Now that I've written that all out, it feels like faith in science is a thing they'd feature as a plot in a star trek episode...
Perhaps ST:TNG.
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I think it has do with the the verification process, peer review - a majority of research does not actually get published because it fails at some stage.
So I would say it's a kind of faith in the process and the underlying principles, rather than faith in the work of people, or specific scientists. (except Carl Sagan. I would have trusted that man in blind faith if he was still alive - to me, the Mister Rogers of science.)
That is, if you can present formulaic proof for something based on evaluation research data, for example, and that proof can be verified, then I don't even need to repeat the evaluation or collection of data, unless the chosen data set may impact the credibility(and would be a reason for rejection).
But yeah, I concur that in some ways it goes both ways. We trust in the physical realities to hold true(at least while no vacuum decay or similar event breaks reality as we know it), but if you are confronted with real proof of the existance of magic and the power granted by divine entities, then it is hard to ignore them. For Sci-Fic Divinity, it seems sensible that there is some overlap between concepts and personification, magic and divinity, the collective psychic power of a faiths followers or individual capability to bend physical laws by the power of ones mind. As in, the exact nature of it may even be subject of scientific research, but the power faith presents is real and not questioned.
Which is amusing, because I actually considered for my character to follow some weird new-age version of a mixed pantheon of Zeus and his brothers Thor and Osiris(plus plenty of others) - specifically choosen because they all share that they were presented as "human-like" entities that at times interacted directly with others.(e.g. Zeus interacted a LOT with humans). And their respective powers could be more or less 'reproduced' with sufficiently powerful personal magic. As in, Thor simply wielded lightning magic very efficiently - Zeus was big into polymorpharmory; Osiris was into resurrection and necromantic magic.
As in, in a world with Magic, people may have actually "filled" those roles...it may have been a real person, albeit with god-like levels of power compared to their contemporaries, then turned into a framework for religion, kindling an actual divine spark in them, and through the collective worship enabling a priesthood to enact miracles in their names, even after the actual person has long passed.
So centuries later, people are going through the stars, with some still worshipping a weird amalgam pantheon of some ancient imposters that is self-fueling through the worship it receives - possibly re-incarnating the distilled essence of the idolized god into an avatar wielding equally powerful powers every couple eons to revivify the belief. And people would tell of the stories of how gods walked among them even as they sailed on a generational ship towards new horizones.
Not sure if that'll work, plus Alysons Spellbane and non-Caster, so I'll not mingle too much with what others come up with :) But wanted to share my considerations as well, regardless.
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But yeah, I concur that in some ways it goes both ways. We trust in the physical realities to hold true(at least while no vacuum decay or similar event breaks reality as we know it), but if you are confronted with real proof of the existance of magic and the power granted by divine entities, then it is hard to ignore them. For Sci-Fic Divinity, it seems sensible that there is some overlap between concepts and personification, magic and divinity, the collective psychic power of a faiths followers or individual capability to bend physical laws by the power of ones mind. As in, the exact nature of it may even be subject of scientific research, but the power faith presents is real and not questioned.
Interesting thought. I think it may be worth to think about the implications of the size of the ship's scientific community and ongoing research; perhaps the scientific community is too small to conduct large-scale experiments, have sufficient databases, have non-biased peer review boards... you get the idea. It is bound to become a kind of echo chamber, and given enough time perhaps that some theories that have been approved of and developed will now have drifted into some kind of hybrid between faith and science because of the lack of external of validation and bias among the ship's crew. In such a context the lines between faith and science would probably be blurred, as you mentioned.
I like your idea of the patchwork pantheon and living gods, and I do not think it would contradict other beliefs about a cosmological based mythology. If we pursue the analogy with the Greeks, they also did have mythical heroes (regardless of if they were real or not) while having a pantheon of gods.
A patchwork of Gods is certainly possible.
no pockets ;D
Which reminds me, does everyone have a purse on this ship? XD
I'd expect a fanny pack/bum bag for males, and purses for females.
