#sapient

[suppotato123]

So, I’ve noticed that when we design an alien species that’s supposed to be sapient we tend to make them look like us, and I don’t mean in the typical “why in the world does this people on an entirely different planet of a completely different species with its own unique evolutionary history have a very primate/human-like body plan???” Kind of way. I’ve noticed that even when we make sapient species that look nothing like us and have a completely different body plan, we still give them the same or similar facial expressions and body language to ourselves. I find this really interesting because facial expressions are not across the board for all species (or all humans for that matter). Take, for example, the smile, a common friendly greeting among humans that communicates happiness, contentment, humor, and a lack of hostility, etc. However, for most animals, bearing teeth is a sign of unease or even open hostility. Its a threat that, “I have teeth and I’m willing to use them to protect myself!” Or take cats who, to the human eye, look relatively apathetic or sometimes even slightly annoyed when they are actually completely content. As I mentioned before, even human expression is more complicated than a set of particular facial expressions that only communicate one type of emotion.

Take a good look at this picture. What Emotion is this woman feeling?

Did you say pain? Loss? Anger?

If you did you’d be incorrect.

This is a picture of Sofia Kenin after winning a point in the first round of a Women’s singles match.

With the full context, it’s clear that she’s feeling elation, or excitement.

This is in no way meant to criticize artists for making their characters with distinctly human expressions. I understand that, especially in visual media, these sorts of expressions are really important to communicating the character’s inner world with the audience. I just find it super fascinating, and I think that it says something about us as a species that we look for and insert bits of ourselves in everything around us. So, yeah. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

#ted talks #actually adhd #adhd #xenobiology #speculative biology #world building #alien #aliens #sapient #art #philosophy #psychology #interesting #unreality #emotions #body language #communication #alien character #speculative worldbuilding #speculative evolution #speculative anatomy #writers of tumblr #writing #writerscommunity #writblr #nerd #conworld #tv #comic books #movies

[dragonthunders01]

Spectember D27: Revamp the Dinosauroid

The end of the Triassic propitiated finally the dominance of dinosaurs in the next period with the rupture of the large supercontinent Pangea, though in this timeline something pushed further the fragmentation of the continent, and instead of just opening the rift of the Atlantic, it multiplied across Africa and a section of south America, making the Tr/J mass extinction more severe and killing out many more species of dinosaurs, so now the Jurassic was no longer dominated by the animals we have in our timeline, instead we get a strange variety of large dinosaur-like crocodiles, many sauropodomorphs that diverged from the smaller species that survived and never went into the same trend of gigantism as in our earth, many synapsids and so on. At the end of the late Jurassic a lot happened with the new order, within some of the second radiation of sauropodomorphs included varied carnivorous carnosaur-like species, medium size coelurosaur-like omnivores and smaller herbivores that look like silesaurs; from the omnivore lineage that have expanded in varied niches would rise a branch of semiaquatic species that resembled something like a scaly penguin with hands, long finger and claws, with short robust tails, shorter necks and longer heads with narrow keratinized mouths.

They are remarkable as many other animals of this world, through one particular species seems to have started a peculiar evolutionary trend in the last 10 million years.

For the reader, we will refer to this species as the Shagoids, a species originated from 50 cm long aquatic sauropodomorph descendants that wandered on the estuaries of the now more fragmented north Africa/south American region, their ancestors were more of a mix of a cormorant with an otter as unlike the rest of its own family this belongs, as one main feature of these are they still functional forelimbs, these still preserved functional arms and hands that helped them to manipulate their prey of crustaceans and mollusks. Over time these developed strategies to break down their prey shell, including the habit of picking and using stones which choose appropriately for this task. This behavior was passed on to new generations, learned and properly helped them to get food with less effort, the food quality increased brain energy, brain size also increased and so their skills were forged much more adequately.

