Permeable cells absorb air and vapor and directly excrete wastes. Claws break down solid food so that the juices can seep up the arms. The unspecialized cells might also carry nerve impulses. The Sigman might not only sense but also think with its entire body. With slower thoughts but enormous sensory input, it might also think more profoundly than human beings. We are quicker but shallower whereas:
"'...it's ponderous but profound.'" (p. 100)
Anderson has imagined not only a different shape of body but also a different chemistry and biology generating a different kind of intelligence and mentality.
Rereading, I have encountered passages discussed five years ago:
Mural
Maury Station
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
The Sigman has to be one of the STRANGEST kinds of non-human speculated about by any SF writer. Up there with the tri-bodied Didonians we see in THE REBEL WORLDS.
Sean
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