The Force and genetics

[Anglorfin]

I am sitting in my room thinking StarWars at the moment and an interesting revelation comes to my mind. Since good ol' George Lucas has introduced the concept of "medichlorians" as the originator of the Force, and as being something apparently biological, is the Force an inherited trait?

Look at Luke and Leia. Fathered by Anakin who was very strong in the Force, both have powers too. If the Force is generated by biological traits then it would be perfeclty sound to assume that these traits could be passed down through genetics. But that leads me to wonder, "If there was a dwindling of Jedi, why didn't Yoda knock up some females of his own race and increase the padawan pool?" Or is it that the medichlorians are sentient beings themselves, and in a sense "choose" which bodies to place themselves in?

Discuss, on the validity of my assumption, the nature of medichlorians, or Lucas' decision to explain the Force in this way and any other questions that might arise from it.

[gimli7410]

well if anakin had so many how come his dad has never been mentioned. i mean shmi didnt look like she had the force and we dont know anything about his dad so im not sure bout the inheritance part.t might be that medichloreans are in everyone just some dont thrive as well as in other beings. well that all i can say

[Anglorfin]

Originally posted by gimli7410
well if anakin had so many how come his dad has never been mentioned. i mean shmi didnt look like she had the force and we dont know anything about his dad so im not sure bout the inheritance part.t might be that medichloreans are in everyone just some dont thrive as well as in other beings. well that all i can say

Anakin doesn't have a dad. He was concieved by the medichlorians. Yet another odd twist. If he was concieved by them does that mean that they coalesced JUST to create Anakin? Otherwise it would seem that Shmi should have been really powerful also, which for whatever reason she wasn't.

[Bombadillo]

Well the metaclorients do make up the force, which binds all things together and creates balance in the universe. So I guess they could sometimes do whatever neccesarry to maintain that balance. In Anikins case, conceive him. So they must have partial control at least of who to pop into, and from that person on down his generations, its hereditary, unless the meticlorients decide to leave, which I guedss is possible.

*sorry for the odd grammar and spellings. German keyboards are weird.*

[Anglorfin]

Originally posted by Bombadillo

*sorry for the odd grammar and spellings. German keyboards are weird.*

Hahahaha
So that's where you are now. Anyway good input. I'm not sure I like the whole idea of medichlorians in the first place though. Lucas could have come up with something better, or just left it alone.

[Bombadillo]

Well thiis onne's a hellofalot harder and its the narrowest eletronic devicee II'vee seen that is noot a tv clickerr. Therre's no mouse and the buttons arree messed up so I can't even type afterr your quote therre.

Eitherr way, metaclorients arree a good idea. If you think abouut the idea for a while they help to furtherr explainn the force.


(Holy crap. I wonn't even bother.)

Originally posted by Anglorfin
Hahahaha
So that's where you are now. Anyway good input. I'm not sure I like the whole idea of medichlorians in the first place though. Lucas could have come up with something better, or just left it alone.

[IronParrot]

No, no, no.

Midichlorians don't make up the Force. The Force is still a spiritual entity. Midichlorians are what connect the sentient mind to the Force. They bridge the connection between the Jedi's senses and his powers. It's pretty clear from The Phantom Menace that they are simply the medium of communication.

That said, a higher midichlorian count doesn't mean you're necessarily more powerful - that takes training. It does mean you're stronger in the Force, in the sense that you can more easily communicate with it.

Think about it in electrical terms: midichlorians determine your metaphorical "amperage" when you communicate with the Force. The more you have, the more the Force flows through you.

The Force is not inheritable. Force potential is a different matter.

[gollum9630]

Originally posted by Anglorfin
"If there was a dwindling of Jedi, why didn't Yoda knock up some females of his own race and increase the padawan pool?"

thats the funniest thing i have ever heard when talking about SW.

Other wise, i thought the force was genetic when Luke said it was strong in his family, his father has it, he has it and so does his sister...

[Anglorfin]

Originally posted by IronParrot
No, no, no.

Midichlorians don't make up the Force. The Force is still a spiritual entity. Midichlorians are what connect the sentient mind to the Force. They bridge the connection between the Jedi's senses and his powers. It's pretty clear from The Phantom Menace that they are simply the medium of communication.

That said, a higher midichlorian count doesn't mean you're necessarily more powerful - that takes training. It does mean you're stronger in the Force, in the sense that you can more easily communicate with it.

Think about it in electrical terms: midichlorians determine your metaphorical "amperage" when you communicate with the Force. The more you have, the more the Force flows through you.

The Force is not inheritable. Force potential is a different matter.

When Jedis go out looking for recruits they are looking for the potential, but doesn't that also determine the strength? (In physics terms, the higher the amps the stronger the wave)

Padawans with higher potential I would assume always have the ability to also become the most powerful. Anakin had huge potential by nature, which also tied in with the fact that he was the most powerful Jedi. The powers are there, it's just a matter of reaching down and finding them. Training enhances how much Force you can wield at one time, but you can never exceed the limit of what was granted to you to begin with.

[IronParrot]

Padawans with higher potential I would assume always have the ability to also become the most powerful. Anakin had huge potential by nature, which also tied in with the fact that he was the most powerful Jedi. The powers are there, it's just a matter of reaching down and finding them. Training enhances how much Force you can wield at one time, but you can never exceed the limit of what was granted to you to begin with.