It was on matter of few million years the Shagoids lineage abandoned their swimming lifestyle and became mostly semi aquatic coastal dwellers, living in the shores and just entering water to hunt their food rather than spending most of their time there. As social animals they formed hierarchy groups, formed by the head of a dominant female around minor males that could either mate with her or just serve them, as well many other younger individuals, matriarchs often had the duty to select and organize hunting and spending of food, as well regulate reproduction and mating between their lower family, as she normally is the eldest of the group, and only another female of the same blood can turn into a elder matriarch of if mated by the son of the elder, this perhaps was the moment they gained proper sentience as how they defined a cultural and social structure.

It seems at the end rathe in a sudden change of sea level in the last 3 million years did the final push on their evolutionary journey, as most of the Shagoid populations got stranded within the main continent with almost no way to find new connections to large water bodies, in other situation their species would have die for starvation, but at that point they were already adapted to feed on other food sources, from tubers, insects and small animals, being able to cook them using fire they managed to craft, and so properly passed the harsh time with the loss of a chunk of their population over the sudden change.

When the Shagoid expanded and found again large water bodies far from their native regions, they really have changed considerable from their ancestors, as their closest relative was a sort of strange loon like reptilian species wandering in the coasts, these were more like limbed penguins with long arms and tridactyl hands, which the third finger being a derivation of the 4th an 5th clawless digit fused into one, their short legs lost their webbed feet a while ago and are more adapted for walking, their head still preserve the characteristic seabird like shape but their teeth have changed in shape to be generalistic omnivore, with a large head which houses the most intelligent brain in the planet.

Over the last thousands of years, they have been becoming more and more prone to establish permanent settlements populated by hundreds of them much more different of their wandering tribes, often farm plants and even carry some animals for domestication.

For the first time in their history they are in the pathway of civilization… who knows what will happen next, either the Shagoid can remain like this until their extinction, or they will start building towards the sky and beyond.

#speculative evolution #alternative evolution #triassic #jurassic #sauropodomorph #dinosauroid #sapient #spectember

[artmctalon]

Krita sketch from 2021, part of a worldbuilding thing I keep tinkering with on and off again. This specific image (which I procrastinated on for a while) was intended to imitate a specific style of painting from some early time period, but I couldn't remember what it was for the life of me.

-In Universe Excerpt-

The name Tinovano T'hailuuno (literally ''Mountain's Melody", or "Mountain Songbird") is the given name attributed to a certain author in Vita-Ra ancient history.

She was likely native to the north of Kunee Harak'di (Eocene-epoch India), or at least educated in the city nations there. Most of her writing concerns documentation of the far northern continent (Eurasia) and the peoples that dwelled there, particular the illiterate yet metallurgically skilled "Moon-faced" predecessors of the Lunak'-Rha tribes. Copies of texts attributed to this author are likely some of the most well-preserved artifacts of the Pre-Modern millennia.

Whether or not Tinovano T'hailuuno was a single individual or multiple is something of scholarly debate (both names and careers tended to be passed down through a family lineage in this time and place). If a sole individual, the author was likely of brown plumage and possibly striped, as most Vita-Ra around the Tethys Ocean exhibited that phenotype at the time.

#vitara #vita-ra #conlang #constructed language #worldbuilding #original character #character concept #krita illustration #digital drawing #digital art #feathered dinosaurs #sapient #sentient #alternate history #alternate universe #fictional history #deviantart crosspost #scribe #explorer

[sstorkk]

Half the crew on Star Trek Voyager is so like, AI racist.

I say this with all the love in my heart because Voyager is one of my favourite star trek shows so far, but I've hit season 5 or 6 and it feels like every couple of episodes they learn the same thing - Artificial Intelligent sentients matter, actually? Like, the crew show so little respect to the Doctor, yet they describe his code working pretty much exactly like a human brain does but no one really takes him seriously?

