A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

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Q99
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A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

Post by Q99 »

Gonna share Star Power with you today.

It's a space opera in a setting somewhat akin to Star Wars or Star Trek. It takes place in the Millennium Federation, a multi-species alliance who uses the comic format to make the aliens really alien. Many are humanoid, but having more eyes or builds/proportions Star Trek couldn't do is normal, and there's some esoteric ones like the species initially confused with a pretty plant.


It takes place on Sanctuary Six, a research station, and stars a young astronomer, Danica Maris. Her being an astronomer plays a role in the story pretty often, and is surprisingly fun (the creators are big space geeks and amateur astronomers).

It's also a bit superhero, though in the model of 'individual equipped with a powerful piece of technology,' and there's only one of her.

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Smooth art, good characters, check it out!
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

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I love it. It's quite fun and enjoyable.

The only thing I don't like is the fluff about the species, that makes the error of stereotyping species to suit the character of individuals or individual groups. It's just not necessary.
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

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That said, I do wish I knew what the official update schedule is.
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

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Zixinus wrote:I love it. It's quite fun and enjoyable.

The only thing I don't like is the fluff about the species, that makes the error of stereotyping species to suit the character of individuals or individual groups. It's just not necessary.
To an extent, but unlike many there's still real variety in there. There's stereotypes and norms but they aren't absolutes. We've had members of the same species with different views on stuff.

And the most diverse species in the Galactic Federation is supposed to be the Ladori (the short-stout aquatic ones), not the humans.

Zixinus wrote:That said, I do wish I knew what the official update schedule is.
Monday/Wedsnesday/Friday, with chapter breaks between 'issues.' I think normally breaks are two weeks (and often have bonus material or Mookie drawing stuff while Garth rests).
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

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To an extent, but unlike many there's still real variety in there. There's stereotypes and norms but they aren't absolutes. We've had members of the same species with different views on stuff.

And the most diverse species in the Galactic Federation is supposed to be the Ladori (the short-stout aquatic ones), not the humans.
You misunderstand my criticism: the problem isn't that each member looks the same or acts the same. We haven't met that much of a diversity between species to really have something like that. In the actual comics there is little problem. The problem is with the fluff pieces themselves. You can't have an entire species of traders for example (you can't have an entire species of warriors: there need to be medics, engineers, farmers, bureaucrats, etc.). Or have an entire species love dancing. You can't say that about humans, why would you be able to say that about another species? At best, you can say that about a significant sub-section of humans, a people like a collection of tribes (there are peoples that found themselves well-suited to particular roles in a large civilization, like certain Aborigines tribes to herding), but not the entire species.

That said, having an entire species of traders would work under very specific circumstances (they are a minority in a space where there are several other species and have species traits that give them advantage in trading that most traders from other species lack). But even then, it is stereotyping.

The problem is that general statements are made, when it is obvious that the background was made to flesh out characters by attributing their traits to be species-wide traits. This is silly and actually robs the characters of their individuality. Beena for example: she likes dancing. That's an interesting character trait. Make it a species-wide thing and it robs her of that bit of individuality.
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

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Dancing really is the type of trait I might expect to be species wide- it's a physical one and a lot of species have physical habits (dogs love chasing, cats love stalking, humans love watching cat videos. Also music.). Beena has a lot more to her than that, she's a historian aside , but that's a part of her that's pretty common to her species.

There's some stuff like trends to militarism or emphasis on family, or of some species liking or being good at X job due to their nature advantages or history, but there's no species who only do one job. Rokkosians are the race most known for trade, but the characters we see run a tourist trap and their bio entry goes into their art and war histories too.
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

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Are you by chance the webcomic's author? You are really going out of your way to defend what is essentially filler for the comic.

There are two things to each criticism:

The problem is that you consider a "physical" trait. What were are talking are actually simple neurological reactions versus complex behaviors.

Dogs and thus all canines love chasing things because that's how they work as predators: canines chase after prey, often for a long time (a trait shared by humans that are endurance chasers). Canines actually have difficulty attacking an animal that stays in place. Cats stalk because they are ambush predators, even the bigger ones. Both are built to those tactics by evolution, even though both can . Domesticated versions still act and enjoy doing activities like these because the instinct to do so is hardwired into them. This is why dogs chase cars and other things too. They don't want to eat the car but it moves and its their instinct to chase something that moves.

