Is the Force an emotion parasite?

[SpaceMarine93]

The Force is a metaphysical energy field that spans the entire galaxy, for which life in the Star Wars galaxy cannot exist without, manifested in physical reality as midi-chlorians. And it is sentient in its own, unique way. As for why the Force exists as it is, no one knows.

A lot of the things about the Force concerns the Light side and Dark side of the force. Light side of the Force are usually associated with Force-sensitives who uses the feelings of honesty, compassion, mercy, self-sacrifice, and other positive emotions as a source of power, whereas the Dark side Force users draw power from raw emotions like anger, hatred, and passion. As for why such two states of the Force exists, no one knows.

The conflict between the Light side and the Dark side Force users forms the central conflict of the entire series, endlessly repeating in a cycle of war and destruction over tens of thousands of years of galactic history. As for what the Force gained from allowing this to happen, no one knows.

I have a theory concerning the reason why such a situation exist: The Force is a galaxy-spanning emotional parasite.

The Force, I think, is simply an Eldritch Abomination that feeds all forms of emotions in general, needing both "Light Side" and "Dark Side" and all the other kinds of emotions as subsidence much like how a human body needs different kinds of nutrients. The overall conflict between Light Side and Dark Side of the Force and "The Balance" of the Force is basically a massive negative feedback system that allows the creature to control the amount of emotional 'nutrients' it absorbs, for the sake of maintaining Homeostasis.

The powers and abilities of the Force and existence of Force-sensitives are merely the means to do so.

For example. The reason why the Dark Side of the Force is so addictive is because when it needs more "Dark Side" emotions to feed on from the Galaxy, it would be easy to corrupt Force-Sensitives, especially powerful ones like Palpatine, to create Sith lords who would then unleash Hell in the galaxy via the Force magnifying the worst traits in them with the power. This would inhibit the amount of "Light Side" emotions produced (e.g. The many destruction of the Jedi Orders throughout Star Wars history) and lead to ages of conflict, oppression and chaos (e.g. Imperial Era and The Galactic Civil War), which would result from a massive release of raw, negative emotions from the trillions of sentient beings in the Galaxy, on which the Force would feed on, via the Midi-chlorians in the sentient beings' bodies.

Light side of the Force? Same thing. When it has enough of Dark Side emotions and need Light Side ones, it might subtlety influence a lone Jedi or many Jedi to rise up to oppose the evil Sith lords (e.g. Galen Marek, General Kota, Luke Skywalker), which would be inevitable anyway. The Force might even subtlety influence the Sith Lords so that it amplifies their flaws (e.g. Palpatine's overconfidence and ego, preference to creating fear which backfires on him), making them easier to take down.

If successful, eras of peace, freedom and order would be restore in the galaxy (E.g. New Republic Era), which in turn inhibits Dark Side emotions (aka forcing Sith into retreat) and results release of positive emotions from the trillions of sentient beings in the Galaxy, on which the Force would feed on. The Balance is once again restored.

If my hypothesis is true, then this means ultimately, all the inhabitants of the Star Wars galaxy, good or bad, noble or sinister, exists solely as cattle for a cosmic horror, a sinister god-like creature of unimaginable power with goals which sentient beings of Star Wars could not comprehend, indifferent to the petty morality of the insignificant microbes of the physical universe, and actively exploits it by playing on both sides of good and evil, giving them force powers to use for purpose of devouring the emotions released from the aftermath of their usage, for good or ill.

It's just a scary hypothesis, though. Like the The insidious Force theory by Darth Traya during the Old Sith Wars, but much, much darker. The true nature of the Force might never be known.

[SpaceMarine93]

Edit:
And the worse thing is, all lifeforms in Star Wars has been made to become dependent on the Force for survival, and if the Force is removed, EVERYONE AND EVERY LIVING CREATURE IN THE STAR WARS GALAXY DIES. A nice way for the Force to ensure its existence and make everyone dependent on it. And there's no way to destroy it anyways.

They shall all live under the shadow of the Force, bound to its whims and needs, until the end of time.

[Crazedwraith]

Edit:
And the worse thing is, all lifeforms in Star Wars has been made to become dependent on the Force for survival, and if the Force is removed, EVERYONE AND EVERY LIVING CREATURE IN THE STAR WARS GALAXY DIES.

