Hellaphunt wrote:There's a short story I can't remember the title or author of, but it's about a race that's telepathic to the degree that their sub/conscious, thoughts, emotions, everything are shared without loss. A product of this is evident in their architecture and other designs to be utilitarian, sans aesthetics, because the shared mind leaves nothing to inspire art. One's professions is chosen by the collective because it's understood by both parties what's best. Can a society like this know conflict among each other? Perhaps with their own wildlife, but with each other, enough to develop weapons and everything else that goes along with war?
If they are meshed to that degree, i don't know if it's reasonable to talk about individuals any more. They'd be more like the cells of our bodies. Maybe ants &c. (or Borg) are model for that. It would be interesting, since they'd know violence against other species, but they'd have, as you say, not developed weapons beyond those needed for hunt and pest control. If they have time enough, they could probably copy the designs from the species they encounter. Or throw rocks. You don't need that much sophistication when you have the high ground.
