How to Collaborate with other Species: A Beginners Compendium By Michael Godwin Sam McKye (05/09/06 14:38:05)
Definitions: You are the instigator, your target species the collaborator.
First, assess you and your collaborators assets.
Visual if both parties can see
Auditory if everyone can hear
Tactile if nerve ending > 2
Conceptual if abstract thought is sufficiently developed
A closer inspection of assets reveals many steps to consider for collaboratory possibilities or pitfalls.
Visual
* Can both parties perceive colors, if so which ones?
* How about brightness?
* Consider infra and ultravision.
Auditory
* Physical constraints of amplitude and wavelength?
* Are you hearing all the sounds you are producing, is your collaborator responding to the sounds you think they are responding to.
* Consider patterns and rhythm, silence as well as sound. Can you add to or complement your collaborator's contribution?
* Does each party have a language? Is it possible to discover / formulate a common language?
Tactile
* Touch, and all its permutations.
* Be sensitive to interspecies thresholds and tolerances loud can be painful.
Conceptual
* While humans have a tendency to conceptualize their artistic collaborations, it should be known that other species have progressed beyond such plebeian pursuits.
Once the potential sensory zones have been determined, how to produce a unique collaboration?
* Consider an intermediary if there is little or no overlap in your shared sensory zones. This could be another organism or perhaps some sort of tool analog or digital.
* Consider that communication from one party may be interpreted by the other party in a completely different sensory sphere. For example, ultrasound may feel (tactile) to a recipient, while the instigator is utilizing auditory communication.
* Be particularly aware that interpretation of one species signal may be different than the intended meaning.
* Be aware of preferred spheres of communication. Some like tactile, some like auditory research into intraspecies dynamics can be helpful for further understanding.
Next step is to go wild. Attempt interaction between collaborator and instigator. Play it safe while fangs, claws, spines, tentacles, neuro-toxins, bad breath, lawyers, razor-sharp talons, beaks, severe constriction, plagues, and venoms don't kill, upset organisms may. [Write Comment]