The Yuuzhan Vong beg to differ.

[SpaceMarine93]

Edit:
And the worse thing is, all lifeforms in Star Wars has been made to become dependent on the Force for survival, and if the Force is removed, EVERYONE AND EVERY LIVING CREATURE IN THE STAR WARS GALAXY DIES.

The Yuuzhan Vong beg to differ.

They were connected to the Force, except that their living homeworld cut it off. The rest of the sentient beings in the Galaxy can't do that.

[atg]

Edit:
And the worse thing is, all lifeforms in Star Wars has been made to become dependent on the Force for survival, and if the Force is removed, EVERYONE AND EVERY LIVING CREATURE IN THE STAR WARS GALAXY DIES. A nice way for the Force to ensure its existence and make everyone dependent on it. And there's no way to destroy it anyways.

They shall all live under the shadow of the Force, bound to its whims and needs, until the end of time.

Wait what?
Isn't said in the OT that the force is created by life...

[Purple]

Wait what?
Isn't said in the OT that the force is created by life...

So are the chaos gods of 40K. I think the term you and the starter of this thread are looking for is not exploitation but symbiosis.

The way I understand the whole story SpaceMarine93 just said I think a far better comparison for what he envisions is not a cosmic horror praying on microbe cattle but a cosmic horror and its equivalent of our intestinal flora. The living creatures of the SW galaxy would serve as microbes, digesting the products of the material universe and converting a part of it into emotions that the force would feed upon. In return, the force grants them all a helping hand. And at times it can take control to balance things out much like we do when we drink medicine for indigestion.

[Knife]

Meh, I suppose. The more conservative idea of a Western idea of a good and bad supernatural being fits better. The Force is god, a good side and a bad side. You get a choice which side you're on, but also those deities act through you as much as you get to choose and fight for which ever side.

[RogueIce]

Ysalmari block all access to the Force within their bubble, and apparently render it completely null (which is why clones speed-grown in their influence don't go mad, because they're protected from the "Clone Buzzing" until their minds are mature enough to deal with it*). People don't die just by being close to a Ysalmari. So one would think that they can survive without the Force.

EDIT: To expand on this, while Luke gets all muddled by them, that's because he's used to having access to the Force so much, it's like losing one of his senses. Talon Karrde and his group (as well as the natives of Myrkr) had no ill effects, despite being there for an extended period of time. They didn't even seem to know about the Force-blocking nature until they investigated why Thrawn wanted the creatures. And there was no indication any of his people became ill or whatever, otherwise they would not have been there as long as they were.

*Of course that was true before the prequels. Don't know if the post-PT EU has retconned anything about it, other than sidestepping the issue with "it's a different process" or whatever it was I saw once.

[Batman]

Unless I'm very much mistaken TTT explicitly says Luke was thrown by the loss of his Force abilities, no mention of them having any ill effects otherwise.
As for the PT I don't see how the Clone Troopers contradict TTT-as per Star Wars The Romance Movie Episode 2 Clone maturing time from born to adult has been cut in half compared to ordinary human development. The cloning method requiring ysalamiri to work used in TTT had the clones going from embryo to adult in what, 2 weeks?

[SpaceMarine93]

Most people are not Force sensitives. It wouldn't matter much if the power of the Force is dulled in one area by the Ysalmari because it wouldn't affect them.

The Sith and the Jedi on the other hand...

The way I understand the whole story SpaceMarine93 just said I think a far better comparison for what he envisions is not a cosmic horror praying on microbe cattle but a cosmic horror and its equivalent of our intestinal flora. The living creatures of the SW galaxy would serve as microbes, digesting the products of the material universe and converting a part of it into emotions that the force would feed upon. In return, the force grants them all a helping hand. And at times it can take control to balance things out much like we do when we drink medicine for indigestion.

I honestly had not thought of that. Star Wars' inhabitants being nothing more intestinal flora to some metaphysical alien god? On the other hand, if it is so dependent on a mutual symbiotic relationship with the inhabitants of Star Wars, why does it allow such wanton destruction and suffering to occur in the galaxy by allowing the conflict between the Light and Dark side of the force to happen? It isn't in its interest to have its food source being blown up and killed. Unless of course, being sentient, it allows it to happen for its own ends...