Noice. I'll go for a cybernetic arm or leg that's also a container when I get the cash ;p
Also, now that I think about it, I guess we'll all want backpacks when we're deployed xD
Also, because I can't resist:
...and that proof can be verified...
that's the epistemological question: how do we verify? Anything? xD
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Noice. I'll go for a cybernetic arm or leg that's also a container when I get the cash ;p
Also, now that I think about it, I guess we'll all want backpacks when we're deployed xD
Also, because I can't resist:
...and that proof can be verified...that's the epistemological question: how do we verify? Anything? xD
No need for a backpack :P I don't really have stuff except two serums (assuming, as said, I don't carry around my hygiene kit). :D
@How do we verify: By following the logical process ourselves. It was a very interesting assignment back at the beginning of university.
Prove that 1+1=2
It seemed so simply, so "logical", like a nonsense assignment. But actually putting it in a scientific form that is "acceptable" is not as easy.
That said, I did state that we trust in the physical laws of the universe as we know it - as well as some foundation-based science universally held to be true. Arguing that 2+2=5 in our accepted decimal-based mathematical system is possible, but would quickly break down.
That said, I do find it very amusing how crackpot conspiracies attempt to "explain" physical realities. I mean, since flat earth would not support gravity, we are simply constantly accelerating? That stuff is fun.
But I digress - if you want to go with "how do we verify anything" then you may as well go to the "brain-in-a-jar" scenario - you cannot technically trust anything as all your sensory inputs may be spoofed. And since even the things you think of yourself are based on your neuronal connections and triggers and such are formed by the spoofed inputs, you can't even trust those.
In fact, we may not even be a brain in a jar but in a sufficiently advanced simulation entirely. I mean, maybe the Mayas were not as wrong - 2012 may have been the final "update" of our simulation, and it's only running as a legacy system every since, growing increasingly unstable and random in the past years, with unchecked patterns emerging that would have been patched out earlier.
Hey, maybe we were even an MMORPG - as a child, life was exciting and fun and full of adventure...because you had a player. But eventually, all the grinding got boring, and along the way you turned into a NPC with a day job simply populating the world, looking envious at those guys who still have a player and still do exciting and great things. :D
So yeah, to some extent I concur with your sentiment. But in the scientific community, verification is actually quite well-defined :)
It's the political community affected by lobbyists that we should place under greater scutiny - as in, those who call science into question because someone is lining their pockets to do so.
But I digress - if you want to go with "how do we verify anything" then you may as well go to the "brain-in-a-jar" scenario - you cannot technically trust anything...
Aha, proof that you get it! xD
But yes, science seems the least fallible way to predict the future, so most people generally go with that :3
As soon as I see CaptainBacon's character, we can wrap this recruitment up. I like all that you've done, and Chris Banks has yet to submit something.
They are all fun choices.
My thoughts:
Vesk is good if you plan on going strength and wearing armor. Or want to be a bit more up close. That does not mesh great with Envoy
Lashunta is great. You can get the +CHA and have a bit of magic. As well as telepathy, which is really nice to communicate with.
Human - The Extra feat is good. Though Feats are not quite as good as they are in PF1. Though there are some pretty sweet ones if you are shooting for it.
Flavor wise, they could totally all work, and the Starfinder Math works out pretty good, even if you are not maxed out on your main stat. So go with what you feel works best for your character. You very well could be dealing with all androids. So making someone who has to deal with us is pretty fun.
Not sure if that helped.. Go with your gut :)
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Yeah, flavor wise I'm a bit torn. Although I'm going with a Mystic, not an Envoy ;) I'm not aiming to minmax, so I think 16 WIS / 14 or 12 DEX ought to be alright, and as you pointed out Starfinder math is pretty forgiving.
As far as Vesk goes I was thinking going Venom thought with the alternate racial trait that lets you make enemies reroll saves vs spells, which looks quite nice. I'm not a big fan of the Vesk flavor, but then again I haven't played it a lot so it might be a chance to change my mind ^^
Ah yeah, for some reason I thought Envoy.. Mystic is great too! ha,
Good thing about it being homebrew, you can flavor your Vesk anyway you want! :)
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3 naked androids and a Vesk walk into a bar...
