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Path: utzoo!watmath!jagardner
From: jagardner@watmath.UUCP (Jim Gardner)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Empire Troops Uniforms (#349)
Message-ID: <16361@watmath.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 9-Sep-85 11:07:55 EDT
Article-I.D.: watmath.16361
Posted: Mon Sep  9 11:07:55 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 10-Sep-85 03:46:06 EDT
References: <3577@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU>
Reply-To: jagardner@watmath.UUCP (Jim Gardner)
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 42

In article <3577@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU> milne@uci-icse writes:
>
>>  Here's a tangential question for you all: In a galaxy with such a
>>  diverse population of sentients, why were most of the Imperials and
>>  Rebels human, while non-humans were mostly scum and villainy?  And
>>  as a story teller, how could Lucas justify this?
>

The game "Freedom in the Galaxy" from Avalon Hill is a fairly accurate
recreation of a Star Wars-like setting, and it proposes a useful
explanation for the widespread domination of humanoid life.  Humans
entered the galaxy from another one (far far away) in search of
scientific freedom (in much the same way that many people came to
North America in search of religious freedom).  In particular, they
were looking for a place where they could perform far-sweeping
genetic experiments.  The humans created many many genetic hybrids
that were half-human, half another race.  In this way, they hybridized
most of the existing sentient species in the galaxy, making humanoid
versions of everything.

Time passed.  Hybrids spread.  The older races became worried about
the hybrids, because they had all the good points of the old races
plus the good points of humans as well.  Wars broke out.  The hybrids
all aided each other, while the older races tended to fight individually
(they had no evolutionary ties to species in other star systems).  In
the end, most of the older races were wiped out and replaced by hybrids.

The result is a galaxy where most of the sentient beings are about
human height, are bipedal, have two arms, one head, and so on (one
could sometimes be fooled into thinking they were just humans in
costumes!)  The dominant race was purely human because the hybrids
had built in deference instincts to humans (the scientists who built
the original hybrids weren't dumb).  Therefore humans were the natural
rulers (because hybrids would defer to them) and the human form was
the de facto standard.  Gross deviations (like Jabba the Hut) are
hold-overs from the old races and only achieve power through
exceptional circumstances.

I love pseudo-science.

				Jim Gardner, University of Waterloo