Re: [GZG] Bovine rebuttal

You mean neanderthal. You know, while the research apparently shows
that they weren't as smart as us, they DID have the larger braincases.
:) The History Channel special I saw presented them a bit like dwarves
in fantasy: stocky, hairy, gruff, suited to cold temperatures and
extreme conditions, and more resistant to physical trauma.

Cro magnons competed with them. They were taller, less hairy, and less
durable, but they were fast talkers. They were famous for their
marketing executives, telephone sanitizers, and tax collectors. The
neanderthals never knew what hit them.

The B5 case you describe is interesting: the Centauri and the Xon(?)
developed at the same time on the same planet, but had no contact with
one another until late in their technological development. I find it
implausible that both races would be nearly at parity when they met--
enough that it was a serious fight-- but OTOH the older races meddled
in every world's development so maybe they set things up that way. The
Hyach and the Hyach-do(again, spelling?) apparantly co-evolved (until
the former exterminated the latter).

That case is interesting because it presents a THIRD possibility: two
nearly identical species that develop at the same time, not as
competitors but as clades of some parent species. Which considering it
happened on Earth isn't insane.

It could explain the Sia'na among the Kra'vak. While they're believed
to be a rare mutation, this might be flawed intelligence gathered by
humans. A parallel Kra'vak-related species might have evolved on a
less competitive continent/region, in a place where Rokah was selected
against. Then when they encountered the main species they were
decimated until firearms were invented and a subspecies that just took
the suppression marker instead of the extra casualties became
attractive.

One thing I'd love to think about is how Kra'vak psychology enters
into their strategic thinking and culture. Fear and intimidation
tactics may be based on low-level instincts, but they manifest at
every level of human culture. Again, like in Footfall. You get these
moments where people realize how alien the aliens' thinking is. Stuff
that if the whole race does it works just fine, but then when they
bump into us we don't make any sense to each other.

On Sat, May 31, 2008 at 4:12 PM, john tailby <John_Tailby@xtra.co.nz>
wrote:
> Parrallel sentient development nearly happened on Earth with Cro
Magnon man
> and Homo Sapiens and Dolphins may well count as sentient non
technical.
>
> If you had two similar creatures that existed in the same ecological
niche
> they would compete and the most efficient would win. With the loser
> consigned to extinction.
>
> I imagine it would be difficult to develop a technological society on
a
> planet with large super predators, Dragons, T-rex etc. You would not
get
> started developing the necessary infrastructure before some predator
pack
> assaulted your encampment of skin huts and scattered your band. I
imagine it
> would be hard to develop technology under those circumstances.
>
> One of the B5 races had parrallel sentient development and then
conducted
> their own ethnic cleansing to get rid of one of the races.
>
> All sorts of interesting possibilities.
>
>
>
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-- 
Robert Mayberry
(678) 984-5113
Robert.Mayberry@gmail.com

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