The thing is that these are relatively simple responses. Similar simple responses in humans is grasping things that get into our hands. It is a reflex built within us. Any human baby will naturally grasp things in its hands, anywhere in history.

Whereas watching cat videos is not. The technology wasn't always there. It is a complex activity because a lot of things are happening on the brain's front. It is a complex activity because we seek it out (even when we accidentally stumble upon said cat videos), we chose to watch them, we empathize with an animal from another species, we attach simple narratives and laugh. Cognitively there is a lot going on. Second, how do you know that really all humans enjoy watching cat videos? What about humans that never had cats and thus cannot read cat body language? How do you know that everyone enjoys watching cat videos, really? How do you know that there is a significant of non-watchers that simply never thought to think about their condition? It is at best, a cultural thing.

And dancing is a complex cognitive activity: you are making movements that serve no purpose in of themselves to those that make it, they at best send signals to others. Deliberate choices are made to make ever-increasing complex movements in different variations according to a rhythm and/or making choices to connect these to emotions. Culturally, it is a relatively simple, common activity in nearly all cultures. But it's not reflexive, it is not hard-wired. It is easily imaginable that a child who has never seen anyone dance would not dance. While it is an easily learned activity, it is still a learned activity.

Second, the problem isn't with the characteristics themselves but how they are presented where cultural traits and physical/biological traits are mixed up. Simply put, the fluff pieces read more like opinion pieces of someone rather than scholarly summaries you'd find in a database like an encyclopedia.

If ,for example, Beena's species (I forgot her name) commented that their mainstream culture have deep affection/fascination for dancing, there would be no space for my criticism. It would give Beena the same trait without somehow attributing it to biology.
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

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Beena's species does have a CULTURAL attachment to dancing.

Another species has a very nicely thought-out reason for taking lots and lots of pictures of themselves and their families -- they're clannish, and when they're alone they suffer from depression. Having pictures of family and friends nearby relieves some of that depression, as it keeps the connection to their clan strong.

Personally I like the Species Logs, because they are fun, interesting, and add background to the story imho. However, the MEAT of the story is the story itself, and that's where they've been shining. I followed Mookie from "Dominic Deegan: Seer" and Garth from "Finder's Keeper", and they've only gotten better by teaming up.

The last book went into the Star Power itself -- what it is, who made it, and why. Also tied up loose threads from Book One, while opening some new twists, so I can't wait to see where Mookie and Garth go with it.
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

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Zixinus wrote:Are you by chance the webcomic's author? You are really going out of your way to defend what is essentially filler for the comic.
Pff, heck no, I'm just a big fan of worldbuilding :) And, well, I like the comic enough to start a thread and I *am* trying to get people interested, so clarifying for accuracy makes sense. One of the things I like about Star Power is it doesn't do the monoculture thing like Trek often falls into, but it does have cultural traits as the other species aren't just humans with different looks either.

I was joking about cat videos, but behavior like dancing is the type of thing it'd make sense for a species to have a fairly natural affinity for. Learning complex physical motions has obvious survival benefits- the complexity is in fact part of the selling point, as it involves devoting more time learning physicality, akin to play which serves a similar purpose, or mental exercise ala music, which while non-physical shows how a species can devote a lot of attention to, basically, complex mental activity for it's own sake (because sound analysis is believed to play a role in the development of language, for one major theory as to why). Dance is often a display of fitness, and, well, suffice to say there's a lot of evolutionary reasons for a species to be good at dancing, which would in turn thus be naturally reflected in their dancing.

Which then gets reflected by a lab technician liking to use movement to help her think. Which has shades of human's thinking on our feat, and shows something of her species and culture in one.


Second, the problem isn't with the characteristics themselves but how they are presented where cultural traits and physical/biological traits are mixed up. Simply put, the fluff pieces read more like opinion pieces of someone rather than scholarly summaries you'd find in a database like an encyclopedia.
It's brief overviews of what to expect- some things are gonna be cultural, some physical. Seems more travel guide/intro blurbs than a scholarly text. Not simple opinion, but more, "Here tourist, read this for the basics. If you expect interaction, then proceed to buy these books that go into way more depth...".

