In stories, I have a problem with species or societies that perpetuate themselves by inducting new members from outside the group. The group itself has no internal method of reproduction.
This isn't even an issue of morality. Yes, I find the actions of Star Trek's Borg, or Doctor Who's Cybermen, to be morally reprehensible. But you could be dealing with a gray and gray morality, or even a black and gray morality where these guys are the gray, and the true evil is much worse. Or the group could even be good, such as an order of monks that has taken vows of celibacy.
No, my problem is that such a system is unsustainable. It is doomed to fail, in the long run, unless very special conditions are met. Because the group has no internal method of reproduction, they are dependent on outsiders for new bodies. What happens when they've inducted everybody, and no outsiders remain? The group dies out. What happens when resistance to induction means it costs the group more than one member for every member it gains? The group dies out.
This last is why the standard zombie apocalypse scenario is ridiculous, by the way. I can believe in a virus that turns people into rage-filled cannibalistic killing machines. But when defenders often mow down dozens of zombies for every defender killed I have to wonder... how did so many people get infected in the first place?
The only way such a group can sustain itself is by carefully balancing how many members it loses with how many members it gains, and by balancing itself with broader populations. It would require careful and deliberate planning. I never see such planning in fiction.
This has always kind of bothered me. Just felt like ranting about it for a bit.
There should be a like button for blog posts. You present some very sound logic here. Very good.
ReplyDeleteNo species can sustain itself forever. Look at humanity: half of the Earth's population is panicking about our inevitable destruction of the planet, while the other half struggles to even survive. While I think we'll probably last many more centuries, and dream of moving off into space, we will inevitably die. Even the universe itself seems to have a finite lifetime.
ReplyDeleteIn zombie apocalypse stories, there are generally a band of heroes that have the skills and instincts to survive, whereas the rest of the population are mindless sheep walking backwards into dark buildings and hiding in cardboard boxes...
It may surprise you to learn that not everybody instinctively maps out their surroundings for zombie defense vulnerabilities JUST IN CASE. Some people don't even have a shotgun behind an emergency glass case! I know, shocking, but it's true! xD
You just have to look at the species/societies in your stories in the longer term. They will survive so long, assimilating other species, perhaps extincting some and perhaps barely affecting others, until inevitably they themselves lack some necessity for life and die off.
@Travis Wedding: There is one if you use Google Reader or the like to read blogs. ;)