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<blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 8013172" data-attributes="member: 467">And if those minds are comprehensible they are just human minds with cultural differences.One of those &quot;alien&quot; aspects that people underplay are big differences in intelligence. Like, a low int creature might not be &quot;stupid&quot; but instead think so differently that they can't comprehend certain ideas. For example, no matter how hard you try, you can never teach a chimpanzee algebra because the actual physical brain structure of a chimp does not allow for the sort of mathematical abstract thought required by algebra. Our shorthand for that is &quot;chimps aren't as smart as people&quot; but in reality it's actually &quot;chimps have an alien mindset.&quot; Now consider how closely related we are and then think about other smart creatures, from elephants to cuttlefish, and try and figure out how they think. Similarly, how would a vastly &quot;superior&quot; intelligence think? Could we even hope to communicate with one?It's much easier, and frankly more fun, to consider that most of the things we run into in D&amp;D think essentially like us. It facilitates play and allows for recognizable stories. But &quot;it's CE&quot; is not an alien mindset; it is a flavor of human mindset.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Reynard, post: 8013172, member: 467"] And if those minds are comprehensible they are just human minds with cultural differences. One of those "alien" aspects that people underplay are big differences in intelligence. Like, a low int creature might not be "stupid" but instead think so differently that they can't comprehend certain ideas. For example, no matter how hard you try, you can never teach a chimpanzee algebra because the actual physical brain structure of a chimp does not allow for the sort of mathematical abstract thought required by algebra. Our shorthand for that is "chimps aren't as smart as people" but in reality it's actually "chimps have an alien mindset." Now consider how closely related we are and then think about other smart creatures, from elephants to cuttlefish, and try and figure out how they think. Similarly, how would a vastly "superior" intelligence think? Could we even hope to communicate with one? It's much easier, and frankly more fun, to consider that most of the things we run into in D&D think essentially like us. It facilitates play and allows for recognizable stories. But "it's CE" is not an alien mindset; it is a flavor of human mindset. [/QUOTE]

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