He asks for a room and Janeway just sort of laughs early on in the show, despite plenty being available. He's a person by this point, he can move around, he is asking for his own space now that it's a possibility to him, and he's just brushed off. His memories get wiped when he doesn't have the coping skills to deal with failure, but like, how would he have learned those coping skills? It takes Seven calling Janeway out on her sh*t before they try to help him as if he were a thinking feeling person, which at this point, what kind of tricorder or computer feels violated, like he says he feels? How is he not a person by now? Their arguments are completely ridiculous, they talk about Data being respected early on then show the Doctor, who by now seems of comparable if not greater humanity, little to no respect as an individual. The same thing happens with the AI weapon, they were initially thinking of just, leaving it there? Sure it's more dangerous than an organic, but they wouldn't have even considered doing half the things they did if it had been an alien, despite the possibility of aliens having, well, alien or un-understandble minds that could be just extreme as code and programming.

I'm glad things get resolved by the end of the episodes most of the time, and there are definitely a few moments where they show time and care eventually towards the Doctor and others, the crew learning once again that hey these are people too, but it feels like they really don't respect the Doctor much at all, (on a personal level) or believe him to be a sapient mind with rights and feelings. This gets better sometimes, only for it to be disregarded again later. At least they seem to be getting slightly better. Kind of.

#thoughts #voyager thoughts #star trek voyager #voy #st voy #st voyager #janeway #the doctor #voyager the doctor #star trek the doctor #captain kathryn janeway #kathryn janeway #ai #robot #sentient #sapient #sentience #morality #my thoughts #me #my post #ramble #rant #voyager rant #the doctor deserves better actually

[reijnders]

a Hebi Xo traveler takes a deep dive detour to talk to an old friend

#that there art #hebi xo #speculative biology #spec bio #my gougars #my canon #sapient #starflight to the edge! #sftte!

[yee-qi]

I don't just do nature art and paleoart, so here's some speculative evolution for an alien planet I have. All four are sapient people, and somehow managed to evolve at the same time via sheer coincidence.

#aliens #spec evo #spec #speculative evolution #sapient #sophont #exobiology #xenobiology #yee art

[auguriim]

Most of the sapient races in my project.

-The Wryvirra (pronounced wee-vah) are the most ancient and most advanced. They are peaceful and heavily religious.

-The Khamido are a bull-like race that were around not long after the Wryvirra. They prefer a hunter/gatherer lifestyle for millions of years and still have no desire to evolve.  - The Beardrags come from introduced bearded dragons that are modified by both humans and Wryvirra. They split off becoming seperate subspecies that adapt to the certain climates. Many of which went extinct leaving only 3 subspecies. Each of them have different cultures, laws and religious beliefs.

- Sirian humans are the descendants of the first humans that landed on Amasis. Their advancement has been set back to the bronze age and usually have support from other races. Unfortunately they have been wiped out to near extinction after the Zero Beardrags waged war.

- The Alpha Centaurian is a hostile race not native to Amasis or Earth. They were a primitive species that stumbled upon ancient tech created by a long extinct race and used it for corruption and control, able to take over their entire home planet and now seeking to take over nearby interstellar worlds.

#speculative evolution #sapient #fantasy races #fantasy #reptile #humanoid #lizardfolk #autistic artist

[judahmaccabees]

#Youtube #Etymology #Savant #Sapient

[quadrantadvisor]

Imagine if the GIW started gunning for Jason without the Batfam ever meeting Phantom. Like, Bruce has to figure out on his own that the guys in white suits with Lazarus guns are 1. a legitimate government agency, and 2. are perfectly within their rights to hunt Jason like an animal, because 3. there's secret government legislation that says that since Jason's body processes ectaplasm, he's classified as non-sapient and has no legal protections.

Bruce calling up Clark like

Bruce: I am currently in the process of breaking into a government facility in order to dismantle their operations.

Clark: Okay? Do you need... help?

Bruce: Yes.

Clark: Sure, I'll be right there.

Bruce: Not that kind of help. Oracle is sending you the files now. I'd like you and Ms. Lane to make these people wish they were never born.

Clark: [speed-reading the documents] Oh yeah, can do. This is truly disgusting. If the public is half as outraged as I am, we'll get this sorted as fast as the courts can manage.

