Question: Evolution

[Storm Dragons 3rd Company]

I was re-reading the stuff about the different types of world in the Imperium and I realized something that made me wonder how to address it in an DIY Astartes. Specifically, I can certainly see, in say M35, a newly founded chapter of Space Marines choosing a feral world for their fortress monastery for all the reasons expressed in the DIY guides. But, the surest thing you can say about human history is that humans evolve or at least innovate. From M35 to M42 is 7000 years. In 7000 years, real humanity has gone from the very depths of the ancient world to nuclear fission and space flight. So if your chapter started on a feral world 7000 years ago, there is no reason why that world should still be feral at all. It should have progressed, and, in the process, perhaps removed the very feralness that was the attractive point to begin with.

 

So, how do people deal with this? You can: 1) ignore it, 2) write your DIY so that the world does progress, 3) have your chapter periodically migrate to find a new feral world, or 4) have your chapter ruthlessly quell any innovation by the natives in the name of the greater good of mankind.

 

In skimming the various write-ups, i did not see a lot of treatment of this issue, and I'm curious if and how people handle this question.

 

Thanks.

[Ecritter]

I would have to say that you could either

 

1) ignore it, this is sci-fi after all,

2) use it in the DIY, either progressing along with them; or,

3) address it the way SMs normally do by stopping them from progressing in the name of the Imperium.

 

I do have to say that it is an interesting question and could lead to alot of fun fluff if written correctly.

[The Shiny One]

i would imagine in a dark gothic universe, there would be no real cultural evolution. The empire would simply show its presence and intervine. Exchange the leaders or something.

[Octavulg]

Plus, you're assuming the world in question has any of the variety of nice things which have facilitated our cultural changes. Like easily minable minerals, a relatively nice climate, animals that lend themselves to being killed by relatively low-tech weapons, that sort of thing.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Our culture advanced because we had the time, will, and resources to perform research; build prototypes to test our theories; afford the inevitable costs of trial-and-error testing; and repeat this process again and again, building on previous research to improve our work.

 

The worlds in WH40K rarely have such luxuries. Resources? You have little to spare after you meet your quota for arms manufacture, make up losses from enemy raids and unnatural disasters, and then provide the minimum you need to feed, clothe, and shelter you and your family. Will? When there's a very real possibility a daemon may possess your innovative machine, and there's a bullet with your name on it because the Inquisition decides it's better to be safe than sorry, what motivation is there to be innovative? Time? It's hard enough to find time on this planet, to say nothing of one where your flower garden may rise up and eat you (Catachan), your hometown may become an active volcano to underwater to a glacier in a single year (Fenris), and there are sadistic and skilled torturers coming to flay you alive every once in a while (any planet with a Webway portal on it, including the White Scars' Chapter planet).

 

In short, we had it relatively easy. The Tau had it very easy. For the Imperium, it's anything but easy.

[Askari]

Like the above said, not every planet will have the resources and other factors that allowed us to evolve culturally and technologically. Even today, there are lots of people in the amazon and certain parts of australia and africa that haven't evolved technologically and probably would never have without outside intervention due to lack of resources necessary to create an advanced society. You should read the book Guns, Germs, and Steel, it basically explains why some societies got stuck at the hunter-gatherer stage while others advanced to the industrial stage due to environmental factors.

[Ferrata]

Ignoring any reason why it might be the case, but the lack of evolution of society really does fit into the the stagnant idea of the Imperium that is pushed by GW.. The idea of any society attempting to better themselves seems all a little too nice and ahppy.

 

As for fluff reasons why it happens; as other people have mentioned their might not be the resources required to advance themseleves (i.e.. metals for industrial evolution). They will probably not recieve the outside stimulus to advance, as chapters are likely to want to keep them warring to make sure they still produce useful recruits, or even the Imperium hoping to keep some people relatively feral to ensure they have that supply of men for their armies.