Posted by Lieutenant Alison Barr (Chief Science Officer) in CSO’s Office- Cadet Wisniewski Reporting for Duty

Posted by Cadet Stanislaw Wisniewski (Scientist) in CSO’s Office- Cadet Wisniewski Reporting for Duty

Posted by Lieutenant Alison Barr (Chief Science Officer) in CSO’s Office- Cadet Wisniewski Reporting for Duty
Posted by… suppressed (9) by the Post Ghost! 👻
<snip>
Alison nodded. “It’s why I’m out here, even if flying around in these tin cans is not my favorite thing. I much prefer being on a planet somewhere, studying something. But it is what it is.”

Taking a sip of her coffee, Alison leaned back in her chair. “So after deciding that you wanted to go into the sciences, what did you decide to specialize in?”

Lt Barr - CSO

Stan took a sip of his own coffee before answering the Lieutenant’s question. “With my love of learning about other cultures, I was drawn towards anthropology, which is my main area of focus. I’ve also taken quite a few courses in archaeology, because it’s another way of learning about other cultures…just ones that may no longer be around to talk to us.”

Cadet Wisniewski, Scientist

Alison leaned forward in her chair, setting her arms on the desk. That peaked her interest. “What draws you to learning about other cultures? I’ve always been fascinated about exploring different life that exists in the universe, but I tend to focus more on the micro. My own specialty is in exobiology, and recently I’ve been studying how certain fungi adapt to new environments. I like seeing how different organisms adapt when put into unexpected situations.”

Lt Barr - CSO

Stan took another sip of his coffee, and pondered the question while swallowing. It was a good question, and one that he found somewhat difficult to articulate an answer to. Other cultures had fascinated him for as long as he could remember, ever since he first learned about some of the other Federation races that his father worked with in the Diplomatic Corps.

“Other cultures interest me because I have always been amazed by the diversity of intelligent life in the galaxy. There are such an astounding variety of social structures and values and belief systems…and, yet, there are also almost always some similarities that can be spotted, too. I love learning about the differences but also looking for the common ground,” he said.

Hopefully that made some sort of sense, he thought, and took a small, nervous sip of coffee.

Cadet Wisniewski, Scientist

Alison nodded as she studied Stan over her own cup. “Do you have a theory on why there are so many similarities between all of these different cultures?”

Lt Barr - CSO

Stan carefully put his coffee cup down on the Lieutenant’s desk before answering her question. He knew he tended to talk with his hands a lot when he got excited, and this was one of his favorite topics.

“There are so many fascinating theories about that! Some like to think it has something to do with the influence of ancient intelligences that helped shape the evolution of modern societies, like the Preservers who rescued some species that were in danger of extinction or the ancient humanoids who supposedly seeded worlds with DNA.” Stan paused briefly, remembering that the Lieutenant asked for his theory not for a summary of all the ideas in the field.

“But,” he started up again, while spreading his hands apart as if to dismiss those other theories, “those explanations don’t really satisfy me. Because they seem very focused on humanoid species. But we can even find some cultural similarities in intelligent species that aren’t humanoid…the Gorn or the Horta or the Tholians. I think some of these things that we think of as culture might have a root in evolutionary biology…that they are necessary for intelligent life to evolve!” He knew he was expressively waving his hands around in front of his face as he talked; he couldn’t help it.

“So maybe there isn’t really that much of a distinction, after all, between exobiology and anthropology. All the sciences connect to each other, they are part of a continuum, and something found in one area can help answer a question in another. Maybe the fungi you are studying will help answer the question you asked me!”

He smiled slightly, a combination of enthusiasm about what he was saying and slight embarrassment about his enthusiasm. He brought his hands from where they had last been gesturing into his lap, then thought a moment and reached back out for his cup of coffee.

Cadet Wisniewski, Scientist

OOC: Sorry! I somehow missed answering this thread. (PS: Nice use of a snip!)
IC:
Alison set her own cup down as she thought about what he had said. “I get what you are saying. But you also can’t rule out the possibility of some sort of higher intelligence ‘seeding the galaxy’ to create humanoid species. Your theory just accounts for the cultural similarities between humanoid and non-humanoid species.

“But as you dig into it, it’s almost a statistical anomaly that there are so many humanoid type species. This form is decent overall, but it is not the best,” she said gesturing to herself. “Not to mention the sheer amount of similarities between all of the different species. So what drove all of the different evolutionary processes to end up at such a similar form?”

Lt Barr - CSO

OOC: No worries, I was a bit slow in responding to your previous post here, so it was easy for this to get lost in the shuffle! Glad I used the snip well!

Stan nodded. “Oh yes. Certainly ancient humanoids seeding the galaxy explains the prevalence of the form. Like you said, it doesn’t seem like the best form overall. Why not something with thicker skin, or dozens of razor sharp teeth…or wings!”, he said, flapping his arms with that last comment.

“But even if that explains the prevalence of the form, I don’t think it can totally account for the cultural similarities since it doesn’t also take the similarities with non-humanoid species into account. Trying to explain both- the prevalence of the humanoid form and similarities between humanoid and non-humanoid cultures- is a big task. And I’ll admit I can’t do that yet. But that is part of the fun of being a scientist, I think, trying to come up with an explanation that takes all of the data into account!”

Cadet Wisniewski, Scientist