CREATIVE ADVENTURES — 9

Imagine You Can Breathe Under Water

How Would You Use This Superpower?

I love swimming and diving, although I am terrified of it at the same time. I still remember the sheer terror when I lost my way while swimming in Corfu. I am not a good swimmer and I was wearing a snorkeling mask. Suddenly I have lost my sense of direction and forgot which way the beach was. I was scared that I would drown and lose my breath. Still, some of the most fascinating moments of my life were the ones where I was swimming or snorkeling in Greece and Turkey.

These experiences prompted me to create this exercise: How cool would it be if we were able to breathe underwater?

Imagine that you have underwater breathing ability. You can withstand an underwater environment where normal human lungs do not function. This might be due to advanced technology.

I have read some interesting proposals to help humans navigate a flooded world. In the near future, there will probably be technologies that will provide comfort to humans who prefer to spend time in the water. Imagine the new worlds that will be explored underwater. Imagine a new civilization where we will be able to live underwater and clean up the earth’s waters.

Imagine You Can Breathe Underwater

So, you can breathe underwater. How cool is that? What would you do underwater?

Please respond to the following questions:

1. How you like to use this power? Where would you like to swim and spend time? Which oceans or seas would you explore? Which rivers and lakes?
2. Imagine that you are now underwater in the Pacific ocean. Describe the environment as vividly as you can. What do you see around you? (coral reef, fish, octopus, shellfish, lobster, dolphin, sea turtle…) How do you interact with the oceanic ecosystem?
3. Think of at least 10 activities you can do underwater (alongside breathing). Write them down.
4. Think of three undersea adventures you would like to take on. Write three stories about these adventures.
5. Imagine that you can shoot your own documentary, like “My Octopus Teacher”. Netflix has commissioned you to do this. What would you like to shoot? What will be your contribution? What will be the title of this documentary? Create a synopsis.
6. Imagine that you can understand the language of one of the species living in the ocean. Which one would this be? Imagine and write down a conversation between you and this wonderful oceanic creature (whichever you choose).
7. Imagine that you can build an underwater civilization using advanced technology. Would we give up terrestrial life and move to the bottom of the ocean? For the sake of imagination, please design and create your house underwater. How would it look like? How would it function? How would it feel like to live there?
8. Using these new technologies, how would you clean up the Earth’s oceans? Imagine what projects and initiatives you would take on in order to stop pollution, get rid of plastic, and improve oceanic life.
9. Imagine that the year is 2199. You are in the underwater city of Venice or Manhattan. Due to climate change, these cities have become global tourist attractions. Write a science fiction story where you are living in one of these underwater worlds. Create an adventure story.
10. Imagine that you can only spend two hours at a time while breathing underwater. For longer periods, you need devices or your lungs will be harmed. It has been 100 minutes since you are underwater. However, you are now too deep into the ocean, cannot see the surface or sun rays, and do not know which way to go. At that moment, you see a shark swimming towards you. What do you do next? Write down the story.
11. Create your own questions and imagination experiments using this theme and its variations.

In the future, we will all live in very close proximity to water due to climate change. We need to imagine new ways of interacting with water. If we were to breathe underwater, we would swim more, and develop a colorful, adventurous, and sustainable lifestyle. We would care more deeply about our oceans and waters. We would develop new ways of cleaning our waters and protecting our oceans.

I hope these imagination experiments have helped you to explore fresh possibilities and possible futures.

Fahri Karakas is the author of the Self-making Studio. You can explore more here.