morphing heals all wounds.....or does it????????

[Aluminator (Kit)]

oh, well. katmike being ironic. AGAIN.

It's just kind of expected for me by now

The Yeerks really seem to have never developed any technology of their own, though. They're using nothing but the outdated technology of other races, so it would be equally out of character for them to develop morphing technology. As for the Andalite superiority complex- I'm sure they're not all like that. We're just used to Ax and the military attitude that's been drummed into his head since birth. Intel people, like Court's saying, probably wouldn't have quite that issue.

[itw2009]

in some ways, their using other species' technology makes sense... it's pretty darn resource efficient, if i do say so myself. and they haven't had a lot of opportunity to create their own technology... being obssessed with this whole 'take over the universe' thing and all. when it comes to 'survival' and 'fancy computer programs', i'm pretty sure i know which the yeerks chose.

but what i suppose i'm getting at is this idea that the yeerks ought to have been after the morphing technology from the start. i mean, you're a race devoted to finding new bodies.... dingding! morphing technology! AND some other species already has invented/tested/quasi-mass-produced it!

granted, they're not about to give it to you, but....

and, well, maybe that is why the focus shifted. damn those andalites. D: creating problems for the universe.

[Aluminator (Kit)]

Keep in mind that the Yeerks and Andalites have been at war since before the Yeerks knew about the morphing technology (Visser 3, or whatever his title was, was unaware of its existence before Aldrea morphed the Jubba-Jubba thingy in HBC). Take an ongoing war, throw in Andalite pride and stubbornness, and a highly motivated, highly militaristic Yeerk ruling regime, and you've basically got a recipe for a war that will go on even when the solution is right in front of them. This, for once, is something KatMike didn't consider that I feel does make sense.

[itw2009]

i can't keep that in mind; i haven't read hbc since i was, like, fourteen. D:

i plead ignorance. plus, i like my idea better.

also, this topic has gone way, way off course. ish.

[Aluminator (Kit)]

You should totally reread it! It's my favorite book in the whole series!

And the way I see it, if a topic sparks a discussion like this, we shouldn't just cut it off because it's off topic from the original posts. We'd lose so many good thoughts related to the topic if we always did that.

[g33kgirl]

Consider this- if the Animorphs would never be able to get tattoos or piercings done as when they demorphed the ink/hole wouldn't be there- gutted!

Also, Marco and Rachel both had haircuts in the series and yet their hair didn't grow back when they de/morphed- what's up with that?

[itw2009]

haha- you know, g33kgirl- technically, they all had "haircuts"... and then, what constitutes "grow back"? you know? maybe, if none of us ever had haircuts, our DNA would naturally allow for 6m-long hair at the time we reach 15 or something. so maybe, strictly speaking, they all -guys and girls- ought to have had ridiculously long hair when they morphed. ^^

[BaronConall]

I just had a mental image of them all demorphing into this:



Rob Trujillo ftw

[itw2009]

HAH. HARDCORE. that's hilarious.

i was actually reminded of HP#1- where harry grows his hair back magically after a cut gone awry. but i happen to be a nerd of the childishly nerdy sort.

[BaronConall]

Nerdy? Childish? I've been called those things
I've also been affectionately called a dork xD

[Aluminator (Kit)]

Like they say in the Ukraine: If you ain't a dork, you ain't nothin'

This entire forum is living proof of that

[A ghost you know]

Consider this- if the Animorphs would never be able to get tattoos or piercings done as when they demorphed the ink/hole wouldn't be there- gutted!

Also, Marco and Rachel both had haircuts in the series and yet their hair didn't grow back when they de/morphed- what's up with that?

Yeah, the "subconscious image" of the body would have to come after the technology automatically corrects the unbiased "image" it took so that it matched the DNA. Five steps- 1) DNA constructs the original animal 2) Unbiased image created by the technology itself ages/sizes creature, and builds most of the body 3) Creature is compared to DNA, anything inconsistent is corrected to match the DNA image 4) Morpher's subconscious image of the body in question is applied 5) Morpher's conscious thought is taken into account. Actually, I guess step 1 is pretty unnecessary.

Sounds like a good explanation to me. It's probably the best way to explain a lot of things, including the way morphing "magically" takes size and age into account. There's nothing in DNA to do that, so something else must be at work; subconscious images of the body and conscious thought are, IMHO, acceptable answers.
I don't think step 1 is unnecessary, though. Think of all the times the Animorphs were dying (both in and out of morph); several times, they were clearly thinking more slowly and less clearly as a result of their impending death. I wouldn't trust my memory to recreate a morph, or recreate me, under those circumstances. DNA, on the other hand, isn't impacted at all by impending death, and therefore should be reliable.

