Potentium: There is no light or dark side
I've been reading the New Jedi Order and have just finished Rogue Planet and found out about this interesting perspective...I actually like this view of the Force...
I like the idea that the darkness is inside the person no the Force itself...so Anakin wouldn't have really been twisted by the dark side, but instead the Force was twisted by the darkness inside Anakin...
What do you folks think about Potentium?
I totally agree with this theory. That's why i like the NJO so much: it deals with human emtions and conflicts - it makes it so much easier to believe in the characters. And it is also the reason I stand firmly behind Jacen in LotF.
However, I'm slightly inclined to agree with General G <above>... My head hurts at the minute as i'm nearing the end of The Unifying Force again, and have just read the conversation between Luke and Jacen regarding evil actions...
I'm not actually sure that there is anything in the concept of the Potentium - that i can find - that rules out Evil and the whole evil actions thing. Luke is right in one sense: that evil actions exist - yes they do... so therefore evil does - it does... but I thought the debate was about the 'light side' and 'dark side' of the FORCE - not people. so therefore, skywalker's argument is moot - he's not even on the same brainlength as Jacen and Sekot at that point.
i need to go away now and do something about this - it bugs me so much the whole thing and i want to understand it better (now i know who jacen felt pre-Traitor)... I've got to start a petition for him
Originally posted by Alliance
No...The force is very religious in nature."universal truth" doesn't exist.
The allusions to religion are undeniable. The Jedi TEMPLE, a council of elders, a devoted lifstyle, proper dress, a god-like deity...its all there.
Except that it isn't a religion. Of course, it's stylised like one, for instance a temple, what what on earth are you going to call the ancient headquarters of a bunch of magical knights? What else are they going to wear? They may be many, many allusions, but that doesn't mean they are a religion. They don't send out missionaries into the streets to preach sermons about the Force do they?
Ushgarak it right, they rely on the "universal truths" of the galaxy.
Tarkin and the other members of the Imperial Command refer to the Jedi/Sith as a religion, which of course is a throw off term, its dialogue and we have to realise that these men, in context, hate the Jedi and saw them as a cause for the decay of the Republic, among other things.
Originally posted by Alliance
No...The force is very religious in nature."universal truth" doesn't exist.
The allusions to religion are undeniable. The Jedi TEMPLE, a council of elders, a devoted lifstyle, proper dress, a god-like deity...its all there.
But their views are not based on faith, but on, as I sa, universal truth and wisdom. It has the trappings of a religion but it really isn't one. Nor is the Force a 'god-like' deity, weird description as that is anyway as all deities are god-like, that being what the word means.
And once more, as you so often do, you are confusing fiction with truth. Universal truth might not exist in real life, but it does in Star Wars. They are the absolute and objective good guys. GL says as much and when it comes to his own creation GL cannot be questioned.
Originally posted by Tangible God
I tend to view the EU version of the Force as nothing but a tool used by different ideologies. How the Force is used depends solely on the intentions and persona of the person controlling it.
Well I tend to use the view the films and GL has, which trumps any vague nonsense the EU puts out.
Like I have always said, if you want to create a setting where your own views will become the default, then create your own darn setting. But Star Wars is GL's baby, and other writers can have all the opinions they like- GL still sets the facts.
Originally posted by UshgarakLol, I never said I dismiss it, I just said I prefer it.
Well I tend to use the view the films and GL has, which trumps any vague nonsense the EU puts out.Like I have always said, if you want to create a setting where your own views will become the default, then create your own darn setting. But Star Wars is GL's baby, and other writers can have all the opinions they like- GL still sets the facts.
Just like how I prefer Thrawn's amazing mind over Jar jar's innovative one.
Originally posted by Captain REX
The Potentium Theory is a pile of shite. There's the Light Side. There's the Dark Side. Lucas set it up that way. That's the way it is. Tada, EU's lame!
Yes, but Lucas is a s**t head who doesn't even LIKE his own work - hell ,he can't even pronounce half the names right! The only thing i like about GL's Star Wars IS Star Wars - as without it i don't think i'd be the person i am without having the books to read.
GL created a STORY, he doesn't care about it - he's a selfish little so n so who feels nothing for SW fans, and indeed just SW... his views on light and dark worked for Luke and Anakin - but only because he made them work for the sake of the story. even then you could question the whole L/D thing.
Why didn't luke open up the com channel as he was flying down the trench and warn all the innocent workers and scientists who were only doing their job (as the Empire itself wasn' evil , but the Emperor was).. why didn't he warn them what he was going to do and at least give them a fighting chance? How many did he murder that day?oh, yeah, it was because GL wrote that there was a certain time before the DS would fire on Yavin 4 and obliterate the fledgling Rebel Alliance. Luke could still have issues a warning at the cost of the Alliance - but, OMG, where would THAT leave us? No princess Leia, no C-3PO, no General Rieekan (SP?), no Dodonna, no freedom fighters. THE END.
See? if GL hadn't have used L v D then there would be no story - bad guys win.