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Message: <blockquote data-quote="S'mon" data-source="post: 4654590" data-attributes="member: 463">While I can't make much sense of this post, I do want to say that I think there are very good reasons why a society may adopt a conservative stance hostile to many forms of innovation.  One can criticise Egypt for 'lack of progress' over 2000 years, but one can equally say that Egypt achieved a functional and stable society that looked to eternity, and vastly outlasted countless competitor nations. sic transit gloria mundi - highly innovative societies may burn bright, but burn briefly.  In the natural world, many of the most widespread and successful flora and fauna are those that have changed least over many tens of millions of years.  I have a lot of respect for cultures that are able to survive shocks organically and change only as necessary.    It's quite possible that Japan (for instance) will still be around in recognisable form when Western civilisation is long gone.Edit:  Of course in fantasy and science fiction, the humans often act as stand-ins for Europeans/Westerners/Americans, so they're assumed to be restless, innovative, individualist and progress-oriented.  Then they're contrasted with the 'civilised' demi-humans (elves), aliens (Vulcans) etc who are often presented as having the static, unchanging 'Oriental' cultures  (there are also the 'barbaric' orcs, klingons et al).  But there is no particular reason why this should be the case, other than accessibility to a Western audience.    A few settings like Te'Kumel have non-Western humans; you could also have gnomes, halflings or such demi-humans being the individualist innovators, possibly in conflict with conservative human societies.</blockquote>

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