[stylist] Writing outside our experience

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

I agree with Chris K here. I think we have always possessed some form of
consciousness. The earliest archeological findings would suggest early
humans had some level of consciousness, as Donna has pointed out.

I also like what Chris K says about writing and how as the author, he
has the ability to make you believe what he writes. For example, Dan
Brown has written a series with Dr. Robert Langdon as the main
character, Angels and Demons and The DaVincci Code. He presents all this
so-called historical facts and many, many people have bought it. I'm not
saying everything has been fabricated or exaggerated, but much of his
information is circumspect and based on opinions and theories and not
fact. But like I said, so many read his books as though he were dealing
with hard, proven facts. Does this make it wrong? If it's titled as
fiction, who cares? If people want to believe information presented in
what is admittedly called fiction, well... Is it really something we
shouldn't publish or read? I guess it depends on your perspective.

This might not make sense as I'm running on two hours of sleep. Baby
teething so...

Bridgit
Message: 8
Date: Sun, 17 Mar 2013 21:17:38 -0400
From: "Chris Kuell" <ckuell at comcast.net>
To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [stylist] writing outside our experience
Message-ID: <FE338027D86A4A018D914B52B2C57D9D at ChrisPC>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
	reply-type=original

Chris,

I haven't heard of that book, and probably wouldn't read it unless like
you,
I was using it as research for a book. Are his arguments persuasive? I
guess
I've always imagined that humans have always had a conscience, if a
little
underdeveloped in politicians and corporate giants. Smile.

Even in early humans, I imagine them sort of like animals of today, with
their survival instinct being the strongest emotional control they had.
And
yet, animals have consciousness to varying degrees. Any cat or dog owner
will tell you that, and there is plenty of documented conscious behavior
in
the animal kingdom. Elephants mourning for their dead; whales crying out
for
a lost baby; species raising the young of other species.

I guess I'd recommend you absorb what you can, and just write. In this
latest discussion, I can't say it's something I struggle with as a
fiction
writer. If I can make you believe it, it's true. Or, true enough.

chris