LadyTrevar wrote: However, the MEAT of the story is the story itself, and that's where they've been shining. I followed Mookie from "Dominic Deegan: Seer" and Garth from "Finder's Keeper", and they've only gotten better by teaming up.
I definitely feel working together has made them level up.
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

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I was joking about cat videos, but behavior like dancing is the type of thing it'd make sense for a species to have a fairly natural affinity for.
Natural affinity =/= inborn trait. Again, compare canines chasing moving things, it is directly tied to getting food (arguably, even directly tied to killing). That's a direct trait of what they are and what they evolved from.

The one way I'd expect dancing to be integral is if it was somehow directly tied to survival somehow. For example: Beenia's people are lure-predators that have bioluminescence and/or color-changing skin and use complex movements (dancing) along with changing their colors to lure prey to them (or look like poisonous prey to repel predators), as well as a variety of other functions such as communicating. They would have physical adoptions to make not only complex movements but to mimic the movements of other animals or plants.

Or at least his was the species the sentient, tool-using people come from. They still use vocals to communicate complex ideas (after all, you don't need line of sight for vocal communications) but still come with old, hard-wired instincts to do things that to humans looks like (and can be on occasion) dancing. Body-language would have whole slew of undertones to them, as well as clothing (a desire for tool-use: to augment their ability to mimic animals). It would also explain why her species would be mesmerizing and attractive to other aliens (which in of itself is silly, imagine how attractive a bat would find a crab), evolution built them to be that way. A member of her species doing what looks like dancing is then light-show in of themselves, even though what the actual members of the species are doing may be something more complex like protesting or making a speech or even trying to sell something.
Now THAT way, dancing would make sense as a species-wide, physical trait.

As for the database, here's an idea: it is Danica's commentary and/or letters to someone, like her parents who are curious about all the aliens and places their daughter meets and sees. It would give it more character, the subjective nature of the writing would make sense and would excuse politically incorrect (or otherwise strange) statements as well as allow "what I recall and what I heard" level of knowledge.
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

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At this point I think we're just debating what *constitutes* an evolutionary vs cultural adaptation. I'd say that a tendency towards certain skills falls pretty heavily in both, and physical ones often have evolutionary advantages. Dancing has obvious advantages in fitness, in making individuals better suited to movement for both running and fighting, increasing survivability in hunts and such due to better balance, dexterity, and developed muscles.
As for the database, here's an idea: it is Danica's commentary and/or letters to someone, like her parents who are curious about all the aliens and places their daughter meets and sees. It would give it more character, the subjective nature of the writing would make sense and would excuse politically incorrect (or otherwise strange) statements as well as allow "what I recall and what I heard" level of knowledge.
That'd be interesting, though Danica herself would give more of a biased, glowy telling IMO, rather than spending a lot of time on stuff like the darker histories of a number of them- the criminal aspect of a couple get mentioned (as the Void Angels do get a good amount of focus early on). So maybe someone else.
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

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On topic: one thing I wonder is just how biologically altered is Danica. I mean she can survive in the vacuum of space and she can open her mouth. Is there a low-grade force-field keeping air around her that also constantly recycles her air? Does Mitch oxygenate her blood and shut down her lungs? Does she taste and feel vacuum? Is she now actually a supertech-powered cyborg with tech so smoothly inserted/replacing her bodyparts that she hasn't noticed or felt different? It is noted that when she was low on charge she felt odd or bad and felt better when she did get charge.

Q99: You keep making arguments why dancing is a good, useful activity when the question is how would it be an inborn, hardwired trait to a species. There is little point in discussing why dancing would be picked up culturally because I never really made an argument about that.

