I've played the entire game, and maybe I'm just dumb and didn't see it, but the first instance of the word SOMA (or more accurately, the acronym SOMA) I saw was when you were fooling around with the test ARK, and had to change a bunch of the stuff installed in order to run a test simulation. One of the things you could install onto the harddrive had SOMA in its name.
After that, I remember seeing it again when you do your last scan, and scan Catherine and yourself onto the ARK.
Is there ever any indication in what SOMA stands for? I might just not be remembering, or might have missed something. Or maybe it just wasn't elaborated on?
(10-02-2015, 10:28 PM)Ashtoreth Wrote: [ -> ]This is what Thomas said about the title in an interview: "What you have is a word that stands for both the physical body and the immaterial mind".
(source: http://thewayfaringdreamer.com/the-wonde...d-of-soma/)
I did NOT realize that SOMA was an actual word. I guess I should have done a little more digging. #Dumbassblondoverhere.
Thanks, Ash.
I didn't know this either, and was confused after the ending why I had never noticed the title anywhere. Before I played, I assumed it was the name of the underwater base it takes place in.
It's interesting actually. I looked over that definition a few times when it first came out and I thought I could get an idea of the game's feel that way, but it's also a very vague definition. Still, I can see the drawn parallels between Soma and the game :3
I honestly thought the title was a roundabout reference to Brave New World's Soma, and meant a self-inflicted numbness to reality, hiding from unpleasant truths.
Soma is scientifically defined as "the body of an organism as contrasted with its germ cells". Germ cells are the eggs and sperm, so SOMA is specifically an organic being excluding it's ability to reproduce. Which is clearly relevant to both WAU and the humans of Pathos-II. What a multi-faceted title!
Soma is the term for the cell body of a neuron where signal processing happens. Inputs arrive from the dendrites, are processed by the soma, then an output is sent via the axon. The connection between the axon of one neuron and the dendrites of another are the synapses.
So our minds are formed from billions of somas.
"the body as distinct from the soul, mind, or psyche."
Pretty much perfectly fits the game.