Evolution of tsaheylu

[auroraglacialis]

Originally Posted by Cyvaris

I still like my, it was a result of a highly advanced biotech the Na'vi had and then lost/gave up/evolved out of and into a better/more peaceful life style.

Thats a good one indeed. I also think that it is a possibility, but it would then make Pandora a result of "intelligent design". Not exactly my favourite...

Originally Posted by Human No More

Sex is via the normal method .

It does not have to be about sexual intercourse. There is more to sex than that. A lot of biological properties are because of that. Or do you think that a stag will penetrate his mate with the antlers or a peacock spreads his genes with his colorful feathers?

The idea of parent/child as an initial one is an interesting idea, but I don't think it fits in with it not being unique to them - it's a question of top-down vs bottom-up approaches; I'd say it's more likely to have originated from an early form of life that had this ability to some degree - existing as individual cells or individual multicellular organisms, yet able to share sensory data, perhaps neurochemical transfer as well, which would give it a clear advantage over other species. OF course, that's not to say that such data transfer doesn't happen; just that it wouldn't be so widespread;

Ok, I was not really referring specifically to mother and child of a NA'Vi. But rather to mother and offspring of their distant ancestors, the one they have in common with most other large lifeforms on the planet. I dont know if there are some animals (insects? jellyfish?) that do not have that ability. Clearly the "purpose" of this connection is to share information, emotions, feelings, experiences,... with the NA'Vi or with other animals. And I would say that the first being that a newborn being would connect to is the mother. Especially in mammals, who care for their offspring for a long time.

I just think that it makes evolutionary sense that this way of connecting originates from a more close connection that a mother and her offspring have. After all, the offspring is a part of her body, that grows and eventually is separated - it makes sense, I think, that re-establishing a connection between these two beings that once were more or less one (of course there are limits to that - DNA is different, but a lot is shared - nutrients, blood,...) makes a lot of sense as a evolutionary strategy. As I said - the analogy in terms of nutrients are the development of mothers milk - in that sense, connecting to a direhorse would be the equivalent to drinking cows milk.

In addition, I would think that if it was a simple memory transfer that was something approaching routine, they'd be more likely to do it with each other rather than just with one they are mated with, considering the likely efficiency and removing the potential for misinterpretations.

No, I would not say that it is a memory transfer like telepathy or something. It is more intimate - it is something on the emotional level, it is "seeing the world through the others eyes", feeling the others body and so on. It may be something that is reserved for lovers and parents. But those are of course not the only instances - after all, the same thing that is done with lovers is also done with ikran or pali or other animals and of course also trees...

Originally Posted by Moco Loco

I think all those theories are nice, but run into problems with the sacred trees I can't see how those fit in.

Indeed the whole concept of connected trees and then the sacred trees is a different thing. Maybe it has similar roots, maybe it is a convergence. In any case, I can imagine that an entity like Eywa would desire to connect with animal life, especially with intelligent animal life. It would probably - in order to maintain the balance - want to connect to these beings that are possibly able to do a lot of harm (like skypeople on their home planet )