Post by Lorpius Prime on Jun 29, 2005 6:14:34 GMT -5
All right, well we've had some controversy about this whole system, and I figure it'll be easier to handle in thread format rather than a chat room.
Just going to start off by explaining my view of alchemy, keep in mind that I've probably got the least knowledge of canon of people here, but Mlle didn't seem to have too many objections to this towards the end of our discussion, so here goes.
Basically, I see alchemy as a mental feat, it's a psychological exercise, all in your head. Analyze, break down, reassemble. It's a simple enough explanation for what's going on, but actually doing it is something else. There's a lot of processing power involved in figuring out the nature of something, and then changing the way it's put together, and it only gets worse the more materials involved and the more intricate the end result is. As a result, there are very few people able to tap enough brainpower do any alchemy at all, much less the super-complex stuff like making stuff like chimaeras or, gasp, a philosopher's stone.
But, over time, alchemic scholars have developed techniques that have been opening up fields of advanced alchemy to growing numbers of people. Enter the Array. As I see it, an array is just a tool to simplify an alchemists task. It's a set of instructions, a guide, or even a computer (depending on how you look at it) to perform different types of tasks. An array takes a lot of the burden off of the alchemist, and frees his mental powers for the rest of the specifics of a transmutation that the array doesn't describe. This is why you see different arrays for different transmutations, because you need a different set of instructions for different arrangements of matter. This leads to two rather important points.
First, specialization. Just as different array designs are used for different transmuations, so different alchemists are better at certain kinds of alchemy. As they familiarize themselves with one specific kind of transmutation, the easier it becomes for them to perform. Theoretically, any alchemist could do any kind of transmutation, they're just not familiar with much outside their own little field. Arrays make this process easier, but the less familiar one is with a certain transmutation, the more detailed an array one is going to need, while the more familiar one becomes with a field, the easier it would become to perform that transmutation with very simple arrays, even crude forms drawn in the dirt in the heat of battle.
This leads into my second point, which is that the array isn't really necessary at all. Roy the flame alchemist could probably do his fireball trick without his gloves at all if he had to, just drawing a basic circle somewhere. Of course, it might take a bit more concentration and thus time, since he doesn't have the handy instructions on his hand doing half the work for him, but he could do it.
Once again, getting down to the psychological nature of alchemy, the specific designs of an array are only focused on a certain purpose because an alchemist sees them that way. Any alchemist can do any transmutation with any array, as long as he's able to to understand what he's doing. Amestrian alchemists use an array language based around geometric patterns, with the circle at the heart of it. Different shapes mean different things, and thus provide transmutation instructions. To a different culture of alchemists, these arrays could be replaced by actual written words as instructions and work the exact same way, allowing the alchemist to follow directions to achieve a predetermined end rather than having to invent the whole process from scratch himself.
Understand this, and you realize the truth, which is that the array really isn't necessary for alchemy at all. In fact, over time the array has probably become a psychological barrier in some ways, alchemists have become so dependant upon them that it is essentially impossible for them to do alchemy without an array. Ed has overcome this barrier in some ways, but since apparently the human transmutation had a lot to do with this, I suspect that there's more to it than Ed just being able to devote more brainpower to his alchemy than most. I'll get into this in more detail when I post part 2 of this opinion, dealing with the Philosopher's Stone and the Isbhalans in more detail.
Just going to start off by explaining my view of alchemy, keep in mind that I've probably got the least knowledge of canon of people here, but Mlle didn't seem to have too many objections to this towards the end of our discussion, so here goes.
Basically, I see alchemy as a mental feat, it's a psychological exercise, all in your head. Analyze, break down, reassemble. It's a simple enough explanation for what's going on, but actually doing it is something else. There's a lot of processing power involved in figuring out the nature of something, and then changing the way it's put together, and it only gets worse the more materials involved and the more intricate the end result is. As a result, there are very few people able to tap enough brainpower do any alchemy at all, much less the super-complex stuff like making stuff like chimaeras or, gasp, a philosopher's stone.
But, over time, alchemic scholars have developed techniques that have been opening up fields of advanced alchemy to growing numbers of people. Enter the Array. As I see it, an array is just a tool to simplify an alchemists task. It's a set of instructions, a guide, or even a computer (depending on how you look at it) to perform different types of tasks. An array takes a lot of the burden off of the alchemist, and frees his mental powers for the rest of the specifics of a transmutation that the array doesn't describe. This is why you see different arrays for different transmutations, because you need a different set of instructions for different arrangements of matter. This leads to two rather important points.
First, specialization. Just as different array designs are used for different transmuations, so different alchemists are better at certain kinds of alchemy. As they familiarize themselves with one specific kind of transmutation, the easier it becomes for them to perform. Theoretically, any alchemist could do any kind of transmutation, they're just not familiar with much outside their own little field. Arrays make this process easier, but the less familiar one is with a certain transmutation, the more detailed an array one is going to need, while the more familiar one becomes with a field, the easier it would become to perform that transmutation with very simple arrays, even crude forms drawn in the dirt in the heat of battle.
This leads into my second point, which is that the array isn't really necessary at all. Roy the flame alchemist could probably do his fireball trick without his gloves at all if he had to, just drawing a basic circle somewhere. Of course, it might take a bit more concentration and thus time, since he doesn't have the handy instructions on his hand doing half the work for him, but he could do it.
Once again, getting down to the psychological nature of alchemy, the specific designs of an array are only focused on a certain purpose because an alchemist sees them that way. Any alchemist can do any transmutation with any array, as long as he's able to to understand what he's doing. Amestrian alchemists use an array language based around geometric patterns, with the circle at the heart of it. Different shapes mean different things, and thus provide transmutation instructions. To a different culture of alchemists, these arrays could be replaced by actual written words as instructions and work the exact same way, allowing the alchemist to follow directions to achieve a predetermined end rather than having to invent the whole process from scratch himself.
Understand this, and you realize the truth, which is that the array really isn't necessary for alchemy at all. In fact, over time the array has probably become a psychological barrier in some ways, alchemists have become so dependant upon them that it is essentially impossible for them to do alchemy without an array. Ed has overcome this barrier in some ways, but since apparently the human transmutation had a lot to do with this, I suspect that there's more to it than Ed just being able to devote more brainpower to his alchemy than most. I'll get into this in more detail when I post part 2 of this opinion, dealing with the Philosopher's Stone and the Isbhalans in more detail.
