Delen

Delen (a.k.a. the Thinker)

Delen the Thinker was a Stenza philosopher who lived during the -4000s, chiefly known for his lengthy meditations on culture as a concept and its acquisition by pups and children. To a lesser extent he is known for postulating (some historians maintain in jest) that objects can be divided over and over again until an indivisible unit is reached. This track of thought was refined over time into atomic theory.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

At the time of Delen's birth, the Low Pass Stenza maintained a wealth of both general lore and childlore, much of it centered around Migration. Delen himself spent his adolescence legend tripping and passing on to the younger children stories he himself had learned, and this process of passing down stories and practices sparked an interest he would pursue for the rest of his life.
Upon surviving a challenge in the Frozen Wastes, thereby becoming an adult, he started to travel and to reflect on his childhood experiences and the process of learning and passing on legends. Though culturally barred from engaging in childlore himself, he began to suspect that many of the processes at play applied to wider clan lore as well. He began to observe the way the children of his region and around the rest of the Ice Flats interact with the stories of elders, Khe'drakha performers, and others, and compare that with his own experiences.
(As an intellectual puzzle to himself, he also started to ponder the nature of matter, eventually after many years speculating that there is an indivisible portion of each item in the physical world. His idle speculations in his free time would later form the basis for Stenza understanding of the atom.)
During his travels, children of various clans warmed up to him, and gradually began to approach him and try their hand at storytelling themselves. He welcomed their efforts, discussing with them on their level about the way they saw the world (inasmuch as the children were allowed to tell him due to the aforementioned cultural barring of adults from childlore, which varied based on ethnicity and region). By the year -4392 he began to articulate his thoughts and findings to others, ultimately culminating some decades later in his best-known quote, describing culture acquisition as an ongoing and adaptive process to which children relate themselves in an active manner, and articulating the responsibilities of adults in this regard to ensure that they learn well what to do and what not to do.
His work continued until his death in -4324, after which his ideas continued to be spread across the Ice Flats and refined by other philosophers and scientists. He gained a reputation in more modern times as the "father of folkloristics", on top of his work on the nature of matter (the influence of which rippled outward so far it is thought he would be surprised by it, should he ever have the means of finding out). His theory on the way children engage with culture became the foundation for how folklore is studied and students are taught, bolstered by his Low Pass Stenza descent and their reputation for their hospitable, peacemaking tendencies.

Social

Speech

Delen spent much of his time speaking to pups and children, and thereby developed a clear and precise manner of speaking commented on by many of his contemporaries. Although with time his dialogue was exaggerated and idealized, it is not wrong to say that he is an example par excellence in speaking properly to pups so as to foster their language skills.

Species

The Stenza

Ethnicity

Low Pass Stenza

Life

4470 4324 146 years old

Quotes & Catchphrases

Where a pup must be kept alive, a child must be taught.

Culture is not innate, it is learned from the moment of birth until the last draw of breath. It changes, layer upon layer like the ice under your feet, generation after generation, because the children you speak to will inevitably build on and alter what they have heard. And so it falls to us to inspire them, with stories of our deeds and occasionally of our failings. Failings are just as important, mind you, but great deeds are motivating in nature. The child watching you with wide eyes craves someone to aspire to be. Tell them of a good role model.