A Quick Thought

[browngirl]

papersky has written eloquently on this subject before, but I can't find her entries, so I'll just babble myself.



I have a small blue marble with the continents etched on it, a globe of the world less than an inch across. Looking at it the other day, and thinking about my story, I thought about how if it's not broken that little glass globe could be around in an hundred years. Two hundred. Who knows how long? (An expert in the properties of glass, that's who.)

I brought it to my coworker's daughter to show her, and she showed me where Madagascar was on it and told me that vanilla comes from there, and I reflected on the ability of objects to speak to sentient minds about other sentient minds, to transmit communication. Because of that bauble I know that she's learning geography and she, I hope, finds me a bit more trustworthy. Maybe, in the future, just as polished bits of stone tell us about the technology, dress, and even aspirations of people from the past, this little globe will tell some other sentient mind about the technology, the art, even the aspirations of people from here and now.

Maybe.

*ponders*

Comments

[nellorat.livejournal.com]

One thing that fascinates me on this topic is the combination of stories that objects hold, what I might call closed vs. open stories. Take the teapot whose head I use for this icon. Future civilizations could tell that our culture liked anthropomorphic animals, that we probably sentimentalized cats, that the item is probably more decorative than useful (it's designed so the hot tea would flow through the handle!), that its shape is influenced by our concepts of a teapottish shape (round, bottom heavy)-- But they could probably never know that her name is Molly Meow, that in our imagination she is partnered to a Chia-cat named Ms. Chia, that we've built a whole personality for her that includes devoted love, lesbian pride, and size acceptance. I love this combination of open and closed stories that items have, this combination of information and mystery.

[ailbhe]

"Today I am
a small, blue thing
like a marble
or an eye"

Now I will always think of your world when I listen to this song.

[bluepapercup]

I brought it to my coworker's daughter to show her, and she showed me where Madagascar was on it and told me that vanilla comes from there

that was gorgeous. thank you.

[badgerthorazine.livejournal.com]

Wow! That's just plain beautiful. :-) Thanks.