One thing that bugs me, though, is bleeding. Several times in the series, the Animorphs mention that their morphs' DNA is stored in molecules in their bloodstream. Many times, their battles are quite bloody, sometimes to the point that they're bleeding to death. Why on Earth wouldn't one of those DNA-holding molecules slip out eventually? (And the same problem remains if you assume the DNA-holding molecules stay in the Animorphs' internal organs - the Animorphs, Rachel in particular, frequently have internal organs spilling out as a result of severe battle wounds.)

[itw2009]

i'll let scott elaborate on whatever he's got going for that one. he does seem to have all the answers. *eyebrow*

me, i totally reiterate: KAWL. katmike were lazy. for all we know, the process relies on some advanced understanding of whatever comes after quantum mechanics- using the potential state of "in one piece" and "backed-up DNA image of a person immediately before s/he morphs" to create the framework for the distribution and transformation of mass from some unknown source into the carbon-based lifeforms that we are.

D: andalites. they think we're morons. and we are. ergo, imho, they know science we could never explain. not without a few applicable doctorates on hand.

[Aluminator (Kit)]

What makes you think I'm lacking in doctorates applicable to Z-space theory? No, you're right, we might not be able to explain them, but that doesn't mean it's not fun to try

One thing that bugs me, though, is bleeding. Several times in the series, the Animorphs mention that their morphs' DNA is stored in molecules in their bloodstream. Many times, their battles are quite bloody, sometimes to the point that they're bleeding to death. Why on Earth wouldn't one of those DNA-holding molecules slip out eventually? (And the same problem remains if you assume the DNA-holding molecules stay in the Animorphs' internal organs - the Animorphs, Rachel in particular, frequently have internal organs spilling out as a result of severe battle wounds.)

I actually think of Marco as the one who fights half his battles holding his intestines in, but that's a good point. The simplest answer (thank you Occam's Razor) would be that there're redundant copies of that information in their blood/organs. If you go by the theory in this thread: http://animorphsforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=4957.new (which is the one I'm now inclined to accept as my own personal theory on how the morphing technology works) the explanation changes so that while one of them is in morph, all the information about their other morphs is actually stored in Z-space, along with their original mass. If that's the case, it wouldn't matter how much blood and how many spleens grizzly-Rachel lost, she still couldn't lose her morphs.

By the way, ghost, you raise some great points, and I'm so glad to have you on the forum ^_^ You should go to the http://animorphsforum.com/forum/index.php?board=7.0 board and officially introduce yourself by creating an intro thread

[A ghost you know]

What makes you think I'm lacking in doctorates applicable to Z-space theory? No, you're right, we might not be able to explain them, but that doesn't mean it's not fun to try

Yeah, it's quite fun to take educated (or even un-educated) guesses at advanced technology. Eventually, it might even be possible to take these guesses and turn them into something real. (I know, it's not likely to happen, but people said the same thing about flight, putting people on the moon, etc. A lot of IT guys, in particular, have said things that came back to bite them 10 or 20 years down the road)

One thing that bugs me, though, is bleeding. Several times in the series, the Animorphs mention that their morphs' DNA is stored in molecules in their bloodstream. Many times, their battles are quite bloody, sometimes to the point that they're bleeding to death. Why on Earth wouldn't one of those DNA-holding molecules slip out eventually? (And the same problem remains if you assume the DNA-holding molecules stay in the Animorphs' internal organs - the Animorphs, Rachel in particular, frequently have internal organs spilling out as a result of severe battle wounds.)

I actually think of Marco as the one who fights half his battles holding his intestines in, but that's a good point. The simplest answer (thank you Occam's Razor) would be that there're redundant copies of that information in their blood/organs.

I have to disagree. While the probability of them retaining morphs despite blood loss directly increases with the number of redundant copies, there's still a decent chance of losing those redundant copies. Hmm, looks like a variation of Murphy's Law could be applicable here: "No matter how many backups you have, your data will be lost eventually, generally at the worst possible time."
At some point, of course, the probability of losing the redundant copies becomes almost infinitesimal, but I'm paranoid anyway. 

If you go by the theory in this thread: http://animorphsforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=4957.new (which is the one I'm now inclined to accept as my own personal theory on how the morphing technology works) the explanation changes so that while one of them is in morph, all the information about their other morphs is actually stored in Z-space, along with their original mass. If that's the case, it wouldn't matter how much blood and how many spleens grizzly-Rachel lost, she still couldn't lose her morphs.

I like that theory, I think. It explains a heck of a lot. It doesn't explain everything, though, so I'll drop by that thread later. Prepare for brain explosions.

By the way, ghost, you raise some great points, and I'm so glad to have you on the forum ^_^ You should go to the http://animorphsforum.com/forum/index.php?board=7.0 board and officially introduce yourself by creating an intro thread

Thanks for the welcome & the karma! This looks like a great forum, and I'm looking forward to a long & pleasant stay with you guys.
I won't do an intro thread yet, as my real life is busy, but I'll do one soon.

Cheers!