Worldbuilding

1382 readers

1 users here now

Rules of !Worldbuilding:

See here for a longer, more explanatory version.

Rule 0: These are guidelines, not laws.
Rule 1: Be polite and respectful to others.
Rule 2: Provide some lore with your submissions!
Rule 3: Show some effort.
Rule 4: Do it yourself.
Rule 5: Advertising is limited.

Related Communities

For conlang (constructed languages) discussion check out !conlangs@mander.xyz Feel free to discuss the your conlangs in our community, as well!

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

infinitecartographer@lemmy.world

Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world

Zonetrooper@lemmy.world

Imotali@lemmy.world

What would inorganic species call themselves? (lemmy.world)

submitted 7 months ago by T156@lemmy.world to c/worldbuilding@lemmy.world

11 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I've been using "mechanoid" as a classification (similar to humanoid, etc), but a friend pointed out that it's both too generic, and that said inorganics might just consider it biology, with organics being the weird outlier.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] Zonetrooper@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Yeah, I'm going to be in agreement with your friend.

It's also worth noting that even within "inorganic" species, there might be stark differences in their internal composition (and thus view of themselves). Are these an animate silicon crystal, or a "robot person"? The former might think of themselves as "the solid", in contrast to liquid-containing non-silicon life.

They might also (in either case) use a name which reflects their local name for whatever the dominant element or feature is their makeup, similar to how we refer to Earthly life as "cellular" life because it's made of cells. That said, "Mechanoids" as a foreign nickname or slur might be a fun thing.