So Clark Kent acts as a whistle-blower, the Justice League publicly condems the Anti-Ecto Acts as inhumane, the GIW is disbanded, and Batman gets pardoned for all of those crimes that he technically did by assaulting federal agents. And after all that gets sorted, some white haired kid pops up in the Watchtower like "haha thanks for that I really didn't want a war between Earth and the Infinite Realms" and the League are like "wait what"

#dp x dc #dpxdc #danny phantom #dc #batman #batfam #and jason and danny become best friends obviously #yes i am implying danny is the ghost king here #i just think that bruce being like 'what do you mean my son is non-sapient and has no legal rights. ill kill you.' is good and fun #my rambles

[vees-strangeworld-omniverse]

"WARRIORS", CATUSAPIENS, AND THE WORLD(s) OF TALKING ANIMALS (by codagian standards)

(NOTE: descriptions copy-pasted from DA where i normally/originally post my works. any context that is missing here on tumblr can be found on my DA [linked here and on pinned post] )

[also, another rather old yet still good piece of work; actually definitely a couple years old since i can recognise that iconic crayola coloring pencils instead of the fancy faber castells)

so....time to add warriors and other erin hunter books to the strangeworld bestiary.

all of erin hunter's books take place in the exact same type of universe, and the exact same planet of earth (earth-4amar-22003W). before the pukanis actually visited the planet, they run a check to see what sentient life is on there. even if they know for sure what exactly they are, its still worth running a check to see if they'res other lifeform that have that sentience. and boy, there was. lots and lots of it.

as it turns out, all members of amniota (reptiles, birds and mammals) were 100% sentient, and the other animals that arent come pretty damn close (akin to that of parrots and possibly chimps). from what the pukanis have experience on many other earths, it seems that humans on untouched universes often have a difficult time adjusting to the idea of other sentient lifeforms, especially things from other universe. so given that nearly an entire clade of animals on there own home planet is just as intelligent as them, the humans (or twolegs, if we go by Warriors), are already a Contact At End (C.A.E.) situation, only making contact when their world ends and are at high risk of extinction. the animals, on the other hand, seem more easier to make contact with. this is mainly because there have been many case where different species were able to communicate with eachother, and even team up to deal with bigger threats. it also helped that the pukanis are able to turn into any sentient lifeforms on the planet to make things easier. [provided they have an external source that allows them to shift into said sophont species; one of many things that i'm working on...]

the planet also seems to be rife with paranormal activity, mainly with the afterlife. it seems that each group's afterlife exist in there own in-universe dimension only accessible when they are either asleep, unconscious, or are a spirit form. the only thing that doesn't have to be either one of those to enter said "afterlife" are the pukanis and other interdimesional beings, but even then they tend to leave those things alone (after all, the afterlife is a tricky subject to deal with whether it exist or not in a universe/dimension).

now, "talking animal" universes aren't a new thing. a talking animal universe (TA) is often classified as a universe in which the dominate species is an animal that, well, cant talk. these animals, apart from the talking part, don't differ to much from there normal, non-sentient counterpart in other universes. what make this one special is how many talking animal species there are. usual, its only one or two species, or if you're lucky maybe three. this universe? about 20,000 species capable of talking.

ok, now that i've established a universe and setting, i can now talk about the "catusapiens".

catusapiens have been around as long as man has been breeding domestic felines. despite the fact that normal cats in the wild are territorial and typically solitary, there are many catusapien societies,each with there own ways of life.

there are two types of catusapien lifestyles (note-these are the terms the cats use)

the first one on the left is a traditional catusapien, also known as warriors. these cats live in there own societies, mainly either clans or tribes (which while are two different types of groups have some similarities), ran by a leader and contains many members within various ranks and roles in the group. these cats almost always have a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, and rely on the land to live and thrive. they usually have a set of teritories if there are multiple clan or tribe living next to eachother. there names are sort of "primitive" and always derived from nature.

kittypets are catusapiens that live a "modern" lifestyle. this name, while used for cats that are the pets to twolegs, is also used for cats that live in a modern codagian society. these cat were either living with twolegs already or where warriors that chose the easier, more relaxed world to live in. many wear clothing or some form of wearable accessories like collars, capes, scarves, etc. while many live like normal people, there are many places where kittypets can live like their traditional warrior lives, but they're often designed so that they still have the kittypet comforts but still have the warrior experience, mainly the clan life, ranks and duties. while most are legal and open to many, there are some who are of course, more like gangs or cults doing illegal activities in the city, and will gatekeep the everloving shit out of newcomers.

