Star Trek

The foundation of the Changeling Founders' society, which provides meaning to their existence: the sharing of idea and sensation, the merging of form and thought — and basically each other, living together in their natural state in what otherwise resembles a large gelatinous lake on their homeworld. His people imply that before he can join the link Constable Odo must first be taught their philosophy of shapeshifting by assuming the shapes of those things around him because "to become a thing is to know a thing; to assume its form is to begin to understand its existence." It also provides a collective memory and history, telling of their once-peaceful ways before subjugation and later revenge as the Dominion Founders.