Kaidan Alenko (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
not_a_whiner) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2012-10-26 06:28 am
not_a_whiner) wrote in fandomhigh2012-10-26 06:28 am
Entry tags:
Astro Sciences, Friday
"Good morning," Kaidan said, leaning back against his desk as he watched the students come in. "Tomorrow, some of us will be leaving for the Citadel to get a look at how galactic society might pan out. So today's an excellent time to start talking to you about alien species, and, uh... well, evolution."
He pressed a few buttons on his omni-tool. "In my universe," he said, "Humanity hasn't been around the galactic stage for very long - just a couple of decades. The first species that we met... well, it didn't go so well."
An image appeared. "Turians," he said, "are an avian species. So if you think this guy looks like a bird or a dinosaur, you're not entirely wrong. Their home planet of Palaven has a low-metal core, which means the magnetic field it generates isn't as good at keeping radiation out. But the turians are adapted to that kind of environment: look at the metal exoskeleton."
He gestured at the image. "Now turians have a slight quirk of biology - and they're hardly the only ones. While life on Earth tends to be built out of levo-amino acids, life on Palaven primarily functions based on dextro-aminos. That means that your average turian will not be able to consume food: they either can't process it, or it gives them an allergic reaction."
"They come from an originally clan-based society," he continued, "Your average turian will still have the markings on his face to denote what clan he or she's from. Nowadays, though, most turians are entirely loyal to the Turian Hierarchy, and either serve or have served in the military. Because the best way to keep them from fighting each other... was making a big clan out of all of them."
Kaidan studied the class. "So, yeah," he said, shutting off the image. "Alien species aren't all that different from human beings - their bodies and their societies have adapted to the situations they've had to face, but that doesn't change the fact that they're all individuals. Individuals who can be cruel or kind, enemies or friends. You're not going to meet one turian that's exactly the same as the one you met last. And maybe that's the most astounding thing about it all... that there can be so many of us, in so many different forms, and yet we're still all sentient beings, you know?"
He took a breath. "We'll be talking more about the influence that circumstances have on different species over the next few weeks," he said, "We'll also be talking a little about interspecies diplomacy, which is... not my area of expertise, but it's important.
He picked up a stack of papers. "Now I've got some hand-outs about all the major alien species in my galaxy," he said. "Look through those, prepare yourself. And compare and contrast them with their home planets and that of any species you might know. Environment... doesn't determine everything, but it does play a big role."
"As for today's assignment, I'd like you to talk about what parts of your environment helped shape who you are," he said. "That can be you personally, or it can be whatever forces shaped your species, or anything in between. Just think about it. And I hope to see most of you this weekend."
He pressed a few buttons on his omni-tool. "In my universe," he said, "Humanity hasn't been around the galactic stage for very long - just a couple of decades. The first species that we met... well, it didn't go so well."
An image appeared. "Turians," he said, "are an avian species. So if you think this guy looks like a bird or a dinosaur, you're not entirely wrong. Their home planet of Palaven has a low-metal core, which means the magnetic field it generates isn't as good at keeping radiation out. But the turians are adapted to that kind of environment: look at the metal exoskeleton."
He gestured at the image. "Now turians have a slight quirk of biology - and they're hardly the only ones. While life on Earth tends to be built out of levo-amino acids, life on Palaven primarily functions based on dextro-aminos. That means that your average turian will not be able to consume food: they either can't process it, or it gives them an allergic reaction."
"They come from an originally clan-based society," he continued, "Your average turian will still have the markings on his face to denote what clan he or she's from. Nowadays, though, most turians are entirely loyal to the Turian Hierarchy, and either serve or have served in the military. Because the best way to keep them from fighting each other... was making a big clan out of all of them."
Kaidan studied the class. "So, yeah," he said, shutting off the image. "Alien species aren't all that different from human beings - their bodies and their societies have adapted to the situations they've had to face, but that doesn't change the fact that they're all individuals. Individuals who can be cruel or kind, enemies or friends. You're not going to meet one turian that's exactly the same as the one you met last. And maybe that's the most astounding thing about it all... that there can be so many of us, in so many different forms, and yet we're still all sentient beings, you know?"
He took a breath. "We'll be talking more about the influence that circumstances have on different species over the next few weeks," he said, "We'll also be talking a little about interspecies diplomacy, which is... not my area of expertise, but it's important.
He picked up a stack of papers. "Now I've got some hand-outs about all the major alien species in my galaxy," he said. "Look through those, prepare yourself. And compare and contrast them with their home planets and that of any species you might know. Environment... doesn't determine everything, but it does play a big role."
"As for today's assignment, I'd like you to talk about what parts of your environment helped shape who you are," he said. "That can be you personally, or it can be whatever forces shaped your species, or anything in between. Just think about it. And I hope to see most of you this weekend."
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Listen to the Lecture
Re: Listen to the Lecture
centaurChironian classmate and aJedi bunnyKushiban Jedi master growing up.. . . and Chewbacca, a thought that still gave him a pang of guilt, so he frowned and ducked his head a bit.
Read the Handouts
Re: Read the Handouts
Fine, it was seven others.
Look, if staring intensely at factual articles reduced the number of stupid, accidentally rude things she said when meeting actual aliens, Ace would go with that.
Discussion: What made you what you are?
What shaped you personally? What shaped your species?
Talk to the TA
Re: Talk to the TA
What, so he saw some similarities there. So what?
Talk to the Teacher
OOC