Author Topic: Humans of the future  (Read 5072 times)

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Offline Axeme

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Re: Humans of the future
« Reply #45 on: January 25, 2010, 01:02:19 AM »
Edriss in Visser describes some opinions on humans from a Yeerk perspective:

"He was unhappy about the war, unhappy about being seperated from his mate and progeny. And, at the same time, he was proud of doing his duty...The interest in progeny was persistent. It intruded on any number of thoughts. It formed part of the basis for the creature's sense of his place in the world.'

I would think interest in one's children would be a near universal trait among all species to survive, not really distinct enough to just be used to describe humans.

The experience of Edriss taking her first human controller is also described:
"This second half of the brain was an almost mirror image ... Not a fully redundant system, almost a second different brain!'
'Confusion! Disorder! Illogic! This mind could argue with itself'
No wonder they kill each other, I thought. They very nearly kill themselves!

In this respect, the diversity of humans and their lack of commonality among various human populations appears to be a defining characteristic in the ani-verse.
This holds if you look at the other species which do not appear to have comparable physiological variations that different human races do eg black Vs white people.
Although, Yeerks do explicitly distinguish themselves from other Yeerks when they meet by stating which pool they came from. However, such distinctions have not seemed too relevant in terms of their overall cooperation with each other, or general behaviour. Nor is it implied that certain pools have higher, lower or otherwise distinct status from other pools.
I suspect though that for any species, national, racial and individual self-identity broadens upon learning of other alien sentient beings. If we really did live amongst Yeerks and Andalites, I think the conflict in the middle east would probably be a largely non-affair, and the nuclear super powers would forget about pointing missiles at each other. We would be less likely to see racial/religious differences as a point of contrast, rather, humanity as a point of uniformity - distinct from non-human beings.

This would explain why various species in the Ani-verse such as Yeerks, Andalites, Skrit Na, etc are centrally governed and their culture and group characteristics are a lot more uniform.

I doubt though that we could effectively manage a wide-scale communal economy like the Yeerks and Andalites.

Offline KleenexCow

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Re: Humans of the future
« Reply #46 on: January 25, 2010, 01:22:08 AM »
My view on humans in the Animorphs galaxy seems a lot more optimistic than everyone else's. Ax is always talking about how adaptable humans are, and I like to think that this will translate into our ability to deal with other species. Okay, yes, we don't have a great track record on our own planet, but at least we're friendlier than the Andalites. Less intelligent or physically threatening, too. I sort of see humans as the galaxy's perky cheerleaders. The social butterflies, if you will. We'll flit-flit-flit from world to world, establishing Cinnabons and chatting ears off wherever we go. A human or two on every spacecraft--even ones that don't belong to us. And there are so many of us!
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Offline Azguard

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Re: Humans of the future
« Reply #47 on: January 25, 2010, 01:41:24 PM »
yeah....i can see us establishing starbucks and wal-marts all over the place. we'd be the richest.
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Offline Gumby

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Re: Humans of the future
« Reply #48 on: January 25, 2010, 02:48:19 PM »
Oh yeah, I can totally imagine an universal tim Hortons. But these would be the sayings around the universe after we went universal.

Humans: The ass-holes of the galaxy.

Humans: The cops of the galaxy
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Offline ThinkAgain

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Re: Humans of the future
« Reply #49 on: January 25, 2010, 09:30:00 PM »
I suspect though that for any species, national, racial and individual self-identity broadens upon learning of other alien sentient beings. If we really did live amongst Yeerks and Andalites, I think the conflict in the middle east would probably be a largely non-affair, and the nuclear super powers would forget about pointing missiles at each other. We would be less likely to see racial/religious differences as a point of contrast, rather, humanity as a point of uniformity - distinct from non-human beings.

I disagree with this - it would add new concepts to our agenda, but it wouldn't eliminate the hate that has been a part of humanity for generations. Just because Obama won the election last year doesn't mean that racism in America ceased to exist.

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Offline Azguard

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Re: Humans of the future
« Reply #50 on: January 26, 2010, 01:14:19 AM »
but obama is not an alien. He isn't even a foreigner.


i guess we won't know until it happens
« Last Edit: January 26, 2010, 01:15:51 AM by Azure »
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Offline Axeme

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Re: Humans of the future
« Reply #51 on: January 26, 2010, 02:44:56 AM »
I suspect though that for any species, national, racial and individual self-identity broadens upon learning of other alien sentient beings. If we really did live amongst Yeerks and Andalites, I think the conflict in the middle east would probably be a largely non-affair, and the nuclear super powers would forget about pointing missiles at each other. We would be less likely to see racial/religious differences as a point of contrast, rather, humanity as a point of uniformity - distinct from non-human beings.

