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| In My Thoughts you will find
articles about various things that either are of
interest to me, or that bother me. You'll find
issues related to writing, movies, TV, Music or
science fact/fiction. What you won't find is
discussions on politics or religion. I don't like
it when people try to convert me on either of
these beliefs, and I will do you the courtesy of
not imposing my views on you. If you'd like to
send me any comments on issues I discuss, or
suggest ideas for things I could write about, use
the link at the bottom to send me an e-mail. |
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| Latest Post (August, 2014) |
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| Why People Like to Visit the Worlds of
Fiction |
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A new person showed up to join my local
writers' group in June. He surprised me when he
posed the question on why anyone would even be
interested in reading fiction. It wasn't real,
after all. As he told us more about himself and
what he wanted to write, it became apparent why he
felt this way. The new writer grew up in an
abusive home, forced to work extremely long and
hard hours from a very young age. In essence, he
had no real childhood. Hard work was all he ever
knew.
His question about why people wanted to, as he put
it, 'escape reality' to read fiction stayed with
me. It actually reminded me a little of my
father. While my dad does enjoy fiction on the TV
and movie screen, he seems to only read
non-fiction. Also, he hates anything in the
science fiction or fantasy realm because he seems
to have an inability to accept things that are not
real at the present time. I'm sure, at the time
he was a single young man, he would have hated the
movie Apollo 13 since man hadn't actually been to
the moon back then.
Between my father's attitudes, and the new writer,
the question of why most of us enjoy fiction
really stuck in my mind. At the time, I was
rereading the Earth's
Children series by Jean M. Auel.
The over-all story arc of the main character in
these novels seemed to scream out an answer to the
question. For those who don't know these books,
they take place during Earth's ice age. The first
novel, Clan of the Cave Bear,
followed Ayla, a young Cro-Magnon (early human)
girl who lost her family and tribe during an
earthquake. She is found by a group of
Neanderthal, or the Clan as they call themselves,
and is raised by them. Ayla is forced to adapt to
the sometimes harsh alien culture of the Clan in
order to survive as one of them. The second book
in the series and the rest that followed,
continued Ayla's story as she is forced out of the
Clan, must survive on her own while she seeks out
her own people, the Cro-Magnon. The author, Jean
M. Auel, spent years of her life heavily
researching these novels and did an excellent job
bring both species to life.
How the question about enjoying fiction ties in to
these novels is answered through the differences
in the Clan and early humans. The Neanderthal way
of thinking was based on instinctual memories.
From birth, their brains stored large sums of
knowledge they needed to survive. They had
evolved past learning new things, only having to
be reminded of things learned long ago by ancient
ancestors. The Cro-Magnon, on the other hand, had
a completely different brain structure. They
lacked the instinctual memories, but made up for
it in their remarkable ability to learn new
things, and to have the creative abilities to
apply knowledge gained in new ways.
The Clan, day in and day out, spent all their time
in activities required to survive. Early humans,
on the other hand, developed tools and methods
that left extra time for them to pursue artistic
endeavors. And here lies the root of why people
immerse themselves in fiction. The desire that
caused ancient man to paint on cave walls and to
carve wood and bone into figures is the same
desire that enabled early humans to move from
hunting with spears to creating spear throwers.
Human creativity. The ability to ask the ever
important question, What if? is the
fundamental key to our survival in the past,
present and future.
Now, it is impossible for all humans to be
creative. A larger percentage of people, however,
still take great pleasure in the results of those
who do create. Music, art, drama, all inspire
many, many people, to varying degrees. Even
technological, scientific and mathematical
creativity is appreciated by many. It is in our
very nature to enjoy and crave creativity because
it really is an important survival trait.
The new writer I mentioned above, who had his
childhood ripped from him, also had his youthful
imagination stomped away at the same time. He was
forced to live a life similar to the Neanderthal,
a day to day struggle for mere survival. Because
of this, and other issues not discussed, he finds
it incomprehensible that anyone could enjoy
immersing themselves in stories that have never
happened. He has lost his ability to revel at the
shear question of 'What if?' However, he
has not completely lost his appreciation for
creativity. He finds it in his desire to write
his own story, as well as in the way he applies
himself to the construction work he has done.
As for me, I've always embraced my creative side.
If I'm not writing, I'm working on computer
animation modeling or web page design. I'm also
enjoying the creative endeavors of others in
music, art, and drama. And I can't help but
notice we live in a society that severely
undervalues the work of the creative. Despite
this, their work is all around us, waiting to be
enjoyed. Reading
fiction, in any form, is not escaping reality, but
opening ones mind to limitless possibilities. |
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| Tom A. Wright |
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| Copyright © 2012 Tom
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