A Peculiar Fascination

Nerdy words lie ahead.

There's something that's interested me for as long as I can remember: organized systems. Systems/networks of units that are connected and work together as a whole. I can't really explain why these things fascinate me. I'm not really sure, myself. Here are some examples of things that have caught my eye over the years:

Organ systems. Next to astronomy, this was one of the sciences that was most appealing to me as a child. I recall being able to name all of the organ systems they taught about in school, and I can still remember plenty: circulatory, digestive, endocrine, immune, lymphatic, muscular, nervous (includes sensory IMO), reproductive, respiratory and skeletal. Of particular interest to me was the digestive system, which I suppose is what I specialized in. I can still recite the various organs that are part of it and tell the story of how food is digested. I had a heck of a time trying to learn to say "duodenum" properly. Seeing the specific function each organ had and how it related to the other organs, as well as how the various systems interacted (for example, how the blood vessels of the circulatory system and the lungs of the respiratory system worked together).

Government structures. I've long enjoyed learning about the various part of governments - the leaders, monarchs, Congresses and Parliaments. I admit I've read the US Constitution more than once and also looked at the Belgian and Chinese constitutions. I probably have an above-average understanding of how the government works and what powers our Congress, President and Supreme Court do (and perhaps more importantly, don't) have. In stories and other things I've written, it hasn't been unusual for me to spend some time designing the governmental structures. There was a game I played for about half a year called NationStates, which was all about role playing as a nation. The government of the one I had was a sort of mix between the United State's system and the British Parliamentary model.

Religions. There are various forms that these come in and I've always found myself fascinated by them. How many deities do they have? Buddhism has no deity; Christianity has one; Hinduism has many many millions. What is their take on the afterlife - Nirvana? Reincarnation? Heaven? What kind of moral system do they have set up? What is their founder like? Are they philosophers like Buddha or miracle workers like Moses? Almost every religion has a sacred text, be it the Bible, Quran, Torah, etc. Some, like the gods of the Greeks and Romans, have been long abandoned. Others remain to this day. Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism rank amongst the most widely followed religions. I'm something of an amateur theologian.

Languages. English, Spanish, Latin, Esperanto, Klingonese, Japanese, Cantonese, so on and so on. I've invented languages, one time having a folder devoted to the many I've created over the years. In addition to their vocabulary there are grammatical rules, suffixes and prefixes, punctuation, alphabets. There's actually a chart out there showing how the various sounds are made. Each sound can be represented by a symbol, which can either be a letter the English speaker is familiar with, one borrowed from other languages, or invented.

Militaries. These are heavily structured, having complex rank systems, distinct personnel groups (squad, platoon, company, battalion, division, corps, etc.), uniforms, and so on. In my younger years I was able to memorize the ranking system for the US Army and thanks to Star Trek, I have the naval officer ranks fairly well remembered: ensign, lieutenant junior grade, lieutenant, lieutenant commander, commander, captain, and then the admirals.

Road systems. Another geeky admission of mine: I'm guilty of just wasting time on Google Earth browsing the highway systems that criss-cross the United States. There's actually a method to their numbering systems. Actually, one thing I like doing with Google Earth is zooming out and looking at the apparently randomly placed towns and cities. In this part of Kansas, there's maybe one large city per county, with smaller cities and towns scattered around the place. And farmland, so much farmland in between.