Apathy or deliberate malice, it is extremely insidious of it. Very much akin to the Insidious Force theory of Darth Traya.

[Purple]

On the other hand, if it is so dependent on a mutual symbiotic relationship with the inhabitants of Star Wars, why does it allow such wanton destruction and suffering to occur in the galaxy by allowing the conflict between the Light and Dark side of the force to happen? It isn't in its interest to have its food source being blown up and killed. Unless of course, being sentient, it allows it to happen for its own ends...

Apathy or deliberate malice, it is extremely insidious of it. Very much akin to the Insidious Force theory of Darth Traya.

You are not thinking hard enough. Do we humans care about what happens in our guts? Or do we when they get too sour just take some medicine? The same thing could apply to the force. It knows (or thinks) that there are more than enough life forms in the galaxy to ensure they will newer exterminate one another. And knowing this it has no reason to care if a few percentages of it die out. Furthermore, you could look at any conflict as a form of indigestion. If the dark side prevails the environment is too acidic and it needs baking soda (the Jedi) to balance things out. However if the Jedi get the upper hand than the situation is not acidic enough, good emotions outnumber bad ones and it needs something to mix things up (the Sith).

[lordofchange13]

The way I understand the whole story SpaceMarine93 just said I think a far better comparison for what he envisions is not a cosmic horror praying on microbe cattle but a cosmic horror and its equivalent of our intestinal flora. The living creatures of the SW galaxy would serve as microbes, digesting the products of the material universe and converting a part of it into emotions that the force would feed upon. In return, the force grants them all a helping hand. And at times it can take control to balance things out much like we do when we drink medicine for indigestion.

I honestly had not thought of that. Star Wars' inhabitants being nothing more intestinal flora to some metaphysical alien god? On the other hand, if it is so dependent on a mutual symbiotic relationship with the inhabitants of Star Wars, why does it allow such wanton destruction and suffering to occur in the galaxy by allowing the conflict between the Light and Dark side of the force to happen? It isn't in its interest to have its food source being blown up and killed. Unless of course, being sentient, it allows it to happen for its own ends...

Apathy or deliberate malice, it is extremely insidious of it. Very much akin to the Insidious Force theory of Darth Traya.

Are you sure that it is actually sentient in relation to the star-war's citizens, if it was an eldritch abomination then it would by definition be incomprehensible to lesser beings. Besides would anyone give a damn if you intestinal bacteria killed a few of each other?

[SpaceMarine93]

On the other hand, if it is so dependent on a mutual symbiotic relationship with the inhabitants of Star Wars, why does it allow such wanton destruction and suffering to occur in the galaxy by allowing the conflict between the Light and Dark side of the force to happen? It isn't in its interest to have its food source being blown up and killed. Unless of course, being sentient, it allows it to happen for its own ends...

Apathy or deliberate malice, it is extremely insidious of it. Very much akin to the Insidious Force theory of Darth Traya.

You are not thinking hard enough. Do we humans care about what happens in our guts? Or do we when they get too sour just take some medicine? The same thing could apply to the force. It knows (or thinks) that there are more than enough life forms in the galaxy to ensure they will newer exterminate one another. And knowing this it has no reason to care if a few percentages of it die out. Furthermore, you could look at any conflict as a form of indigestion. If the dark side prevails the environment is too acidic and it needs baking soda (the Jedi) to balance things out. However if the Jedi get the upper hand than the situation is not acidic enough, good emotions outnumber bad ones and it needs something to mix things up (the Sith).

That's practically my entire hypothesis.

[SpaceMarine93]

On the other hand, if it is so dependent on a mutual symbiotic relationship with the inhabitants of Star Wars, why does it allow such wanton destruction and suffering to occur in the galaxy by allowing the conflict between the Light and Dark side of the force to happen? It isn't in its interest to have its food source being blown up and killed. Unless of course, being sentient, it allows it to happen for its own ends...

Apathy or deliberate malice, it is extremely insidious of it. Very much akin to the Insidious Force theory of Darth Traya.

