test content
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc

Who messed up earth's development?

proteusrexproteusrex Member Posts: 62 Arc User
edited April 2015 in Ten Forward
Reading through the Prime Directive discussion, this comment got me thinking...
drreverend wrote: »
And again, Humans have no clue what a pure culture looks like, since they don't come from one. They were uplifted by aliens who did play god, and apparently okay with that since they keep naming ships after them.

How many races, machines and individuals have interfered with earth's development?

This is what I can think of off the top of my head.

Preservers
Apollo (and the Greek gods)
Redjac (Jack the Ripper)
Gary Seven
The 'Whale Probe' from Star Trek IV
The 'Sky Spirit' from Tattoo
The aliens from The '37s
The Devidians

I haven't even crossed into Temporal manipulation yet...
Captain Braxton and the Timeship Aeon
The Borg

If you assume that the slightest interference could have big repercussions, it seems to me that the only reason humanity got to where it is, is because everyone and their brothers have dipped their toes into humanity's development.

Can you think of any other instances?
Post edited by proteusrex on

Comments

  • gulberatgulberat Member Posts: 5,505 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    The Vulcans. That is the big one right there and I am convinced they severely disrupted human culture and stole the independence we needed to come up with our own solution to our conflicts. By later Starfleet criteria, contacting Earth without a unified government and taking HUGE advantage of them to try to change their culture and force the direction of their development is an egregious violation.

    Whatever you think of Archer, I think he is right when it comes to the Vulcans.

    (I am ignoring the First Contact Borg incursion since almost no one knew about that.)

    Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-)
    Proudly F2P.  Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
  • kojirohellfirekojirohellfire Member Posts: 1,606 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    Possibly the Platonians as well. Also, the Megans.
  • drreverenddrreverend Member Posts: 459 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    I think Earth formed a unified government in no small part because the Vulcans were completely apathetic to the differences between the various national governments or ethnic groups or factions. Humans had to face the harsh reality that to aliens the difference between our cultures is fairly minor and inconsequential. In other words, they treated us like a Planet of Hats.

    Humans responded by uniting while simultaneously becoming more flamboyant about loudly asserting their various cultures and traditions, most of which go completely over the heads of other species... who all have just as many cultural factions and nations and divides and races that we're completely blind to unless you're a cultural anthropologist or spend twenty years living among them.

    I mean, to a Vulcan, if you're from Gol or one of the other provinces means something, while at the same time, they don't really care or see the difference between a Human from Japan or Brazil. Humans united because the Vulcans kept talking at us like we were, or refused to talk to us until we figured out who was going to speak for all of us.

    That and there's an element of shame. The Vulcans showed up and saw us digging out of wreckage of our own stupidity and madness, and to Humanity that's terribly humiliating. It's like having a big noisy family argument in front of guests. While we'd been fine to quarrel among ourselves for centuries, now all of a sudden someone else was watching us fight... and judging us as a bunch of savages. Shame has always held an important element in how our societies function.

    What annoyed the Vulcans was that Humans are stubborn, irrational, argumentative, and don't like being told what to do. Including that they keep trying to pull off the Hat the Vulcans kept putting on them. That and Humans have a hard time resisting the impulse to TRIBBLE with Vulcans. It's like an entire species of British Royal Palace Guards, and us monkeys do love making faces at them just to see if they'll crack a smile.

    So, for the first time, united in shame and this unshakable sense that the newcomers are just bemused every time we try to provide a rational reason for why we blew ourselves up, and on top of that their unchanging, unyielding frowns as we keep trying to justify ourselves, Humanity sort of forces itself to grow up, take responsibility for itself, and start trying to act like adults.

    Because we're not alone anymore and it's embarrassing having guests seeing our house in such a mess.
  • giannicampanellagiannicampanella Member Posts: 424 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    You forgot the El-Aurians as well as other humans from the future besides Gary Seven who may or may not have worked for the El-Aurians since it would seem the absence of Guinan's ship in 1893 suggests transwarp beaming like Gary Seven.

    But, yeah, the only reason any backward culture among humans on Earth ever developed beyond their cultural limits was because of interference from more advanced cultures. That's just nature. Bottom line is that the Prime Directive is historically and ethically absolute TRIBBLE and everyone knows it inside and outside the Star Trek universe.
    Greenbird
  • kojirohellfirekojirohellfire Member Posts: 1,606 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    You forgot the El-Aurians as well as other humans from the future besides Gary Seven who may or may not have worked for the El-Aurians since it would seem the absence of Guinan's ship in 1893 suggests transwarp beaming like Gary Seven.