Precisely, but the crux of my point was that training is essential. Your midichlorian count is meaningless if you're not well-trained in the Force - and that doesn't just mean abilities, it also means discipline. That's why Yoda remains a more "powerful" Jedi than either Anakin Skywalker or Count Dooku.

[The Ben]

Originally posted by IronParrot
Precisely, but the crux of my point was that training is essential. Your midichlorian count is meaningless if you're not well-trained in the Force - and that doesn't just mean abilities, it also means discipline. That's why Yoda remains a more "powerful" Jedi than either Anakin Skywalker or Count Dooku.

so your saying discipline is the way of the jedi?

[Anglorfin]

Originally posted by The Ben
so your saying discipline is the way of the jedi?

Of course it is. A Jedi's whole life is centered around discipline, moderation of action, but also the recognition of when to use force (not just Force).

I have another question. If Anakin had so many Medichlorians to begin with, and they are to an extent a biological feature, what happens when he starts to lose his various appendages? Does he become less powerful? Is he restricted in any way in his ability or capacity to use the Force? Please speculate .. .

[IronParrot]

I think "midichlorian count" has to do with midichlorian concentration - as in, say, a per-cell basis. When Obi-Wan says, "over twenty thousand", that probably doesn't mean twenty grand midichlorians flat.

This has interesting implications, especially considering Yoda's small stature.

[gollum9630]

Originally posted by IronParrot
I think "midichlorian count" has to do with midichlorian concentration - as in, say, a per-cell basis. When Obi-Wan says, "over twenty thousand", that probably doesn't mean twenty grand midichlorians flat.

of course it has to be per cell because they only annalized a small amount of anikins blood. It would be very difficult to estimate how many he has in total by just annalizing a small bit of blood

[The Ben]

Originally posted by Anglorfin
I am sitting in my room thinking StarWars at the moment and an interesting revelation comes to my mind. Since good ol' George Lucas has introduced the concept of "medichlorians" as the originator of the Force, and as being something apparently biological, is the Force an inherited trait?

Look at Luke and Leia. Fathered by Anakin who was very strong in the Force, both have powers too. If the Force is generated by biological traits then it would be perfeclty sound to assume that these traits could be passed down through genetics. But that leads me to wonder, "If there was a dwindling of Jedi, why didn't Yoda knock up some females of his own race and increase the padawan pool?" Or is it that the medichlorians are sentient beings themselves, and in a sense "choose" which bodies to place themselves in?

Discuss, on the validity of my assumption, the nature of medichlorians, or Lucas' decision to explain the Force in this way and any other questions that might arise from it.

OH, so Thats how you spell "medichlorians"

[Sheeana]

It isn't, actually.

"midichlorians"_

How much time do you spend making these redundant posts?

[The Ben]

Originally posted by Sheeana
It isn't, actually.

"midichlorians"_

How much time do you spend making these redundant posts?

Actually i copied "midichlorians" from the first post.

[Estel13]

I think the midichlorians are at least semi-sentient, so perhaps they, in part, decide who they want to impart the Gift of the Force to. On the other hand, it could be completely random, which would explain why the Jedi were never a huge populace. Yeah, I know, I spend way too much time thinking about this stuff.

[Bombadillo]

Originally posted by Anglorfin
Of course it is. A Jedi's whole life is centered around discipline, moderation of action, but also the recognition of when to use force (not just Force).

I have another question. If Anakin had so many Medichlorians to begin with, and they are to an extent a biological feature, what happens when he starts to lose his various appendages? Does he become less powerful? Is he restricted in any way in his ability or capacity to use the Force? Please speculate .. .

Originally posted by IronParrot
I think "midichlorian count" has to do with midichlorian concentration - as in, say, a per-cell basis. When Obi-Wan says, "over twenty thousand", that probably doesn't mean twenty grand midichlorians flat.

This has interesting implications, especially considering Yoda's small stature.

Interesting. I'm thinking very hard about this one; ultimately I have to see The Phantom Menace again. I don't remember exactly how Qui Gon measured the mediclorients in Ani, but I don't recall him taking a blood sample. He used a tri-corder type thing, and I believe Obi Wan said "That's more than Master Yoda." Anyway, there has to be a universal standard for this. They may be in blood (I don't know how to work that tri-corder), or it may have been measured 2000 in one square inch of his body. For the later, I'll assume they are even distributed thoughout all of his body tissue. Either way, if one loses an arm, he loses metachlorients.

And I've always agreed with that. But there's something else too. Wouldn't it make sense for metachlorients to be concentrated in the brain? That would put a spin on things.

[IronParrot]

Interesting. I'm thinking very hard about this one; ultimately I have to see The Phantom Menace again. I don't remember exactly how Qui Gon measured the mediclorients in Ani, but I don't recall him taking a blood sample. He used a tri-corder type thing, and I believe Obi Wan said "That's more than Master Yoda."

Watch how the scene begins. He's taking a sample of Anakin's blood while they talk about the stars, and Anakin goes, "Ow"... then his mother calls for him to come inside. Then Qui-Gon inserts the sample into the commlink device and beams it to Obi-Wan.

And I've always agreed with that. But there's something else too. Wouldn't it make sense for metachlorients to be concentrated in the brain? That would put a spin on things.

It would make a lot of sense, considering that the Force largely has to do with the mind.