IDEOLOGUES, ONE AND ALL

I’m trying to create a detailed character profile for someone in a future book at the moment and it’s something that I’ve done with everyone in my books. Making sure that I know who they are means that I can develop a consistency when I’m in the trenches of writing.

One of the things that I kept picking out that was always appearing in my planning was the idea beyond what the characters looked like and more around what they liked or disliked, what they believed in. It was never about finding the most minute detail to include, like their favourite fictional detective or if they thought the ball had REALLY crossed the line during the 1966 World Cup, it was there to help me have an idea of who they were at the very core of themselves.

In my page of information from The Circle of Fire where I made notes about one of the more central characters, I included details about their family, what was it that drove them to act the way they did? If they agree with one idea, does that follow that they must agree with the next five of that kind? It just gave me a fuller and more rounded picture of who I was writing.

Now the thing that came along with each character, nestled beside all of the above, was the line that they wouldn’t cross or the belief they had that was unshakable, and it’s that idea that made me stop and think.

Do we all have that same nugget of who we are that will just never move and we’d never entertain anything which could threaten it?

Politics is an interesting place to begin considering such an idea so let’s dive in.

Are you a red voter or blue?

Brexit or Remain?

Personally, this is an area where I’d consider myself as being the ‘floater’. I’ve voted across different parties, candidates and propositions over the years and I’ve tried to at least give everyone a chance to make their point. I’ve certainly never just remained loyal to one regardless, yet there are so many people in the world who just ignore any facts that might get in the way of what they might ‘feel’.

How do you feel about vaccines? Big Pharma?

What about QAnon?

Do you trust the BBC?

Is the Earth flat?

Now I accept that these are at the more extreme end of the continuum but we’ve all met someone who had an unshakeable belief in, if not something from above then something else, a topic which they just know about.

Ask anyone about any particular global event, wars and the like, and you’ll likely hear some very weird thoughts. The issue comes, as it would from the above collection of ideas, when that person does everything in their power to spread their viewpoint far and wide.

Previously, the world wasn’t anywhere near as connected as we are today but now, someone shouting their particular thought can pick up adherents at a remarkable rate to spread like wild fire. In no time at all, we can have that idea oozing around the planet regardless of the truth.

We all have opinions on everything and we all share and discuss stuff with others but we’re all vulnerable to the effects of something which sounds all too plausible but which is actually garbage. Every one of us has it us to be an ideologue about any given topic so it really falls to each and every one of us to be sure we’re saying the right things but at the barest, we should be asking ‘Are you sure?’

Stay safe all.

Also, the Moon isn’t real, and anyone who tells you different is clearly trying to hide something!

A SPRINKLE OF MAGIC

I enjoy science.

I enjoy learning facts about the universe, the solar system, the planet, that we all inhabit and the scientific method is a hugely powerful tool to the exploration of anything and everything.

We all reap the rewards of the powers of science every day and at the moment, as we sail the choppy waters of the global pandemic, the power of science is clear for all to see. Mobile phones, internet, TV’s, bridges, roads, and billions of other things that we all take for granted on a daily basis have allowed us to live longer and more comfortable lives than each generation before us.

This doesn’t apply for everyone all over the planet as there’s still huge wealth inequality everywhere but the scientific method is how we as a species were able to advance ourselves as we first picked up tools and then perfect them to get the best results of their use.

So why do we enjoy the lands of make believe of stories which go far beyond the realms of reality?

Early stories were there as a way for people to make sense of the world that surrounded them. Thunder was a monstrously immense force that came from the sky and it’s easy to see that describing it as the acts or powers of a God or Gods would be easily assumed due to our ignorance. That greater power than us that existed in the realm that we couldn’t access.

Over time, the scientific method was applied as humans attempted to communicate and curry favour with the powers that be, as offerings of different kinds were presented for a particular outcome. If the offering didn’t bring the desired result, a different offering would be put forward. Rain dances, prayer, animal or human sacrifice, are all attempts to affect our environment and as we still do, if we get a positive outcome from a particular action or gift, we keep doing it to repeat the outcome. We’ve all encountered at some point, the wonderful phrase of “I don’t know what I did but it worked”, when someone’s been attempting to fix something.

As we’ve advanced as a species, our understanding of the natural world all around us has grown and the space where our earlier ideas existed is pushed aside as a newer and better idea takes its place. This drive for improved understanding and better ideas comes from the scientific method being applied as we test thoughts, make amendments to our hypothesis and constantly evaluate the results. Without that desire to constantly understand and improve, well, think how mobile phones have evolved over the last thirty-odd years. They used to be a receiver attached to a power pack the size of a car battery!

But.

We all cling to just a small spark in our minds which longs for the fantastical and the unreal to actually be out there.

I’m an author of books dealing with Dragons and other magical creatures existing in the real world where magic is real and there’s so much more going on than we actually understand but despite my fondness for such tales, I’m under no illusion that these things are real.

Stories are a way for the human race to continue that scientific method, testing ideas, but also to explore just who we all are as a species. We need to maintain an ordered exploration of reality but that should never mean that we utterly expunge the fantastical from our lives, we need that imagination to flavour exactly how we keep the testing moving.

Stay safe everyone and when you have the chance to get the vaccine, take it, the scientific method has done the business and will always continue.