You are not thinking hard enough. Do we humans care about what happens in our guts? Or do we when they get too sour just take some medicine? The same thing could apply to the force. It knows (or thinks) that there are more than enough life forms in the galaxy to ensure they will newer exterminate one another. And knowing this it has no reason to care if a few percentages of it die out. Furthermore, you could look at any conflict as a form of indigestion. If the dark side prevails the environment is too acidic and it needs baking soda (the Jedi) to balance things out. However if the Jedi get the upper hand than the situation is not acidic enough, good emotions outnumber bad ones and it needs something to mix things up (the Sith).

Either way, it makes it less of a benevolent force and more of a Cosmic Horror, doesn't it? Like Cthulhu. Star Wars beings are just microscopic food compare to its power. It doesn't give a damn who lives or dies, so long as food from both sides keeps coming. If that's true, then everything the Star Wars sentient beings fight for would be completely meaningless. The only meaningful thing the heroes of Star Wars should do is to take Darth Traya's advice and find a way to remove the Force from the galaxy, without killing everything, so that they could at long last live or die without playing the role of intestinal bacteria of an alien god.

[Purple]

Why do you think that being part of something greater makes someones life and actions meaningless? I mean, by that logic we are only specs in the history of man kind newer able to change a thing and will just live meaningless lives and die meaningless deaths.

[SpaceMarine93]

Why do you think that being part of something greater makes someones life and actions meaningless? I mean, by that logic we are only specs in the history of man kind newer able to change a thing and will just live meaningless lives and die meaningless deaths.

But the Star Wars universe has a clear distinction of good and evil compare to the real world or many other sci-fi series. Evil exists as the Dark Side of the Force, while Good exists as the Light Side of the Force. The whole premise of the series is the struggle of the Light Side of the Force against the Dark Side of the Force, Good Vs Evil, Freedom VS Tyranny. Rebel VS the Empire.

But if it turns out that the Force is just a cosmic being just use both aspects to generate food for itself at the expense of the beings of the Galaxy, encouraged an endless circle of destruction and unnecessary conflict, and completely indifferent to the morals and ethics involved, then everything both side fought for would be completely hollow. Ultimately, if they are all food, what is there to live for? What is the point of Rebels getting Freedom, or the Empire getting Power, when they both really had none, and will get none if they succeed, under the Insidious Force? Does it matter who lives or dies then? Or who in control of the game?

You are right, in real life we are probably living meaningless lives and will die meaningless lives. But in the Star Wars Galaxy the beings never felt that way. They all fought they are doing something greater, for the Light Side or Dark Side. If the Force is what I proposed it is, it would had been meaningless. Every victory a lie, every step of progress a pointless action, every redemption of a Sith or the corruption of a Jedi would be for nothing. Anakin Skywalker's fall from grace would have no meaning, and Darth Vader's redemption would make no difference. Luke Skywalker's heroism to defeat the Empire and establish a New Republic would be utterly useless since sooner or later, the Force would make sure that it will fail and a new evil emerging to start the whole damn thing again, just for its diet

I can't imagine how devastated both sides would be if they realize that.

[lordofchange13]

On the other hand, if it is so dependent on a mutual symbiotic relationship with the inhabitants of Star Wars, why does it allow such wanton destruction and suffering to occur in the galaxy by allowing the conflict between the Light and Dark side of the force to happen? It isn't in its interest to have its food source being blown up and killed. Unless of course, being sentient, it allows it to happen for its own ends...

Apathy or deliberate malice, it is extremely insidious of it. Very much akin to the Insidious Force theory of Darth Traya.

You are not thinking hard enough. Do we humans care about what happens in our guts? Or do we when they get too sour just take some medicine? The same thing could apply to the force. It knows (or thinks) that there are more than enough life forms in the galaxy to ensure they will newer exterminate one another. And knowing this it has no reason to care if a few percentages of it die out. Furthermore, you could look at any conflict as a form of indigestion. If the dark side prevails the environment is too acidic and it needs baking soda (the Jedi) to balance things out. However if the Jedi get the upper hand than the situation is not acidic enough, good emotions outnumber bad ones and it needs something to mix things up (the Sith).