About the logs: It doesn't necessarily have to be Danica herself, it could be any member of the cast. My point is to simply give the narrator of the filler pieces be someone who isn't obligated to give objective overviews and facts.
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

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Well, as we see in the comic helpfully included... StarPowered Danica is GLOWING. It is very possible the glow is a force-shield that keeps her alive and functional in vacuum.
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

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Zixinus wrote: Q99: You keep making arguments why dancing is a good, useful activity when the question is how would it be an inborn, hardwired trait to a species. There is little point in discussing why dancing would be picked up culturally because I never really made an argument about that.
If you're talking about evolution, they're related, that is the answer to the question, being a good, useful activity is why interest in it would be an inborn trait.

Like, cats play with each other because it leads to developing hunting skills. *Because* it is a good, useful activity, they are inborn with the desire to play, their evolutionary instincts are wired to do it, and you will almost never see a kitten who doesn't play. It's not a cultural thing, it's instinctive behavior.

That's it, that's how evolution of behaviors work. If it's useful, instincts to encourage it evolving can develop. It's not anything more complex than that.

About the logs: It doesn't necessarily have to be Danica herself, it could be any member of the cast. My point is to simply give the narrator of the filler pieces be someone who isn't obligated to give objective overviews and facts.
Yea, and the fact one log is 'hacked' and another is blanked supports that in-universe thing.
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

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Zixinus wrote:Is she now actually a supertech-powered cyborg with tech so smoothly inserted/replacing her bodyparts that she hasn't noticed or felt different? It is noted that when she was low on charge she felt odd or bad and felt better when she did get charge.
When she spends a week near a sun its implied she spent the whole week there without break and there's no indication of any standard human bodily functions like eating or waste. Though this could be only in her 'star powered' state rather than in normal form.
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

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When the Star Power was going dark, it was noted it'd be a detriment to *her* health and likely kill her too. So, it seems to me like it's fairly integrated, and yea, Mitch almost certainly oxygenates her blood and/or constantly recycles her air.
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

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"Mitch" is permanently attached to her hand, inset into the skin, so yes, he's pretty well stuck in there.

Near the end of Book One, it's implied the only way to remove the StarPower gems is for the host to be dead.
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

Post by Soontir C'boath »

Leaving a comment now, but I read through it all to date last week staying up til 5AM. I do like it when antagonists are not necessarily black and white and do have depth to them so it was quite enjoyable.

I can see where Zixinus is going, but at the end of the day, it isn't in the same league as ST would do.
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

Post by Zixinus »

Mitch is probably being upgraded right now, that's why he's (he?) unresponsive.

It's interesting how much Danica has adopted to her powers, how she reflexively goes out into the vacuum of space to have a breakdown. She is obviously going on automatic and this is her first reaction. That actually makes me wonder whether she just embraced her powers that much or maybe becoming a Sentinel changed her brain a little too. It would explain how she is able to use some of it instinctively and without training.
If you're talking about evolution, they're related, that is the answer to the question, being a good, useful activity is why interest in it would be an inborn trait.

Like, cats play with each other because it leads to developing hunting skills. *Because* it is a good, useful activity, they are inborn with the desire to play, their evolutionary instincts are wired to do it, and you will almost never see a kitten who doesn't play. It's not a cultural thing, it's instinctive behavior.

That's it, that's how evolution of behaviors work. If it's useful, instincts to encourage it evolving can develop. It's not anything more complex than that.
No, it isn't. Evolution in action can be quite complex. It does not help that you keep making the same argument over and over again, which I find aggravating. I am going to explain this one more time, on top of the posts I already made:

Your reasons do not explain HOW dancing would be an inborn trait because you fail to explain HOW it would take part in evolution.

Predators chasing and pouncing on things being instinctual makes sense because it is directly tied to GETTING FOOD. Wolves actually have a hard time chasing and killings things that don't move. You can see wolves are chasers in how they are built, how they socialize, what part of the food chain they are part of, etc. They practically define not just the species but an entire GENUS (somewhat). A canine without a chase instinct has a strong problem getting food. How would being unable to dance be on a similar level?

All you provide is why dancing is a beneficial activity in of itself but not how it would help either SURVIVAL or REPRODUCTION. You provide rationalizations for why it is good but not how it would be tied to any evolutionary role (What does dancing provide that play doesn't already?). This is not even getting how you again confused complex, learned behavior with simple, inborn behavior.

