https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed_D3Xaj-qo
They talked about biological determinism...
But when I think about it more, it's simply a true thing that can be proven to exist.
Africans are overwhelmingly more likely to get sickle cell anemia because sickle cells are an effective survivability trait against malaria. Asians are overwhelmingly lactose intolerant because Asian cultures didn't have milk as a common food so there was no survivability advantage in being able to metabolize lactose. Even skin color itself is based in part on the local UV, because populations are more survivable if they can find the correct balance between Vitamin D production and skin cancer.
And then you could go "but alignment as good or evil isn't biological!" and I'd ask if you would want to live with a domesticated dog or a wolf, particularly if you have a little kid in the house? We've bred domesticated dogs to be docile and to want to please us and we tend to kill the dogs that hurt humans, whereas wolves have a much different set of traits required to survive and thrive. Even raised the exact same, a dog and a wolf will not behave the same.
On the other hand, even if we assume arguendo that biological determinism doesn't exist with respect to temperament, it can still be a totally reasonable storytelling element regardless.
It's ok for the autobots to be the good guys and the decepticons to be the bad guys, because that's the story they're telling. If they wanted to tell a story about infinite shades of grey, maybe they would all be autobots? Then it wouldn't be the same story.
They talked about biological determinism...
But when I think about it more, it's simply a true thing that can be proven to exist.
Africans are overwhelmingly more likely to get sickle cell anemia because sickle cells are an effective survivability trait against malaria. Asians are overwhelmingly lactose intolerant because Asian cultures didn't have milk as a common food so there was no survivability advantage in being able to metabolize lactose. Even skin color itself is based in part on the local UV, because populations are more survivable if they can find the correct balance between Vitamin D production and skin cancer.
And then you could go "but alignment as good or evil isn't biological!" and I'd ask if you would want to live with a domesticated dog or a wolf, particularly if you have a little kid in the house? We've bred domesticated dogs to be docile and to want to please us and we tend to kill the dogs that hurt humans, whereas wolves have a much different set of traits required to survive and thrive. Even raised the exact same, a dog and a wolf will not behave the same.
On the other hand, even if we assume arguendo that biological determinism doesn't exist with respect to temperament, it can still be a totally reasonable storytelling element regardless.
It's ok for the autobots to be the good guys and the decepticons to be the bad guys, because that's the story they're telling. If they wanted to tell a story about infinite shades of grey, maybe they would all be autobots? Then it wouldn't be the same story.
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