#fantasy #huntergatherer #modern #nature #warriors #kittypet #warriorclan #speculativeevolution #speculativelife #alternateuniverse #scififantasy #warriorcats #sophont #sapient

[simeonthesapient]

A brand to remember. Enter code: The Wise save 25% off, exp 08/31/2023

#sapientera #sapientgang #sapient #thesapient #thesapientclothing #thesapientbrand #sapientwear #bandofsapiens #thesapientdesign #stsapient #defiant #defiant quote #hoodie #apparel #clothing brand #the sapient brand #branding #shop small #streetwear #streetfashion #streetstyle

[theotherhappyplace]

unicorn concept, horns are their own separate species, highly magical, nonsentient, driven by instinct, need to be inside of a living creature to get nutrients, stab into a horse head, make the HORSE sentient and magical by altering its brain.

and the symbiote horn gets nutrients from the horses body.

horse is not in pain.

though becoming suddenly sapient is very upsetting for a lot of them.

#unicorn #monster concept #animal harm mention #sort of? i think the horse is mostly fine other than like being upset about suddenly being sapient #BEFORE ALL I WANTED WAS GRASS AND RUN #NOW I KNOW I EXIST AND WILL SOMEDAY DIE AND I MUST THINK ON THIS #horse farmer pissed as hell

[lsaq2e8vc]

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#sapient #tercentenarize #Phoronida #voltaite #opisthotonus #stephe #unaflow #mensurableness #romanticality #nonflexibleness #nonconvertible #cursed #libre #well-classified #higgaion #zephyrlike #ursicide #anthropopathia #peroxy- #ovariotomy

[bigstudwolf]

#bigstudwolf #vik #norder #manofhisown #freespirit #rider #freemind #wild #sunlover #moontracker #warrior #sapient #beard #fitness #pathfinder #traveller #athlete #fit #influencer #slumber #lumberjack #fashion #denim #jeans #instagood #instanature #instagram #instadaily #inspiration #instaman https://www.instagram.com/p/CoDmaGlsZR4/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#bigstudwolf #vik #norder #manofhisown #freespirit #rider #freemind #wild #sunlover #moontracker #warrior #sapient #beard #fitness #pathfinder #traveller #athlete #fit #influencer #slumber #lumberjack #fashion #denim #jeans #instagood #instanature #instagram #instadaily #inspiration #instaman

[reijnders]

For Spectember day 23: Light Show

im literally just havin fun at this point, but Hebi Xo have a little bit of bioluminescence, and also like to imitate human art forms. think of this as a short video made by a few Hebi Xo teens just havin a good time

#that there art #speculative biology #speculative evolution #spec evo #spec bio #spectember #my gougars #my canon #hebi xo #sapient #starflight to the edge! #sftte!

[prokopetz]

One of the more entertaining consequences of broadcast standards for children's media during the 1980s is that villains weren't allowed to express or directly imply the desire or intent to kill the protagonist, but they were allowed to openly state their intention to eat the protagonist – provided that at least one of the hero or the villain were non-human.

(i.e., human villain expressing the desire to eat a non-human protagonist: okay; unambiguously monstrous villain expressing the desire to eat a human protagonist: okay; human villain expressing the desire to eat a human protagonist: not okay.)

This often led to interesting characterisation choices, like Shredder's strange preoccupation with making the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles into soup in the 1987 series – he's not allowed to threaten to kill them, but he can freely threaten to eat them!

#media #tropes #violence mention #death mention #cannibalism mention #i mean technically not *really* cannibalism because the villain and the hero were never the same species #but we don't really have a better tag for 'eating a sapient creature' #well #okay #we don't really have a better tag for *non-sexually* eating a sapient creature #sex mention in tags