PereGaea

Laslo Godel

11: ARTIFACTS

Up until now we have assumed that all the physical components Dynisms have evolved as a part of their survival have been integral parts of their bodies. But this, as we'll now see, need not be the case. Let's imagine that a Group of Dynisms finds itself, perhaps through successive expulsions, in Arctic Tundra-like territory on the fringes of PereGaea's Habitable Zone. We will also assume that these Dynisms are somewhat more primitive than those we have just seen. This is because many of the capabilities we will now look at may have in fact begun to evolve way back when Dynisms were purely ROM-driven, perhaps even before they acquired the ability to Decide.

The first of these capabilities arises through the acquisition of a Negative Object Map that causes them to Identify Hollows in the Ground of a particular size and shape as places to occupy when not feeding. While far less effective than Caves would be, these will at least reduce their chances of being seen from a distance by Predators. Adults may also acquire the ability to protect their Young from Weather in the same fashion as terrestrial birds do.

 

These Dynisms now go on to take the next major evolutionary step on PereGaea: that of creating their own Hollows in the ground. When an individual is ready to reproduce, this invokes a set of Rules which causes it to seek out soft ground. Finding it then triggers a digging Action. As it digs, the Dynism periodically compares its work to the same Template for a Hollow that it inherited from its predecessors. As soon as it reaches the same size and shape, the Dynism Identifies it as a Refuge and settles in accordingly.

 

The digging Action clearly needs to be vigorous enough to fling the removed ground material sufficiently far away not to fall back in again. Slightly more advanced Dynisms will rotate themselves by a small amount periodically so that this material piles up into a ring surrounding the hollow. Creating this Hollow is therefore not only much quicker since it is built at the same time as it is dug, but it can be dug on ground with thinner layers of Topsoil. These Dynisms then gain the ascendancy.

Eventually the Hollow-digging Dynisms will in their turn be displaced by others that build their Hollows in an entirely different way. The Targeting Reflexes, as we have already seen, enable a Dynism to place a pincer or foot within a particular part of its Model Map in order to step onto some object. This capability now extends to allow a Dynism to grasp a small object and place it in another part of its Model Map. This enables it to transfer food items to its mouth with its pincers and, just as important, toss inedible portions back into the environment.

Eventually the Dynism becomes capable of picking and placing objects into specific positions and orientations relative to each other rather than to itself. A mutation causes Dynisms to evolve a set of Rules that cause them to move randomly selected objects into randomly selected positions at randomly selected intervals during their free time. Let's assume they are moving Stones. These will require some skill to pick up; we will assume this is gained through practice during Play when young.

Initially, like many of their capabilities, it is quite useless when it first appears. Eventually however they evolve a whole new set of Maps. These are initially identical to its existing Model, Tactical and Strategic Maps, but are now externalised so that they can be centered on an object in front of the Dynism rather than the Dynism itself. These Maps then allow them to place Objects into ordered assemblages using their new pick-and-place capability. The `Tactical Map' for instance becomes arithmetic rater than logarithmic, and somewhat smaller.

Eventually however one such arrangement does proves useful: let's assume this consists of a ring of Stones. Like the one dug out of Topsoil, it too comes to serve as a Refuge.

Those Dynisms which replace their Pincers with `Hands' and acquire the ability to walk on their hind legs for sustained periods will gain an additional advantage. Their externalised Tactical Maps will allow them to develop Rules that enable them to bring Stones over longer distances to build their Refuges.

Let us now suppose this Group of Dynisms eventually splits to produce another that evolves Artifact Maps for Refuges built out of very different materials. We will also imagine that PereGaea's brief Arctic Spring causes its Tundra to burst into Flower from horizon to horizon. These Flowers are however overwhelmingly dominated by a very tall species like this one. During the dry Arctic Summer their heads decay and their Stems break off at ground level; the Tundra then becomes strewn with `Straw'.

The Artifact Production Procedure the new Group of Dynisms begins to evolve initially causes them, near the end of every Summer, to assemble simple frames like this from the Straw. Again, their Targeting Reflexes will require Practice to enable them to pick up long, thin albeit light items without breaking them or allowing them to slip from their grasp.

The bending of Straws - or indeed the reshaping of any object - is essentially pick-and-place Procedures applied to portions of objects rather than entire objects. The Static Reflexes of the limbs that do the actual bending, perhaps a pincer plus a foot, `compensate' for the object's resistance just as they do with gravitation or any other force that impedes the movement of objects through space.

The final result also depends on which portions of an object are grasped. If the Straw is held at two points close to its center, it will fold at a permanent angle. If the two grasp points are further apart, it may merely bend in an impermanent arc. For this to be of any use, the Dynism may need to simultaneously place the Straw in its final position.

The Dynism may for instance break the Stem of a Flower of at the Ground before it has decayed, remove the Flower Head, then break or even bite off a portion to shorten it to some predetermined length. Since it can now build a Nest earlier in the Arctic Spring rather than late Summer, it may gain the advantage of moving its Reproductive Season forward if this is climactically dependent.

 

Let's also suppose that perhaps through Play, an Artifact has developed which consists of nothing more than a Stick poked into a gap between a small pile of Rocks. Before too long the Colony becomes littered with similar such Artifacts. As copies are made of copies, errors will accumulate. Sticks will stick out of all sorts of Holes in all kinds of objects at all sorts of angles.

Let's suppose the Stick component of one of the Artifacts we've just seen ends in a fork. A Young then perhaps accidentally places a Branch, still with its Leaves, into the fork like this. The beginnings of the first potentially useful RAM Artifact on PereGaea now appears.

However, just as the `design' for an Artifact must be discovered accidentally, so must the use for one. If Dynisms have evolved the response to PereGaea's Heavy Rain of making for the nearest Shrub for shelter, the Pyramid with its two branches may be used as one if no Shrubs are visible.

 

They may therefore in effect produce `models' of Artifacts which are much smaller and bear only a superficial resemblance to the originals.

For instance, a Young may perceive a Shelter to have two Branches whereas it really only has one with a junction that has been obscured by Leaves. But since Dynisms may not as yet be able to count ordinally, it can only copy what it sees.

Yet another Dynism making a similar mistake may, if the `ridgepole' re-acquires the fork at one end, lean another branch into this. This addition may well improve the Shelter's structural stability:

The next change may come about through contact with another Group which has developed quite different Artifacts. A Young Dynism in that Culture might for instance have accidentally poked a Stick into soft Ground, then withdrawn it to create its first Artifact consisting of a Negative Object, a Hole. Many of these `useless' holes might then have been copied by other Young, initially in soft Ground but later in a variety of other soft objects. If another Young at some stage left the Stick in the Ground, this too might then have become an Artifact copied by its peers.

 

For instance, a Dynism from the second Culture trying to copy a Shelter from the first may misperceive the Ridgepole as having been poked into the Ground behind the Stone Pyramid. It would then fail to include the pyramid in its Artifact List and build the Artifact as it saw it.

At some point Dynamic Artifacts may develop in a Culture. Dynisms will eventually discover through error and trial that dropping or smashing an object onto another, then quickly removing it again, may actually be more useful than placing it and leaving it. Such `tools' will of course come to aid the process of Artifact building itself.