[TML] 20mm cannons and bulky aliens

[Stuart Frew]

On 24/01/2008, Brad Murray <bjmurray.halfjack at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Jan 23, 2008 1:30 PM, Stuart Frew <stuart at frew.net.nz> wrote:
> > They also have cultural and social values which may prevent them doing
> > this.
> > Since they are fairly xenophobic, iirc, then it may be a point of pride
> that
> > they are so different from the despicable meat eaters.
>
> Well, cultural and social values don't prevent anything -- those are
> rarely more durable than a generation if there's selection pressure
> against it.  That pressure could be economic or military.  I mean, if
> starfaring is economically useful and if a company can get a
> three-fold efficiency improvement on moving cargo by violating a
> taboo, you can bet they are going to dominate the market.




Not if the market rejects it. Tainted goods.

And the selection against this model could be that no-one will sign up for
being put in a coffin (equivalent) and drugged up to the eyeballs.

Some times the selection is against economic efficiency but towards social
goals.
Factory conditions are much better and safer these days despite the fact it
costs the owners profit to do so.
(Except of course when us westerners export the "efficiencies" to third
world countries.)

This is due to social pressures, via regulation sometimes, via market forces
others.

I would expect social pressures to be much stronger in the K'kree since they
are herd animals.