The example background I gave earlier would give a reason why dancing would be an inborn trait. If you use dance to attract food and/or repel predators and/or essential (and I do mean essential and biological, not "usual part of a date" but "this needs to happen or there won't be a baby" essential) to mate, it being an inborn behavior (or activities that humans would just put under the umbrella term of "dancing") makes sense. It would give justification, even if its clumsy and silly biologically speaking.

It would also give justifications why other species would find them attractive: a species that is very sensitive to body motions and has an urge of mimicry may understand the body language of other species better. Naturally, that would be appreciated. Someone making the extra effort to accommodate on general principle you does have that effect. On top of being lightshows when they want to be.
Yea, and the fact one log is 'hacked' and another is blanked supports that in-universe thing.
Yes (and I never said that the fluff pieces are out-of-universe, although they do sometimes feel like author's notes) and I recall it being "official" encyclopedia of some sort, maybe even for United Earth. Which it is very weird thing for that.
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

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Zixinus wrote:No, it isn't. Evolution in action can be quite complex. It does not help that you keep making the same argument over and over again, which I find aggravating. I am going to explain this one more time, on top of the posts I already made:
I'm trying to make the point you're making this too complex and it really is straightforward and basic.
Your reasons do not explain HOW dancing would be an inborn trait because you fail to explain HOW it would take part in evolution.

Predators chasing and pouncing on things being instinctual makes sense because it is directly tied to GETTING FOOD.
And dancing increases balance and coordination... like I said. Which helps stuff like movement through trees and rough terrain, evading predators, and similar. It also transitions very well to the type of coordination needed for martial arts and fighting. It's a bit more indirect, but the survival benefits are there. There's survival benefits. You agree there's survival benefits, right?


Dance is a very common thing in many species. Heck, you could argue it's instinctively present in humans for these reasons, if not to the same extent.
All you provide is why dancing is a beneficial activity in of itself but not how it would help either SURVIVAL or REPRODUCTION.
How is something being beneficial to things like movement and coordination not beneficial to survival and reproduction? That's the disconnect I have. I mean, it obviously demonstrates fitness, which is a reproduction benefit, and it also aids in the development of skills that increase survival in a wide number of situations. A being with good balance and coordination is better suited to hunting/running/climbing/etc..

It doesn't even have to be for any specific benefit- it's such a general thing that it's useful in many areas, so a little benefit here, a little there... evolution doesn't care if you can give a specific reason for a specific trait or behavior, it only cares if the development of a trait increases odds of survival. Indeed, it's quite common that something develop for one reason then to be repurposed into something else in evolution. A mating activity can twist into something used in hunting because a skill's been developed... or vice versa. I'm not saying what specific benefit would cause it because the fact that it's useful in a wide number of physical skills is a better reason still. General increase in balance, dexterity, and coordination is a broad-use advantage, so that's it.


You're seeing there's benefits, but dividing 'benefits' from 'survival benefits' somehow (are they not direct enough?), and I don't get it. The reason I'm repeating myself is because it looks to me like you're looking for an additional, unnecessary step that you're adding in there, looking for a very specific link in a chain to point to a very specific cause, and I'm trying to say, no, it really is simplier than that, something has benefits = it has a reason to evolve.
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

Post by Soontir C'boath »

I'm just going to pop this here.
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

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I've waited a day to see this more calmly. I'm going to make this point and then drop this argument because otherwise this is going nowhere: evolution doesn't happen in a vacuum. Traits, even positive traits, compete for fitness and survival. Evolution may be simple in theory but complex interconnection of pressures and adaptions to those pressures. These pressures and responses to these pressures create the complexity of life trough evolution.

What you are talking about isn't wrong, it's just recitation of the simple bits of theory without actually considering how practice works out, without putting it into a proper context. Dancing or activities that humans describe as dancing (because really, dancing is a human activity and we merely use the word descriptively when it comes to animals doing it) needs a reason to happen, whether its just for things like mating, getting food or avoid being food or even as dominance displays in mating competition. Without things like these, why would an animal waste valuable energy and time doing it when it can spend it on things like looking for more food and/or mates? Sure, it can help improve coordination and fitness but play and actual hunting/food gathering do that already.

