UT, war, and logistics

[Joseph Paul]

In many fictional futures the concept of closed or nearly closed systems demand that human beings get comfortable with the idea that their dearly departed's mortal remains are going to be used in the hydroponics section to help feed everyone later on. Circle of Life and all that.

Taking that a step further such that militaries from these cultures may not be at all averse to taking a short cut across that circle and padding out their organic logistic capabilities by the use of more direct means to convert battle casualties to field rations. Cannibal nano or other swarms may be useful for this by rendering the biomass of friends and foes alike to a range of field rations and even packaging them by converting inorganic materials for that purpose.

Discuss.

[Dustin]

If you're born to an environment where biomass is precious and conserved, such that you don't balk at your own fecal matter going into the hopper for tomorrow's breakfast, I don't think anybody will bat an eye at every dead body being grist for the mill as well, unless there are religious objections (and those may evolve away if they are strategically disadvantageous).

[Tema69]

I know from first hand experience that soldiers will eat anything and complain about it.
It does seem like a farflung future / alternate universe though, seeing how we are so focused on treating the dead properly, giving correct funerals, and avoiding the most recent airforce scandal.

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Joseph Paul

Taking that a step further such that militaries from these cultures may not be at all averse to taking a short cut across that circle and padding out their organic logistic capabilities by the use of more direct means to convert battle casualties to field rations.

Army Green . . . is PEOPLE!!!

[Joseph Paul]

Does it rise to the point of being a good challenge of cultural assumptions on both sides? I am looking at it as a model for finding what living in space/distant worlds may do to social mores and then having plots hinge on such things.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Joseph Paul

In many fictional futures the concept of closed or nearly closed systems demand that human beings get comfortable with the idea that their dearly departed's mortal remains are going to be used in the hydroponics section to help feed everyone later on. Circle of Life and all that.

Taking that a step further such that militaries from these cultures may not be at all averse to taking a short cut across that circle and padding out their organic logistic capabilities by the use of more direct means to convert battle casualties to field rations.

Militaries from cultures like that are most likely to be mostly space navies which certainly might dispose of shipboard fatalities by putting them into the recycling facilities but aren't likely to deal with the wrecks of their defeated foes that way. Too much risk for too little reward.

[Flyndaran]

Cannibalistic cultures either only eat enemies or only eat loved ones. I imagine a hypothetical future people would act similarly.

[Tyneras]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Cannibalistic cultures either only eat enemies or only eat loved ones. I imagine a hypothetical future people would act similarly.

If everything from poop, used engine oil, dirt and dead people all go into the same organic material reprocessing unit, that may not apply. They may simply consider a corpse (ally or enemy) garbage, and food is reprocessed garbage.

[cosmicfish]

I could see this working - it could originate as necessity in those closed systems (people either got used to it or found a way to leave the system) and then got enshrined as a "showing respect for the dead by using them to nourish the living" sort of thing.

But it would have to start in that closed system before it would likely spread to an open system, and would need a strong cultural push from that originating culture to be maintained. Otherwise, the ready availability of biomass would tend to favor at least SOME to just preserve or ignore the dead.

[RyanW]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Cannibalistic cultures either only eat enemies or only eat loved ones. I imagine a hypothetical future people would act similarly.

Yes, but most cannibalistic cultures have a diet consisting of people in the same way Southern Baptists have a pot luck based diet. It has a principally social, not nutritional, meaning. The scenario presented here is use of human bodies as a significant nutritional contribution.

And oh my god pirates mounting a plank above the biomass recycler...