Comments on: p.265 (Chapter Nine)

By: APStorm

APStorm — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 18:30:34 +0000

When you have superstitious aboriginals of an island nation, you can get wild paranoia… Especially when there’s religious beliefs that insist ‘souls’ are being stolen…

On that note… I looked up Orehu out of curiosity, and ended up finding a few pages on the Maori, the natives of New Zealand. I imagine the other word they are using may also come from the Maori, and they are speaking a variant of their dialect. That may be why the linguist recognized it, but couldn’t quite place it.

I suspect other comments on earlier pages (like when their name’s pronunciation was revealed) already made these observations, though…

By: APStorm

APStorm — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 13:30:28 +0000

Curious how they describe the ‘hosts’ as ‘symbionts’ in this instance… I suppose since they aren’t actually being implanted into the larger organism’s body, they’re both technically symbionts..?

By: APStorm

APStorm — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 13:24:38 +0000

The Trill are a merging of personalities, and the symbiont and host could not survive without eachother after ‘joining’. I’m expecting the Tok’ra example will be closer.

By: Andrew Crisp

Andrew Crisp — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:19:16 +0000

I’m not sure the slavery comparison works here. The original symbionts may not have been sentient – even by our standards. Their relationship with the Miesti may have been beneficial in that the Miesti helped them to thrive while they provided the Miesti with a means to build things.

Even if the original symbionts were sentient, there may have been an equal-partnership thing going on (think of the Tok’Ra from Stargate SG-1; where both the human host and the alien symbiont work together and even take turns in the “driver’s seat”. The Trill from Star Trek:DS9 are another example.)

However, both original symbionts and the Miesti evolved together. Humans are literally a different animal altogether. I suspect the link between Miesti and human isn’t as good – like trying to run Windows 7 on a 386 PC (hence uuiath(?)’s line about us being “hopelessly awkward.”)

By: Emerson33260

Emerson33260 — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 05:52:45 +0000

No doubt. In my readings on the American Civil War, I have encountered very numerous writings by supporters of the “peculiar institution” stating their position that slavery was mutually beneficial to both owners and their property.

By: Wyvern

Wyvern — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 17:03:45 +0000

Actually, Emerson, that’s a common misconception. Symbiosis is an umbrella term for a “close and often long-term interaction between different biological species” (as Wikipedia puts it), which includes parasitism. The mutually-beneficial type of symbiosis (which is what most people think of when they hear the word) is known as mutualism. (I teach biology, by the way.)

By: Tara

Tara — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 13:26:37 +0000

It’s safe to assume– and I don’t imagine I’m giving too much away here– that the Miesti’s original relationship, the one alluded to in the above page, was indeed symbiotic.

By: Artificer-Urza

Artificer-Urza — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 13:17:40 +0000

The difference in this case is how it is viewed by the respective parties. The Miesti view it as a mutually beneficial relationship.

By: Emerson33260

Emerson33260 — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 13:09:03 +0000

“Symbiont” means that the relationship is mutually beneficial. I am waiting for any evidence that the correct word for the Miesti is not “parasite”.

By: Andrew Crisp

Andrew Crisp — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 12:13:39 +0000

Maybe. We still don’t know if it was the Miesti that started the war.