I disagree with this - it would add new concepts to our agenda, but it wouldn't eliminate the hate that has been a part of humanity for generations. Just because Obama won the election last year doesn't mean that racism in America ceased to exist.

Meh, it's not really a prove able hypothetical until we get some action. I'm not sure about the relevance of the Obama analogy, though.

Human history however has shown various disparate warring groups unifying to fend off bigger foreign enemies. City States in Ancient Greece did not really get along until they had to defend themselves against the Persian Empire. Similarly, before 1901 Australia used to just be a collection of different colonies. Then they decided to federate and centralise their military, partly in response to any potential threat from a nearby Asian power.

Offline MoppingBear

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Re: Humans of the future
« Reply #52 on: January 26, 2010, 10:34:51 AM »
I suspect though that for any species, national, racial and individual self-identity broadens upon learning of other alien sentient beings. If we really did live amongst Yeerks and Andalites, I think the conflict in the middle east would probably be a largely non-affair, and the nuclear super powers would forget about pointing missiles at each other. We would be less likely to see racial/religious differences as a point of contrast, rather, humanity as a point of uniformity - distinct from non-human beings.

I disagree with this - it would add new concepts to our agenda, but it wouldn't eliminate the hate that has been a part of humanity for generations. Just because Obama won the election last year doesn't mean that racism in America ceased to exist.

Yeah bill maher said it well.  racism is not over because we elected a competent black man as president. racism will be over when we elect an incompetent black man as president.  ie, if obama wins again.

but as axeme is right, different groups band together to hate those that are more different.

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Re: Humans of the future
« Reply #53 on: January 28, 2010, 03:37:48 PM »
this thread is full of win

Offline Gumby

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Re: Humans of the future
« Reply #54 on: January 28, 2010, 08:55:39 PM »
I think the Andalites would, after 20 years or so, we wondering.

<What the hell did we give the humans that tech for?>
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Offline Aluminator (Kit)

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Re: Humans of the future
« Reply #55 on: January 29, 2010, 03:59:08 PM »
Aww... everyone's so pessimistic about humanity :( Does nobody believe human beings are capable of living in a world that's not governed mostly by intolerance and hate? Just the fact that we're capable of conceptualizing morality should be a good indicator of humankind's potential. It may take years at a time to notice, but our attitudes are shifting towards peace and tolerance with each new generation. Add to that the fact that the only people who usually want to go to war are those who get to send others into battle (this alone is enough of an argument, in my mind, for democracy) and the fact that, as I see it, interstellar human civilization would be broken up into dozens or hundreds of factions, and for the most part, I think I agree with Kleenex. I don't think we're not naturally violent- more naturally opportunistic and curious. There would undoubtedly be some violence in humanity's future, but I refuse to accept that the only way humanity could survive is by being hateful warmongers.

I can totally see corporate mentality overcoming old-school imperialism. That means there's actually an advantage to maintaining good relations with the other races- more profit from loyal customers. If you make that Andalite at the bar feel welcome in spite of your Yeerk and Kelbrid customers, there's a better chance she'll come back. War is a greater investment for a potentially smaller return than standard capitalism, and gossip and discussion help keep the regulars coming in (look at RAF).

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Offline Azguard

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Re: Humans of the future
« Reply #56 on: January 29, 2010, 04:16:00 PM »
yeah, but corporate mentality also means a good chance for corruption. not to mention that war is a good way to unite people.
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Offline Aluminator (Kit)

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Re: Humans of the future
« Reply #57 on: January 29, 2010, 05:54:04 PM »
The corporate mentality is a breeding ground for corruption, but there's a lot of good that can come from that as well (I guess that's true of traditional imperialist and militarist philosophies too, but still...) Why is uniting people necessary? Humanity wouldn't stay united if we were spread across dozens of lightyears- becoming united by a war would just make the inevitable degradation of this allied human super-society all that much more turbulent.

Not that I don't like the idea of a united humanity- it just doesn't seem remarkably plausible to me, wars or otherwise.

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Offline Azguard

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Re: Humans of the future
« Reply #58 on: January 29, 2010, 08:54:24 PM »
 it makes sense if you want power.
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Offline Aluminator (Kit)

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Re: Humans of the future
« Reply #59 on: January 29, 2010, 09:39:16 PM »
And it sounds so simple if you only consider the one(s) in power. It doesn't seem plausible to me because people in distant star systems aren't going to love being ruled by an Earth government- they want their own slice of power. Today's civilization would be more powerful if more countries united- but we don't see that, because nobody wants to let go of the power and independence they have.

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