And the naked human envoy is left out...
I very much do hope to play, you know :/
As for flavoring the Vesk, I would suggest chicken-flavored. For...reasons.
Yes, sorry, still around but got a bit more distracted than I would have liked. Still writing up the stats, but I'm going to go ahead and share the background I've put together.
I was definitely a late arrival on the scene and I think you've got a pretty committed group already. Happy to finish up the character and be considered as an alternate if a space opens up further down the track.
Concept-wise, I've gone with a human xenoseeker Witchwarper. For the background, I've flavoured his Witchwarper abilities as unusual, with little in the way of tangible evidence for others that he's tapping into alternate realities.
Retri Valnik - Background
From a young age, Retri has caught momentary glimpses of other realities overlaid atop his own. Unfamiliar people, echoes of strange music, spaces within the ship put to different uses. With time and work, he's been able to control the effect to an extent, even managing to make the overlaid reality briefly visible and tangible to others.
Brief and disparate as his glimpses are, they sometimes provide a picture of societies organised differently to the one he was born into, and have led him to question some aspects of his society that he might otherwise have passed unnoticed as simply the way things were. He also worries about the bigger picture - whether the cycle of civilisations aboard the Asimov rising, falling and rising again is a stable one, or whether the Fall might one day be final.
Retri wants to change the world for the better. Yes, people are happy by and large, but there are cracks and frictions showing, and he's unsure how well the people in Authority will respond to a shock. Not every reality he's glimpsed has been a happy place, after all. Perhaps the ultimate dream would be to find a way to break the cycle of civilisation in favour of forgoing the Fall and gradually ratcheting up towards a bright and shining future.
Unfortunately, his own visions don't provide enough context to know exactly how and why things are different elsewhere, and there's also the problem of evidence - vague tales of a better world to work towards based on personal visions others don't share aren't going to inspire action.
Instead, Retri believes there may be inspiration to find out in the wider universe. Historically, exploration has focused on finding viable worlds to establish colonies on, with little focus on bringing back discoveries which might benefit society aboard the Asimov. Accordingly, he has gone through expeditionary training and joined up with a crew.
He can often be found poring over records of previous expeditions in the archives, or participating in discussions with like-minded young people who want to change the world for the better.
Retri is young, enthusiastic and idealistic. This may be a dangerous combination - for himself, at least.
As for flavoring the Vesk, I would suggest chicken-flavored. For...reasons.
the one true answer to all flavor questions: chicken.
edit: yay we have a 5th xD
And the naked human envoy is left out...
I very much do hope to play, you know :/As for flavoring the Vesk, I would suggest chicken-flavored. For...reasons.
I knew I was mixing up people! Ug sorry!
Good luck everyone!
Alrighty, CaptainBacon here, I present to you Brother Raloveg! Currently working on his profile and backstory as I write this.
Alrighty, CaptainBacon here, I present to you Brother Raloveg! Currently working on his profile and backstory as I write this.
Nice. Can't wait to read it.
And I've finished up my character sheet, I think.
Have begun jotting down some thoughts, but it's getting late and I can't focus, so I'll finish the profile tomorrow for sure!
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Most of the proposed generational starships all suck in design. The Asimov is about the size of Mercury and was built from an orbital factory.
btw, after looking at some of the other submissions, I decided I'd also like to go through Ash's personality and background guide, but obviously for Emerald Eyes.
It was an interesting exercise :3
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Time to choose who will be playing in this game. The ones playing in this game include:
* C'tikt-6 -- NeoEvaX
* M -- ScegfOd
* AX-589 -- Bender is great
* Alyson Reed -- MordredofFairy
* Retri Valnik -- Chris Banks
* Brother Raloveg -- CaptainBacon
Yes, that's all of you. Report to the gameplay thread or discussion thread. Starfinder players come at a premium these days, and I thought all of you would be a good fit.