Saturday, August 6, 2011

Idea? -for a story.

I'm not certain it's been done in the way and style I'm imagining it, but how many short stories have been done in the persona of an alien being analyzing humans, in the same style that humans analyze unknown species of animals?

I haven't read any thing like that personally (not even on 365 Tomorrows, but it may still be on there). The idea just jumped into my brain. A "mad scientist" scene where the scientist endeavors to reveal all the mystery about the unknown life-form in the cell. The scientist does not particularly care for the mental state of the specimen, only the physical, because the scientist does not realize the specimen has mental feelings and mental health that acts upon said specimen.

Imagine an older, grizzled, hard-working scientist who has spent his whole life working on the cure for cancer. He's determined to find it. He has many mice and rats to experiment on, and he keeps them physically healthy because their physical health can greatly alter any results. What if the mice and rats were completely free-thinking, like a human is or like in a Disney cartoon, but the scientist has absolutely no way of cataloging these mental states of mind. They are simply "understood" to not exist in the specimens. Now, instead of mice and rats, put regular human beings in that category. The scientist is still a scientist, but he does not look, think, speak, or understand anything like or about the specimen except for what he can physically measure and chart. The specimen's shouts and yells are just squeaking. He (the scientist) does not see crying, just watery eyes that are probably caused by the air being too dry, or a common irritant. He doesn't see humans caring for each other out of love, he sees pack mentality as an evolutionary measure to overcome the odds of nature, or specific mating rituals that help ensure the survival of their young. ... Kinda sounds like hell, don't it. I want to write this from the perspective of the "alien" scientist, I just don't want to be cryptomnesic and write something that's already been done.

Inspiration, you cruel unoriginal bitch.