    Not really... all it means is that she hid it rather well.
  • drreverenddrreverend Member Posts: 459 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    Alternatively, and this is a theory I'm personally fond of because I find it amusing, everyone's just as dysfunctional and has their history as mucked up as the Humans. Weird TRIBBLE like the first Andorian monkeys sent into orbit being fond a century later with psychic powers, time travel, so on, that happens to everyone.

    The Prime Directive is basically the Federation going "Let's not add to the problem!"
  • steamwrightsteamwright Member Posts: 2,820
    edited April 2015
    You'd have to add the TOS crew to those time travel things.

    1.) though the time line was mended, we've no idea exactly how Edith Keeler was originally supposed to die, and the TOS trio probably stepped on a few butterflies along the way. Not enough to wreck time, but subtly alter it.

    Also there are the passengers of Quark's shuttle, which apparently became contributing factors to the alien conspiracy theories of the 1950s.

    Oddly, I might count Flint as altering earth's development. Although one of us, his incredible lifespan allowed him to effect culture and development in a way no mortal human could.
  • kojirohellfirekojirohellfire Member Posts: 1,606 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    ,
    Oddly, I might count Flint as altering earth's development. Although one of us, his incredible lifespan allowed him to effect culture and development in a way no mortal human could.

    That is odd, since Flint was a native Earthling. A mutant, yes, but still an Earthling. I wouldn't count him, personally.
  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,231 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    Why do people forget Quetzalcoatl? :P
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    My character Tsin'xing
    Costume_marhawkman_Tsin%27xing_CC_Comic_Page_Blue_488916968.jpg
  • rambowdoubledashrambowdoubledash Member Posts: 298 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    In fact I have a story right now where at least one person has pointed out that folk seem to appear in Earth, particularly Earth's mid to late 20th century, quite a bit. The situation has been studied, and thus far the reason why folk tend to end up in Earth's 20th century is because folk tend to end up in Earth's 20th century.

    It's a tautological paradox that the Department of Temporal Investigations assumes will be solved by the 29th century.

    It has not been solved by the 29th century.
  • bradchristopher1bradchristopher1 Member Posts: 307
    edited April 2015
    proteusrex wrote: »
    Reading through the Prime Directive discussion, this comment got me thinking...



    How many races, machines and individuals have interfered with earth's development?

    This is what I can think of off the top of my head.

    Preservers
    Apollo (and the Greek gods)
    Redjac (Jack the Ripper)
    Gary Seven
    The 'Whale Probe' from Star Trek IV
    The 'Sky Spirit' from Tattoo
    The aliens from The '37s
    The Devidians

    I haven't even crossed into Temporal manipulation yet...
    Captain Braxton and the Timeship Aeon
    The Borg

    If you assume that the slightest interference could have big repercussions, it seems to me that the only reason humanity got to where it is, is because everyone and their brothers have dipped their toes into humanity's development.

    Can you think of any other instances?



    Here are quite a few, including two from Enterprise (Carbon Creek Regeneration and I recall even a klingon smuggler were on earth.)

    http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Earth
  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,231 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    oh yeah... the Vulcans decided to leave Earth alone after taking a CLOSE look at the people.
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    My character Tsin'xing
    Costume_marhawkman_Tsin%27xing_CC_Comic_Page_Blue_488916968.jpg
  • antonine3258antonine3258 Member Posts: 2,391 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    In fact I have a story right now where at least one person has pointed out that folk seem to appear in Earth, particularly Earth's mid to late 20th century, quite a bit. The situation has been studied, and thus far the reason why folk tend to end up in Earth's 20th century is because folk tend to end up in Earth's 20th century.

    It's a tautological paradox that the Department of Temporal Investigations assumes will be solved by the 29th century.

    It has not been solved by the 29th century.

    Well, in timeline, the 20th century had a huge leap forward in technological progress and social change that ended in-universe with the Eugenics War (probably. Possibly. They may be moved due to a scheduling error :P ) that set the trends leading to WW3 and the Cochrane flight, after which Earth reformed and started the trends that led to the Federation, which is going to end up culturally dominating everyone, eventually, apparently.

    So if you're trying to tweak the next millennium of the galaxy with a minimum of effort, the late 20th century Earth is a good place to start.
    Fate - protects fools, small children, and ships named Enterprise Will Riker

    Member Access Denied Armada!

    My forum single-issue of rage: Make the Proton Experimental Weapon go for subsystem targetting!
Sign In or Register to comment.