Either way, it makes it less of a benevolent force and more of a Cosmic Horror, doesn't it? Like Cthulhu. Star Wars beings are just microscopic food compare to its power. It doesn't give a damn who lives or dies, so long as food from both sides keeps coming. If that's true, then everything the Star Wars sentient beings fight for would be completely meaningless. The only meaningful thing the heroes of Star Wars should do is to take Darth Traya's advice and find a way to remove the Force from the galaxy, without killing everything, so that they could at long last live or die without playing the role of intestinal bacteria of an alien god.

If your idea was true then The force isn't Cthulhu, it's more on the order of The Idiot god, or yog-sothoth; Cthulhu is a god of one planet while the other's are lords of galaxy's/Universe's.
Neither the Jedi or the Sith need to do anything, if they just stopped fighting and spread the word that the dark and light side are meaning the problem would be solved.

[Purple]

You are right, in real life we are probably living meaningless lives and will die meaningless lives. But in the Star Wars Galaxy the beings never felt that way. They all fought they are doing something greater, for the Light Side or Dark Side. If the Force is what I proposed it is, it would had been meaningless. I can't imagine how devastated both sides would be if they realize that.

I don't think I can agree. Firstly, only a very small minority of people in the series actually know about things like the light and dark side in the first place. For most of them it was a fight for personal freedom, personal happiness and some cases loyalty to the greater good that was the Empire. Sure, the people might get discouraged to know that sooner or later the force will pop that antacid pill but that might not happen for a generation, or 10 generations. Just look how long the old republic often went betwen wars. Would the freedom fighter of today really get discouraged by the knowledge than the grandchildren of his grandchildren will lose what he fought for now? Or would he be more worried for him and maybe his first generation offspring? I think the latter.

[lordofchange13]

Why do you think that being part of something greater makes someones life and actions meaningless? I mean, by that logic we are only specs in the history of man kind newer able to change a thing and will just live meaningless lives and die meaningless deaths.

But the Star Wars universe has a clear distinction of good and evil compare to the real world or many other sci-fi series. Evil exists as the Dark Side of the Force, while Good exists as the Light Side of the Force. The whole premise of the series is the struggle of the Light Side of the Force against the Dark Side of the Force, Good Vs Evil, Freedom VS Tyranny. Rebel VS the Empire.

But if it turns out that the Force is just a cosmic being just use both aspects to generate food for itself at the expense of the beings of the Galaxy, encouraged an endless circle of destruction and unnecessary conflict, and completely indifferent to the morals and ethics involved, then everything both side fought for would be completely hollow. Ultimately, if they are all food, what is there to live for? What is the point of Rebels getting Freedom, or the Empire getting Power, when they both had none, and will get none if they succeed, under the Insidious Force? Does it matter who lives or dies then? Or who in control of the game?

You are right, in real life we are probably living meaningless lives and will die meaningless lives. But in the Star Wars Galaxy the beings never felt that way. They all fought they are doing something greater, for the Light Side or Dark Side. If the Force is what I proposed it is, it would had been meaningless. I can't imagine how devastated both sides would be if they realize that.

I really do not see the problem will the Force feeding off of people's emotions, Have you ever read Lovecraftian Literature that you base your idea's off of? The character's lives are inaptly point less compared to the Cthulhu,it is simple difficult to care about that lives for a century while you live for possibly eternity. This idea does not seem to add anything to the dynamics of mortal struggle.

[SpaceMarine93]

You are right, in real life we are probably living meaningless lives and will die meaningless lives. But in the Star Wars Galaxy the beings never felt that way. They all fought they are doing something greater, for the Light Side or Dark Side. If the Force is what I proposed it is, it would had been meaningless. I can't imagine how devastated both sides would be if they realize that.

I don't think I can agree. Firstly, only a very small minority of people in the series actually know about things like the light and dark side in the first place. For most of them it was a fight for personal freedom, personal happiness and some cases loyalty to the greater good that was the Empire. Sure, the people might get discouraged to know that sooner or later the force will pop that antacid pill but that might not happen for a generation, or 10 generations. Just look how long the old republic often went betwen wars. Would the freedom fighter of today really get discouraged by the knowledge than the grandchildren of his grandchildren will lose what he fought for now? Or would he be more worried for him and maybe his first generation offspring? I think the latter.

