Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 02-13-2018, 02:59 PM   #31
Flyndaran
Untagged
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
Default Re: How much does Xenophilia overrides self-preservation instincts?

That example was clueless and suicidally stupid in addition to xenophilia for comedic effect.
It doesn't make you run toward someone shooting or aggressively pointing a weapon at you even if alien.
An alien pointing an unidentifiable object that most of us would assume but have no direct evidence is a weapon is what may cause a xenophile to approach.

Same with one shouting an incomprehensible language while gesticulating wildly with large clawed appendages. We would default to how aggressive such actions would seem in most human cultures, but a xenophile would consider other possibilities.
__________________
Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check.
Flyndaran is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-15-2018, 11:14 AM   #32
jason taylor
 
jason taylor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
Default Re: How much does Xenophilia overrides self-preservation instincts?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyndaran View Post
That example was clueless and suicidally stupid in addition to xenophilia for comedic effect.
It doesn't make you run toward someone shooting or aggressively pointing a weapon at you even if alien.
An alien pointing an unidentifiable object that most of us would assume but have no direct evidence is a weapon is what may cause a xenophile to approach.

Same with one shouting an incomprehensible language while gesticulating wildly with large clawed appendages. We would default to how aggressive such actions would seem in most human cultures, but a xenophile would consider other possibilities.
That's the problem. Pointing a weapon at someone could be a salute.
__________________
"The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison
jason taylor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2018, 09:59 PM   #33
Johnny1A.2
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Default Re: How much does Xenophilia overrides self-preservation instincts?

Quote:
Originally Posted by TGLS View Post
I'd say Xenophile characters are more willing to see their targets as people than as a member of a group. So while they would be willing to go drinking with occupying troops, they wouldn't betray the resistance or becoming quislings at the first opportunity. And they certainly wouldn't give the brutal governor a pass simply because he's foreign.
Even that, though, can be disadvantageous under some circumstances. For ex, someone like your description might easily get 'played' while in enemy hands, either demonic or human. One of the iron rules of war, for ex, is that all interaction with the enemy is interaction with the enemy, that is, you never forget that they are the enemy. A person who inherently has trouble doing that can be a big weakness under some conditions.
__________________
HMS Overflow-For conversations off topic here.
Johnny1A.2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2018, 10:03 PM   #34
Johnny1A.2
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Default Re: How much does Xenophilia overrides self-preservation instincts?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyndaran View Post
That is not something PCs could possibly know with 100% certainty. That would be an issue of their faith and belief. Only the Players could know that due to the GM telling them.
Yeah, but if 99% of all your interactions with members of Group A have been negative, and almost every account you've heard from others of interactions with members of Group A are seriously negative, there does come a point where it's reasonable to assume 'Group A = Trouble'. So if PCs are from a society where that is the case, it would be reasonable that they treat it as the default.

A person with xenophilia, though, might have trouble with that.
__________________
HMS Overflow-For conversations off topic here.
Johnny1A.2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2018, 01:24 AM   #35
Flyndaran
Untagged
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
Default Re: How much does Xenophilia overrides self-preservation instincts?

"99% and all stories told" is more a sign of extreme bigotry of the character and society rather than a lack of disadvantage.
__________________
Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check.
Flyndaran is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2018, 10:28 AM   #36
jason taylor
 
jason taylor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
Default Re: How much does Xenophilia overrides self-preservation instincts?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyndaran View Post
"99% and all stories told" is more a sign of extreme bigotry of the character and society rather than a lack of disadvantage.
That is an instinctual response of CoH Western Educated Industrialized Rich and Democratic, which did not wait to hear what "Group A" consists of. If "Group A" is defined as consisting of gangsters then obviously it is good idea to assume that encounters with them could be trouble. As by definition the purpose of a criminal gang is-criminality. Admittedly that can be taken to far some sentos don't allow people with tattoos on the assumption that only Yakusa wear tattoos. And no I don't know how that is supposed to keep a Yakusa from coming in if he desires.
__________________
"The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison
jason taylor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2018, 02:27 PM   #37
Flyndaran
Untagged
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
Default Re: How much does Xenophilia overrides self-preservation instincts?

I don't quite think so. It's merely assuming that other people are people, not cardboard cut outs of uniform thought and behavior. I will say that it's all to instinctive for humans to categorize others in such simplistic terms.

It's like how jarring it can be to see horrible Nazis acting kindly to kittens. Or when learning that many heroes are horrible in some ways.

I don't see xenophilia as being all that related to morality or rational/irrational expectations. I mainly see it as a failure to put everyone into an us vs. them mentality that is VERY instinctive for most social animals.
"They" are foreign but not alien with all the suspicion that term generally entails.
__________________
Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check.
Flyndaran is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2018, 02:45 PM   #38
Icelander
 
Icelander's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
Default Re: How much does Xenophilia overrides self-preservation instincts?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyndaran View Post
I don't quite think so. It's merely assuming that other people are people, not cardboard cut outs of uniform thought and behavior. I will say that it's all to instinctive for humans to categorize others in such simplistic terms.

It's like how jarring it can be to see horrible Nazis acting kindly to kittens. Or when learning that many heroes are horrible in some ways.

I don't see xenophilia as being all that related to morality or rational/irrational expectations. I mainly see it as a failure to put everyone into an us vs. them mentality that is VERY instinctive for most social animals.
"They" are foreign but not alien with all the suspicion that term generally entails.
Again, if it's not profoundly irrational and extremely dangerous in many settings, it's probably Broad-Minded, not full-blown Xenophilia.
__________________
Za uspiekh nashevo beznadiozhnovo diela!
Icelander is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2018, 03:31 PM   #39
AlexanderHowl
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Default Re: How much does Xenophilia overrides self-preservation instincts?

Quote:
Originally Posted by jason taylor View Post
That is an instinctual response of CoH Western Educated Industrialized Rich and Democratic, which did not wait to hear what "Group A" consists of. If "Group A" is defined as consisting of gangsters then obviously it is good idea to assume that encounters with them could be trouble. As by definition the purpose of a criminal gang is-criminality. Admittedly that can be taken to far some sentos don't allow people with tattoos on the assumption that only Yakusa wear tattoos. And no I don't know how that is supposed to keep a Yakusa from coming in if he desires.
I distinctly remember hearing such opinions about enlisted sailors from the inhabitants of San Diego when I was serving in the Navy. They were always surprised to find that the educated man that they were talking to was an enlisted sailor. Bigotry is nasty, regardless of the target, and any group can be the target of bigotry.
AlexanderHowl is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2018, 06:30 PM   #40
jason taylor
 
jason taylor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
Default Re: How much does Xenophilia overrides self-preservation instincts?

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
I distinctly remember hearing such opinions about enlisted sailors from the inhabitants of San Diego when I was serving in the Navy. They were always surprised to find that the educated man that they were talking to was an enlisted sailor. Bigotry is nasty, regardless of the target, and any group can be the target of bigotry.
Uh, I was not talking about "group A being sailors accused of being a gangsters." I meant "The replacement for the generic 'group A' actually being gangsters". As in people walking around openly, claiming to be gangsters, dressing as such, and acting in all manner as such, OK? By definition it is not bigoted to assume that gangsters are gangsters.

And by the way as the entire purpose of sailors in the navy is the fact that some "group A" and the members thereof are "likely to be trouble" you are clearly being inconsistent.
__________________
"The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison

Last edited by jason taylor; 02-21-2018 at 06:36 PM.
jason taylor is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:58 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.