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Romashka comments on Rationality Quotes May 2013 - Less Wrong
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And yet it is still so easy to imagine such an outcome. Actually, I am more surprised that they chose such similar roads more than they are close in achievements. For example, maybe Vulcans would have made breakthroughs in areas that have no value for Romulans, and viva a versa.
That the Vulcans and the Romulans have incredibly close levels of technology is surprising, yes; but not nearly as surprising as the idea that the Humans, the Klingons, the Betazoids, and about a hundred or so other species all have such incredibly similar technology levels, and all without any hint of shared history before they developed their seperate warp drives.
Aww, maybe we should control for the Mysterious Space Police culling thing, and then the results would diverge like preschoolers let out on a May day. Like, there's a Prime Prime Directive. The MSP didn't apprehend Nero (natch), and look what happened?!
...I'm making a fully general counterargument, aren't I?:)
Well, considering that it's a fictional universe, the reason why so many species have such similar technology levels is clear; it's more enjoyable to listen to stories about species who are close enough technologically that there's some narrative tension about who will win in a given contest. While you can tell stories about vastly more powerful empires (see, for example, Q) such stories are better taken in small doses; and Q never actually goes flat-out against the Federation, because if he does, the Federation will lose instantly and there will be no story. (Occasionally, the Federation has an effect in a Q-vs.-Q conflict, but that's as far as it goes).
I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "the Mysterious Space Police culling thing", though.
Agree. I meant there were other aliens far more technologically advanced who regulated the rates of development. (Sorry, I am not very interested in this discussion, but maybe someone other might be.)
Thank you for the explanation.