A valid point. But the Old Republic would not had fell if it wasn't for a Sith Lord engineering its destruction. The endless cycle of conflict would had been avoided, or more realistically reduced, if it wasn't for the Force constantly popping a antacid pill every now and then. Tens thousands years of peace instead of a big war every hundreds of years that causes trillions of people to suffer and die.

And the main point is not that what they fight for would be lost in a few generations due to the Force, my point is that freedom or not, the freedom fighter's next generation and their great grandchildren ten generations later is going to spent their existence as the Star Wars' version of Soylent Green, to a Cosmic Horror who engineer the situation that causes the freedom fighter's war against oppression in the first place. And it's gonna be repeated ad infinitum, UNTIL THE END OF TIME.

[lordofchange13]

Why do you think that being part of something greater makes someones life and actions meaningless? I mean, by that logic we are only specs in the history of man kind newer able to change a thing and will just live meaningless lives and die meaningless deaths.

You are right, in real life we are probably living meaningless lives and will die meaningless lives. But in the Star Wars Galaxy the beings never felt that way.

It would seem that you completely missed the fact that purple was putting forth a conclusion to you logic, not his own belief. If we all lived meaning less lives then nothing would ever be accomplished, if that were true then we have never advanced and thus can in to existence with all our languages and technology, philosophy, religion, and medicine prefabricated.

[SpaceMarine93]

Why do you think that being part of something greater makes someones life and actions meaningless? I mean, by that logic we are only specs in the history of man kind newer able to change a thing and will just live meaningless lives and die meaningless deaths.

You are right, in real life we are probably living meaningless lives and will die meaningless lives. But in the Star Wars Galaxy the beings never felt that way.

It would seem that you completely missed the fact that purple was putting forth a conclusion to you logic, not his own belief. If we all lived meaning less lives then nothing would ever be accomplished, if that were true then we have never advanced and thus can in to existence with all our languages and technology, philosophy, religion, and medicine prefabricated.

Oh right, sorry.

I suppose he's right then.

[lordofchange13]

And the main point is not that what they fight for would be lost in a few generations due to the Force, my point is that freedom or not, the freedom fighter's next generation and their great grandchildren ten generations later is going to spent their existence as the Star Wars' version of Soylent Green, to a Cosmic Horror who engineer the situation that causes the freedom fighter's war against oppression in the first place. And it's gonna be repeated ad infinitum, UNTIL THE END OF TIME.

Just because in a few generations the problem restarts dos not mean you should stop fighting. Would you stop eating and starve to death just because no matter how much you eat you will always become hungry at some point in the future?

[SpaceMarine93]

And the main point is not that what they fight for would be lost in a few generations due to the Force, my point is that freedom or not, the freedom fighter's next generation and their great grandchildren ten generations later is going to spent their existence as the Star Wars' version of Soylent Green, to a Cosmic Horror who engineer the situation that causes the freedom fighter's war against oppression in the first place. And it's gonna be repeated ad infinitum, UNTIL THE END OF TIME.

Just because in a few generations the problem restarts dos not mean you should stop fighting. Would you stop eating and starve to death just because no matter how much you eat you will always become hungry at sometime in the future?

I am suggesting that real goal of the heroes in the Star Wars Galaxy should be to find a way to remove the Force from the galaxy, assuming that is possible, just like Darth Traya suggested. Sure, the problem of fighting, wars and rise of tyranny will persist, and I did not mean that people should stop fighting, but it would still mean that the galaxy no longer would have to suffer as badly as it was under the Light Side / Dark Side conflict. That is a better cause then just letting the Force intensifying the endless struggle for its own benefit, assuming my theory of it is correct.

[Simon_Jester]

What makes you think wars and tyrants would be less common without the Force?

In real life, we get plenty of wars and tyrants all the time on the small scale, and big crises that cause huge amounts of human misery happen on the large scale every few generations at best. Compare this to Star Wars, where you get, well, about the same thing: small scale wars are routine (and were even under the Old Republic, they just stuck to the periphery), and big crises happen about every generation (during bad times) or every few hundred years ( ) during good times.

Would removing the Force really remove the problem? Would removing the Sith have saved the Republic, if you also removed the Jedi responsible for keeping it from flying to pieces under its own weight and corruption?