04-22-2017, 12:35 PM
'Elements' is such a deliciously vague word. Taking something like this into consideration need not even adhere to 'normal' rules of elemental tables at all.
What do we consider an Element, after all? Is it the core identifying characteristic of something? There is a phrase that someone can be 'in their element.' Does this infer that people inherently have elements as well? Consider a mechanic in the Endless Dunes, capable of fixing anything. Dell Conagher comes to mind.
Certainly his Element could be said to be Technology, Machinery, etc. And yet, he is drawn to the Dunes because that is more like his home. Does this mean that, despite being perfectly comfortable in this environment, Dell is 'out of his element'?
Another curiosity of this concept is that elements provide power, and can be drawn upon. I suppose some of these are intuitive enough. Electricity powers a home. Water powers a mill. Wind powers a sailboat. Earth powers a furnace. Likewise, elements can harm things, if the power drawn from them is utilized properly.
But can it be said that an element is the simplest component of a given subject? Certainly, it is difficult to be any more 'basic' than 'Earth', per se, but if I asked you what held the Earth itself together, what could be said? Molecular bonds? Inertia? Gravity? The strong and weak nuclear forces? That would seem to indicate that THESE fundamental forces of the universe are the most basic building blocks and therefore Elements, but calling the as such does not sit well upon the intellectual pallete.
What of the actual Elements? Xenon and Carbon are by literal definition, elements. Discreet atomic structures that can only be reduced into simpler atomic structures. This is not a satisfactory answer, however, as something cannot be said to be solely of the carbon element any more than it could be said to exist of the gravity element. Both suggestions would produce an uninteresting (perhaps) of inanimate subject matter that is hardly captivating in a literary capacity.
So, we are forced to return to our initial assertion: in this context an 'element' should describe the core characteristic of a given Verse. I am averse to assigning such meager concepts as 'fire' to a place as rich as the Steppes, or 'Technology' to the myriad layers of Coruscant.
I SHALL PONDER THIS DEEPLY.
YOU SHALL HAVE YOUR ANSWERS.
What do we consider an Element, after all? Is it the core identifying characteristic of something? There is a phrase that someone can be 'in their element.' Does this infer that people inherently have elements as well? Consider a mechanic in the Endless Dunes, capable of fixing anything. Dell Conagher comes to mind.
Certainly his Element could be said to be Technology, Machinery, etc. And yet, he is drawn to the Dunes because that is more like his home. Does this mean that, despite being perfectly comfortable in this environment, Dell is 'out of his element'?
Another curiosity of this concept is that elements provide power, and can be drawn upon. I suppose some of these are intuitive enough. Electricity powers a home. Water powers a mill. Wind powers a sailboat. Earth powers a furnace. Likewise, elements can harm things, if the power drawn from them is utilized properly.
But can it be said that an element is the simplest component of a given subject? Certainly, it is difficult to be any more 'basic' than 'Earth', per se, but if I asked you what held the Earth itself together, what could be said? Molecular bonds? Inertia? Gravity? The strong and weak nuclear forces? That would seem to indicate that THESE fundamental forces of the universe are the most basic building blocks and therefore Elements, but calling the as such does not sit well upon the intellectual pallete.
What of the actual Elements? Xenon and Carbon are by literal definition, elements. Discreet atomic structures that can only be reduced into simpler atomic structures. This is not a satisfactory answer, however, as something cannot be said to be solely of the carbon element any more than it could be said to exist of the gravity element. Both suggestions would produce an uninteresting (perhaps) of inanimate subject matter that is hardly captivating in a literary capacity.
So, we are forced to return to our initial assertion: in this context an 'element' should describe the core characteristic of a given Verse. I am averse to assigning such meager concepts as 'fire' to a place as rich as the Steppes, or 'Technology' to the myriad layers of Coruscant.
I SHALL PONDER THIS DEEPLY.
YOU SHALL HAVE YOUR ANSWERS.
And, we dream of home I dream of life out of here Their dreams are small My dreams don't know fear I got my heart full of hope I will change everything No matter what I'm told How impossible it seems We did it before And we'll do it again We're indestructible Even when we're tired And we've been here before Just you and I
Don't try to rescue me I don't need to be rescued
Don't try to rescue me I don't need to be rescued