You don't address that question, the fluff page about Beena's species does not address that question. I gave an example of how it would. You give an answer that is from a completely different discussion.
And dancing increases balance and coordination... like I said. Which helps stuff like movement through trees and rough terrain, evading predators, and similar. It also transitions very well to the type of coordination needed for martial arts and fighting. It's a bit more indirect, but the survival benefits are there. There's survival benefits. You agree there's survival benefits, right?
They're a laundry list of why people that I find more likely to be rationalizations of people that like dancing. They are justifications why humans would benefit from dancing. That is my problem: context. I'm talking in the context of evolution and characterization of instinctual behavior of a hypothetical sentient species. The don't mix well.
I can see where Zixinus is going, but at the end of the day, it isn't in the same league as ST would do.
I haven't watched much ST and I'm not trying to compare anything to ST. I'm making the criticism within of itself.
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madd0ct0r
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

Post by madd0ct0r »

The obvious 'justification' for it to me would be a variety on 'if a shark stops swimming, it dies'

So consider a species with one particular circulatory system that is driven, pumped, by large movement of the individual. Not unlike the human lymph system, perhaps, or the fact dog's need walking to prevent constipation. Movement for movement's sake isn't energy efficient, but if that movement is always required, like the dog's endurance hunter ancestor, than it could be hijacked for other purposes in the body too. Move to a new, high tech environment and the original need is gone (humans no longer spend their days as pursuit hunters), but side effects of that lifestyle remain (average commuting patterns, runner's high, camaraderie when walking and talking ect). The other side is that movement for movement's sake is required, if say the type of muscle developed looses elasticity too quickly without use (or warmth, perhaps), so constant movement and flexing is required to keep the ability to move well.
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Zixinus
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

Post by Zixinus »

That too would be a great reason. It would not lead directly to dancing but it would give plenty of justification for cultural embrace of dancing, which is in a way better than what I suggested because it gives an element of choice.
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Q99
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Re: A fun SF webcomic- Star Power

Post by Q99 »

Zixinus wrote: You don't address that question, the fluff page about Beena's species does not address that question. I gave an example of how it would. You give an answer that is from a completely different discussion.
What you are asking for, at base, is "why did it evolve?".

To which there's two possible answers. One, the basic, straitforward, "This is what makes it beneficial and here's some reasons it'd evolved." I've given this, I think we can both agree on that, that's the 'different discussion' you're referring to, right?

Two, the precise evolutionary history and reason- the *specific* situation that encouraged it, which we don't have on many traits on species we know, on Earth, in real life. And in this case, we don't know the world or the history of the species, so we definitely can't tell you. Which doesn't make a species being good at dance implausible, it's just the 'chain of custody,' so to speak, we don't have.

Evolution doesn't happen in a vacuum, but "here's aspects beneficial in a wide variety of situations associated with this trait," tells us that it'd be a situation associated with those benefits... which, as it is a fairly general adaptation, doesn't actually narrow it down too much. It's a broadly useful instinct that'd be helpful in hunting, avoiding prey, and social mating practices That's three contexts I've mentioned, a couple times even, and it could be one of 'em or all three or those and more.

If it was a more limited trait it'd be easier, ironically enough, but it's simply associated with agility etc., which is so broadly useful that it's much harder to give you a specific answer. Reverse engineering the circumstances of a specialist trait is much easier than reverse engineering the circumstances of a generalist one.

They're a laundry list of why people that I find more likely to be rationalizations of people that like dancing. They are justifications why humans would benefit from dancing. That is my problem: context. I'm talking in the context of evolution and characterization of instinctual behavior of a hypothetical sentient species. The don't mix well.
If you want the history of their specific evolutionary path, their world and developmental history, well, we don't have that, we have yet to see the species' homeworld or history or such- but nor does not having that make such a general use trait implausible.

I'm making the criticism within of itself.
It comes across to me as you having a very high bar on this specific trait.

Dance isn't a very implausible feature in your view, is it? To me, a very basic general adaptation doesn't require much explanation because it has so many explanations innately, it's somewhat self-explaining.
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