Supposing my WIP involves an artifact through which people may view images from the distant past (I mean very distant, like 3/4 thousand years into the past). How likely is it that no-one would realise what they are seeing?
Posted by Robyn_Hood (Member # 2083) on :
Depending on the images and on the artifact, the person might not have a clue. A lot would also depend on the person's expectations.
For example, if you pick up an old artifact and believe it has mystical powers, then you will expect something mystical to happen. If you don't believe it has any super-natural properties, then you would try to find a logical reason for whatever occurs.
Perhaps an old looking glass allows you to view things from the past. If you didn't know that's what is happening, you might think you were hallucinating; someone is playing a trick on you; or that it is some sort of t.v. type device that is supposed to look old, but is really a piece of modern technology.
Posted by Silver3 (Member # 2174) on :
It is known that it is a magical artifact and that it has "mystical" powers. What is not known is what it shows.
Posted by J (Member # 2197) on :
I like Robyn's point.
There are a lot of cultures from that the distant past about which we know next to nothing.
You could even do near pre-human humanoid (missing link type) societies. They would have tools and language and customs and rituals everything, but no one would have ever heard the language before or seen those customs or patterns of social interaction before.
[This message has been edited by J (edited December 03, 2004).]
Posted by EricJamesStone (Member # 1681) on :
Does it show the distant past in the same location it is in the present (accounting for the Earth's rotation and movement through space)? Or does it show the past in a particular location (such as a particular temple)? Or does it show what it "saw" at some point, like an ancient camcorder?
If the artifact shows humans, I would be fairly certain it was showing something on Earth. If the humans looked technologically primitive but civilized (i.e., they had cities) then I would assume it was showing the past. If the humans were hunter-gatherers, I might believe it showed some remote tribe in the present, but would also consider the possibility it was showing the past.
Posted by EricJamesStone (Member # 1681) on :
In other words, unless your viewers were collectively dumber than me, it is quite likely they would have good idea of what they were seeing, if it involved humans.
If it did not involve humans, it might be more difficult.
Posted by Robyn_Hood (Member # 2083) on :
Even if they know that it has magical properties, it might not be evident what you are looking at. Even if you figured out that you were watching something that actually happened, you might not know the POV, which could make recognising the source difficult.
You might think you were watching a story unfold, that the relic is some sort of magical story telling device.
You might only be seeing into someone's dreams. You wouldn't know for sure whether the things were real or not.
If there was no sound, it would be even more difficult to determine what you were seeing. Especially if you are only seeing something through the eyes of someone else. You might see life on a rural farm at some point in the past, but you would not know the exact century or even year. The more you watch, the more you might be able to guess at until you finally see a major event that you actually recognise (i.e. The horse at Troy, The assassination of Julius Caesar...)
How the artifact shows the past is just as important as what is showing, like EJS said. Also, the level of education or even the age of the person using the artifact. A young person might be more open to a fantastical explaination, where an adult might be more likely to dismiss something inexplicable.
Posted by Silver3 (Member # 2174) on :
Thanks for all the answer. Eric, I'm afraid you're going to end up right. Maybe I should clarify: the artefact in question is a mirror found by the main character at one point in the story. It doesn't reflect anything, just shows a series of images that she doesn't recognise. I wanted her to assume that it showed an alien land, rather than the now-mythical past of her own city. I don't think it's going to work...
Posted by Beth (Member # 2192) on :
Well, maybe there's something about the circumstances that makes her believe that it's showing her an alien culture. Maybe she buys it at the Alien Expo. Maybe she steals it from someone who has spent a lot of time with aliens. Maybe there's a cryptic note on it that says "Dude, I saw the aliens again! We need to do something before they come through the mirror and - " but the rest is obscured by a blood stain.
OK so I am being deliberately cheesey because that entertains me - but if the object itself does not lead her to believe it's aliens, the context surrounding her introduction to the object could.
Posted by Robyn_Hood (Member # 2083) on :
Human myths are such that we don't put a lot of stock in the accurracy of them. For example, how many people really believe in Elves, Leprechauns, Faeries, Centaurs, etc. If she saw people such as these, she might well assume that they couldn't possibly be from Earth, even if there were humans around as well. She might think it was an alternate dimension or another planet or just a magical movie device.
Beth is correct that the context of the finding of the mirror is important.
Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :
What exactly does she see?
You say "images from the distant past (like 750 or 3-4 thousand years)" (just wanted to nit you on that ). But that doesn't mean anything to us, since we do not come from a present in which there are magical mirrors to show us the now mythical past of 3-4 thousand (or perhaps 750) years ago.
Posted by Silver3 (Member # 2174) on :
It's not set in our universe. The main place where the story happens is a city, and the main character sees in the mirror images of what she thinks is another city, with buildings that are radically different, people she thinks are semi-gods...The city was founded several thousand years ago, but was destroyed and re-built several times, and few records subsist.
[This message has been edited by Silver3 (edited December 05, 2004).]
Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :
In other words, it is a setting where the present knowledge of the past is very limited and belongs more to the realm of myth than of history.
Posted by wbriggs (Member # 2267) on :
She might think it's an alien land if the ancient city looks sufficiently alien. Maybe 3000 years ago, her ancestors were elsewhere, and the people living there looked different. Maybe the buildings and tools are radically different. If the climate changed, this might also throw her off. Or all 3! I think it's possible. The vegetation would probably be similar, unless climate change was significant.
). But that doesn't mean anything to us, since we do not come from a present in which there are magical mirrors to show us the now mythical past of 3-4 thousand (or perhaps 750) years ago.