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In science fiction you pretty much have to accept either a single source of life or amazing convergent evolution. How can Vulcans mate successfully with humans

In science fiction you pretty much have to accept either a single source of life or amazing convergent evolution. How can Vulcans mate successfully with humans in Star Trek, if they aren't animals very closely related to Homo sapiens? Or the humans in Star Wars that lived "long ago in a galaxy far far away".

yjftsjthsd-h 2y ago
And in both Star Trek and Star Wars, the answer eventually given somewhere in the lore is that a very long time ago someone seeded the entire galaxy with (humanoid?) life and it is all in a single tree. (See https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Progenitor https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Progenitor and https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Celestial/Legends#Architects https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Celestial/Legends#Architect... )
- nine_k 2y ago
  Chimps, gorillas, and humans are very close in the genetic tree, but cannot cross-breed. For a high level of genetic compatibility, constant contact and cross-breeding are likely required.
  - jncfhnb 2y ago
    It is actually not clear whether chimp/human hybrids are impossible. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanzee https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanzee It’s possible it was actually going to happen if not disrupted in China during the cultural revolution
- josefx 2y ago
  > and it is all in a single tree That seems to apply to the Star Trek one, which going by the lore seems to be more of an artificially maintained rotten stump that had any potential for divergent/adaptive growth preemptively cut. The Star Wars lore you link only seems to talk about empires that made contact with multiple species and might have helped spread them over a hundred thousand year span. It does not seem to mention a single point of origin or an artificially crippled evolution that would enforce parallel development.
duped 2y ago
Or you don't have to accept either - authors don't need to canonize a theory of biogenesis within the world they build to tell compelling story. "How can Vulcans mate with Humans" doesn't need to be explained if the compelling part of the story is "how does the child of a human and Vulcan navigate both worlds and what does that tell us about ourselves." Of course, you could write a story where a shared or divergent biological/geological past was a part of the metaphor/allegory - but Star Trek doesn't need that. And if Star Wars replaced the "galaxy" part of that sentence with "kingdom" and all the space ships with wooden ones no one would even need to ask the question, because Star Wars is as much fantasy as science fiction. There are certainly some creatives who go that far, but I personally take issue with the necessity of detail and depth in scifi worldbuilding. It's really a recent phenomenon that audiences expect so much out of creators and I think it hurts the stories we tell.
- jhbadger 2y ago
  Yes, yes, like the Mystery Science Theater 3000 theme song "If you're wondering how he eats & breathes, and other science facts, then repeat to yourself it's just a show, I should really just relax."

yjftsjthsd-h 2y ago

And in both Star Trek and Star Wars, the answer eventually given somewhere in the lore is that a very long time ago someone seeded the entire galaxy with (humanoid?) life and it is all in a single tree. (See https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Progenitor https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Progenitor and https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Celestial/Legends#Architects https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Celestial/Legends#Architect... )

nine_k 2y ago
Chimps, gorillas, and humans are very close in the genetic tree, but cannot cross-breed. For a high level of genetic compatibility, constant contact and cross-breeding are likely required.
- jncfhnb 2y ago
  It is actually not clear whether chimp/human hybrids are impossible. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanzee https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanzee It’s possible it was actually going to happen if not disrupted in China during the cultural revolution
josefx 2y ago
> and it is all in a single tree That seems to apply to the Star Trek one, which going by the lore seems to be more of an artificially maintained rotten stump that had any potential for divergent/adaptive growth preemptively cut. The Star Wars lore you link only seems to talk about empires that made contact with multiple species and might have helped spread them over a hundred thousand year span. It does not seem to mention a single point of origin or an artificially crippled evolution that would enforce parallel development.

duped 2y ago

Or you don't have to accept either - authors don't need to canonize a theory of biogenesis within the world they build to tell compelling story. "How can Vulcans mate with Humans" doesn't need to be explained if the compelling part of the story is "how does the child of a human and Vulcan navigate both worlds and what does that tell us about ourselves." Of course, you could write a story where a shared or divergent biological/geological past was a part of the metaphor/allegory - but Star Trek doesn't need that. And if Star Wars replaced the "galaxy" part of that sentence with "kingdom" and all the space ships with wooden ones no one would even need to ask the question, because Star Wars is as much fantasy as science fiction. There are certainly some creatives who go that far, but I personally take issue with the necessity of detail and depth in scifi worldbuilding. It's really a recent phenomenon that audiences expect so much out of creators and I think it hurts the stories we tell.

jhbadger 2y ago
Yes, yes, like the Mystery Science Theater 3000 theme song "If you're wondering how he eats & breathes, and other science facts, then repeat to yourself it's just a show, I should really just relax."