Planet X and the Subject of Beauty
In looking for something to post today, I came across a video of philosopher (among many other things) Denis Dutton speaking at a TED conference last year. The subject was beauty and how our ability to discerne it evolved along with us.
That got me to thinking about Planet X and its inhabitants. We’ve only had Ellie scratch the surface as to what Jeff and Muffin might appreciate. Jeff seems to value food at least, and apparently so do his “people” the Quadrapodes, as they’ve seen fit to incorporate their love of the culinary into their version of the constellations (though we can assume Muffin’s culture recognizes the same star patterns). Muffin, so far as we can tell, values being a hermit, but how this manifests itself in the Marf culture is yet to be seen. The only other items pertaining to their respective cultures that we’ve glimpsed are their houses and clothing, but these singular items tell us little of their cultures as a whole.
The one thing that popular sci-fi like Star Trek and Star Wars have led us Earthlings to believe is that aliens are a lot like us (except for wrinkled rubber appliances glued to their foreheads). I’d hope that despite a somewhat familiar, even cuddly appearance, we will expect the unexpected when it comes to our Planet X friends and their way of life. Who knew that Jeff tasted with his skin, and what effect does that have on his worldview? How might that manifest itself in Planet X popular culture if there is one? As Grand Admiral Thrawn pointed out (semi-obscure Star Wars reference there) that to understand a culture’s art is to understand that culture.
Here’s that video of Denis Dutton. It’s only 15 minutes long, so give it a watch. I like the whiteboard animation that makes an already interesting talk even more accessable. I think I’ve seen him before, but this is the first I took the time to actually find out more about him. Unfortunately he died last year, but at least he left us some interesting ideas to ponder.
I’m excited to hear more info on these colonies and society. I’d love to see what cities exsist on such a planet and how advanced their tech would be. I’m not sure how much of that is needed in a strip like Ellie but it’s fun to think about. Also Ted talks are awesome. Have you seen the one by Mike Rowe? Great stuff in that one.
Dirty Jobs Mike Rowe? The one about the sheep? Yeesh! Wouldn’t want that job!
We’ve speculated that there must be other “Jeffs” and “Muffins”, but what their societies are like will remain a mystery until Ellie discovers them. But I imagine a whole city full of quadrapodes would annoy Muffin to no end.
I always assumed that Muffin moved to the oasis to get as far away from the other Xians as he could, and Jeff moved there to annoy Muffin. Ellie just had the good fortune to land near the oasis where she could have adventures with interesting “people” and observe the beauty of Xian nature, rather than landing in the middle of an Xian community where she would be stuck observing the Xian equivalent of tax accountants and office clerks. (I think Marfs would make good tax accountants, assuming Muffin is typical. For all we know, most Quadrapodes are stuffy and antisocial and most Marfs are fun-loving and friendly.)
I think you switched your Marfs and your Quadrapodes in that last sentence, Artie. But wouldn’t be funny if Jeff’s people were more like Muffin and Muffin’s were more like Jeff?
The switch was intentional – that’s what I meant – what if both Muffin and Jeff were oddballs among their own species. Maybe that’s why they moved to the oasis.