy Goodness posted:I'm very curious about the fungus you talk about. Please tell us more about it, is it a mold, mushroom, etc? How do you cultivate it? What are typical preparations? What is your favorite preparation? Will you curry it when you get back? Fungus is the closest Earth analog I could think of - I seem to have stopped using my [brackets] altogether. There are no tall trees on Ulath, so what you get is a mix of low-to-the-ground wide-leaved shrub-like 'plants', and photosynthetic large-bodied fungus competing for light. It is very easy to cultivate - get rid of the competition and the fungus will grow very easily, as I believe it does on your planet. Then you cut it up as you'd like and sear it and serve it with anything you want - a common example might be the liquid that seeps from a plant that grows on Ulath called ronsite. I may indeed try currying it. I will replicate versions more tailored to melrin biology. Some of your stuff would be toxic to my natural form. |
| # ¿ Apr 21, 2009 18:38 |
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Naked Singularity posted:You said your race was war-like in the past. What possible changes could have taken place since then to make you the peaceful race you are now? Whatever motivations drove you to war must still be there on some level (genetic, etc.). To quote one of your lesser-known authors, all wars are holy wars. |
| # ¿ Apr 21, 2009 18:40 |
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cocaine posted:Does your race masturbate? Sure, though not to a huge extent. I don't think sex is as pleasurable to us as it is to you guys (although I'm just assuming this based on your astonishing predilection with it). |
| # ¿ Apr 21, 2009 18:42 |
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cocaine posted:Describe the masturbation process in extreme detail. Not getting into this for the same reason I didn't tell you about our pornography. Naked Singularity posted:Thank you for answering my first question, but you missed the second (more important) one. It would, and I still struggle to understand why anyone would want to. It would never even occur to a melrin to try and do that - it would be pointless, barbaric, and would quite severely harm other beings. |
| # ¿ Apr 21, 2009 18:50 |
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Mr. Fowl posted:In the interest of interstellar relations, I must know: What is it like to hug a melrin? Is it like hugging a leather couch? Interesting idea. It would be more like hugging a leather couch covered in scapulae. Verbal greeting. Edit: Alright, 1am. You guys generally sleep about now, right? See y'all in the morning. Mr. Boone fucked around with this message at Apr 21, 2009 around 18:57 |
| # ¿ Apr 21, 2009 18:53 |
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Hoo, boy. I guess I have a little explaining to do. I've been promising you guys a history for a while now, and didn't want to re-open this thread until I'd gotten around to doing it. The other problem is that I was quite unmotivated to do so, and didn't get around to it before shooting off travelling again. (Incidentally, to the people who gave me a couch to sleep on, thanks. I knew most of you through email but I'm assuming you're all Something Awful users). I've finally bothered to do it, though, so here we go. I've decided on a going-home date - I'm leaving on July 31st. I've had a nice time here but I have what could be loosely translated as "traveller's sense" that I am coming to the end of my time here. Here's that history. quote:An abbreviated history of Ulath There we are. I'm sure a few other melrins would correct me on the details, but that is as I have learned it. Alright, I'll be here to answer some questions for perhaps an hour. |
| # ¿ May 18, 2009 14:40 |
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The Fourth Horseman posted:What do you know about the old religions? Did they have similar or different values to earthly religions? Most religions generally revolve around an all-powerful figure who will do something very nasty to you if you don't listen to your preacher. The ones that don't get wiped out by the ones that do. |
| # ¿ May 18, 2009 14:56 |
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niethan posted:Why? Well, to put it in the common parlance, because they are godless heathens. |
| # ¿ May 18, 2009 15:01 |
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niethan posted:No, how come do those that believe in a vengeful god always win against those who believe in something else. Because those who don't believe in a vengeful god are invariably less interested in killing in it's name. |
| # ¿ May 18, 2009 15:09 |
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Kristofff posted:What stage in technological advancement were you at when trade was outlawed? And, how far are we from that stage in technological advancement? Abolished, not outlawed. Stage V, you are two stages away. Tias posted:Good to see you active again. How would this tie into belief systems such as buddhism and certain kinds of paganism that generally abstain from worship and focus on bettering the spirit(emphasis mine, exchange with "bettering oneself" if the concept is hard to understand)? I am not sure what you are asking. One betters oneself with experience. |
| # ¿ May 18, 2009 15:18 |
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Tias posted:You say that all religions are about worshipping a vengeful god or your preacher makes you believe something bad will happen. I would explain that by using the word 'most' instead of 'all', which is what I did use. And just because the peaceful religions are tolerated now does not mean that they will always be. |
| # ¿ May 18, 2009 15:24 |
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Morton Haynice posted:Our wars are not all about differing ideologies or religions. Sometimes you get a guy who just wants to take over. Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, Napoleon, Hitler: All dudes who on the surface, represented a certain ideology, but were really just after more personal power. All wars are holy wars. I cannot think of a single war which could not be boiled down to "you are doing things wrong, so we will make you do it our way". |
| # ¿ May 18, 2009 15:28 |
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Kristofff posted:Is there any chance of a catalyst period of technological advance to speed us to the point where your trade was abolished? You know, within my lifetime? I have no idea, but good luck. |
| # ¿ May 18, 2009 15:31 |
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Karo posted:The idea of a lazy slacker alien is something I have to warm up to. Wouldn't you be judged by your kind? I do not mean to offend you but you hardly seem like a poster child of you race. If you are not enjoying something, nobody would particularly blame you for not doing it, as long as it does not come at the expense of somebody else. I don't know why humans perceive melrin culture as being unenthusiastic - we're only unenthusiastic about the things for which we have no interest. |
| # ¿ May 18, 2009 15:49 |
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superjew posted:Do you correspond with your parents or siblings? Do you have cases where a parent or offspring develops a one-sided desire to be with their family? How do you handle such conflicts? No, not since I became self-reliant. In your example, whoever was instigating the situation would be the one expected to resolve it, so the parent would let the offspring go or vice-versa. |
| # ¿ May 18, 2009 16:03 |
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