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Old 2013-06-29, 15:36   Link #183
Guido
Snobby Gentleman
 
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Monterrey, México
Age: 43
Between today and tomorrow Suisei no Gargantia concludes, and I'm in time since I've already done with the twelfth episode.


Several of you people raised an interesting topic at the thread for the previous episode. I do agree that the tactic Kugel employed to implement the GA social order onto the Earth and its people doesn't fall into the category of religion. In fact, ten thousand years ago the very concept of religion did not exist for humans at that time.

What Kugel described in detail how he and Stryker plan to turn the Earth into a second Avalon for the Earthling humans relies on two arguments:

1. Argumentum ad baculum: A very common logical fallacy that appeals to show of force, threat or coercion to justify its reasoning.

2. Argumentum ad verecundiam: Fallacious appeal from authority. This is likely very tricky for me to suggest given that Kugel mostly uses force and instills terror to bring forth a social order that is alien to the native humans from Earth and to which many of them argue against.

However, actually, it's Kugel himself that brings forth the aformentioned argument when Ledo previously tries to appeal to the Commander that the Earthling humans have already established their own societies, hence, they have no right to meddle in Earhtlings' affairs.
Kugel replies back that being soldiers of the Galactic Alliance, and not finding themselves at the frontlines, then they must advance the Earth and its people for the benefit of what constitutes the Galactic Alliance and humanity.

However, I actually brought forth another type of argument reasoning with that above statement.

a) Yes, Kugel as well is using his authority as soldier of the GA to justify his actions on Earth.

b) But, he's also appealing to the argument that what's best and works for the greater good of the majority, then it will also work the same for the minority.

In that last statement, I refer to the Galactic Alliance as the majority of the human race; the first episode it was said that 400 million humans live in Avalon.
The people of Earth I class them as the minority of the human race, although the series doesn't mention at all how many humans survived the cataclysmic Ice Age, and how many descendants of those humans are scattered and living in the Earth in the story's current time.

What works the most efficient and suits well for the Galactic Alliance doesn't do good for the people of Earth. The differences I mentioned them in my previous posts:
1. Space humans and Earthling humans borned and raised in different environments.
2. Space humans have Hideauze as natural predators, so they have to struggle for the fight of their lifetime.
3. In such extreme conditions, I think they had no other choice but looking forward to build their society based on the system that would allow them the highest survival rate.
4. Earhtling humans have no other choice but living on board giant ships to cruise the oceans, as practically all the Earth is covered in water.
5. To Earthling humans their only predators are humans themselves like them, which could be pirates or rival fleet factions warring for water, other resources, or treasures; natural elements like typhoons, tsunamis, and hurricanes can play a dangerous hazard for the survival of Earthling humans. Finally, as long as they do not provoke whalesquids, Earthling humans then do not make enemies of them.

I believe living in space is the more haphazard and adverse environment to dwell than living on Earth. Simply put, they have to create artificial colonies and those colonies must support and sustain the necessary living conditions for space humans to survive, thrive, and reproduce. The conditions I present not only limit to oxygen (air) supply, but also more efficient technology, terraforming the environment, and many other issues.

The Earth itself from what looks and is depicted in the present story is full of all types of natural resources. What the Earthling humans did was to recover their technology to the point of building giant ships to live onboard and to create Yunboro to bring forth treasure from underneath the water's surface. Of course, I do not forget that they can fish their food, they can gather rain water, they built lighter vehicles for air travel like the surf kites, and so on.

The mentality of Space humans based on their environment and surroundings is that of survival through competitive struggle within a cost-benefit efficiency framework.

The mentality of most Earthling humans is centered around relationships, family, and community. By joining their fleets, the humans together can form a large supracommunity that allows for free exchange of relationships, interaction, ideas, work, trade, and etc. Everybody gets involved or participates out of their free will to help the others in need. Their civilization becomes more a community of families joined together that struggle when the need arises and forces them to struggle, but also they live and let live.

Most of these Earthling humans have become so used and accustomed to that kind of society and mentality that for them has turned into a natural lifestyle. However, because Kugel intended to force them into a system and mindset completely alien to them, then friction was both natural and to be expected because they would not agree to the drastic changes that such system entails:

For example, dividing the fleets into separate units for better efficiency or disposing of the weaklings, handicapped, or diseased appealing to the reasoning that doing so increases the chances of humanity itself for survival.
Look how Melty, Flange, and even Pinion became so disgusted when the fleet under Kugel's command disposed of their diseased people; that was the turning point for Pinion to call it quits and to revolt, but only after he heard the plans for insurrection from Lukkage herself.

To me the poignant highlight of this episode was Ledo's moment to make a decision: loyalty towards his former superior officer or protecting the Gargantia and its people because of his newly-found sense for compassion.

This is a very important theme for the series that revolves around coming of age. When the time comes that you have to take that very important step that will shape the rest of your life; when you have eaten the forbidden fruit that is knowledge, and now you're realizing there's another reality that is different from what you were told in the paradise of ignorance; the time when you have been accustomed to live in the dark, but when the light comes and spreads all around you either you choose to remain unmoved or to adapt into the light.
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