Since the adoption of Neo-Gorilla by the Thennanin and the resulting alliance between Earth Clan and Clan Thennanin, intercourse between the two has increased considerably. Beyond the mutual interest of both parties in optimizing Gorilla uplift, there is also the close working relationship that developed between the two clans during the siege of Earth --as both Clans fought valiantly for the Terragen and Neo-Gorilla home-world (see Concordat of Kinshasa-Brazzaville). The alliance with Clan Thennanin continues to be the most militarily important, bilateral, strategic alliance New York has. While trade with the Thennanin remains limited (excluding aid, Clan Thennanin is the Confederation's eighth largest trading partner --with the majority of that exchange being directly linked to the Garthling uplift project or in goods, services, and medicines intended for Neo-Gorilla use) there is an on-going need for study of the Thennanin as influential partners in New York's alien relations.
This paper seeks to further the body of scholarship on the
Thennanin by examining Thennanin psycho-biology through the lens of the
famous Thennanin "organ of wonder," more commonly known as the
Thennanin "organ of prayer." It is the sincere hope of the author that this paper will be
useful to Confederation diplomats, military liaisons, and business people who find themselves engaged in ever
delicate interactions with members of the species Don Compadre Thennanin ab-Wortl
ab-Kosh ab-Rosh ab-Tothtoon ul-Paimin ul-Rammin ul-Ynnin ul-Olumimin
ul-Nahalli ul-Garthling.
The Wortl found the proto-Thennanin on Thennan. Proto-Thennanin were a widely dispersed group of middle-sized, ground dwelling quadrupeds. Species were dispersed across all major land masses, but due to Thennan's unusually warm climate (during any climatological epoch the planetary temperature is toward the extreme high end of water's triple point and O-2 viability) --only those populations specialized for mountain environments had much tolerance for cold.
The bulk of what would become the Thennanin genetic code came from a set of closely related, but very widespread omnivorous, troop-dwelling proto-Thennanin that knuckle walked and preferred living in flat estuary environments.(2)
These populations of proto-Thennanin had a harem-and-bachelor-troop system of bio-social organization and lived largely on gathered plant foods. The alpha male (or on rare occasion a sibling set of males) largely enjoyed a sexual monopoly over the females in the troop. Births were live, single, and occurred every Thennanin year. However, attrition to disease and disaster was high --especially among the young.
The young were (and are) born live and resembled miniature adults. Young proto-Thennanin exhibited very little play behavior. They were protected and fed, but otherwise were treated as any other member of the troop.
All of these related, estuary-dwelling populations used digging sticks. Roots, and --where available --sand dwelling filter feeders, made up the bulk of the diet. While the proto-Thennanin in these populations used tools such as digging sticks and stone tools analogous to Olduwan technology, they built no shelters, neither made nor conserved fire, nor did they engage in proto-cultural behaviors such as improvised songs or invented territorial graphics.
While estuaries were the preferred habitat --inter-breeding populations also lived on well watered plains. These groups ate more insectoids, eggs, and small, land-dwelling animals than their estuary dwelling relatives. Members of a troop moved as a group within calling distance of each other over their territory. The alpha male would wander among foraging females begging/demanding food. An alpha female largely determined the direction of foraging, checked largely by the protests of the alpha male.
Like all members of their biological order, the proto-Thennanin had pattern oriented (instead of anomaly oriented) brains. Modern Thennanin thus tend to be detail oriented --forever trying to perfect patterns. Yet, the Thennanin are simultaneously oblivious to many extra-schematic anomalies until the anomalies reach a threshold level --by which time most Terragens would no longer consider the phenomenon anomalous, but significant.
The proto-Thennanin lived in groups. They used primitive tools to subsist by means requiring social organization, intra-group food sharing, impressive feats of memory, and forecasting. Furthermore, proto-Thennanin only exhibited limited inter-species aggression, and modest intra-species violence. They were, in addition, populous and part of a diverse family of populations.
The Wortl only faced one major hurtle in uplifting the Thennanin. The Traditions of Uplift require graduates from Level Four Clienthood to meet minimum standards predicting minimally acceptable levels of responsibility. These minimum standards mostly exist to insure that the candidate species will comply with minimum standards for planetary custodianship.
The proto-Thennanin, though quite bright, were not highly self-aware, nor were they particularly empathetic for a social species. In short, the proto-Thennanin had a sentience deficit. Furthermore, the other safeguard that many patrons resort to --ritual behavior --was not highly developed among the proto-Thennanin, nor is it a true substitute for haut-sentience. The Thennanin orientation toward systemic thought provided some inherent protection against ecological abuse, but was also a poor substitute for haut-sentience. The lack of a strong parenting motif in proto-Thennanin psycho-biology would also complicate the Thennanin ability to uplift other species in turn.
In retrospect, the Wortl probably could have designed the Thennanin to pass these tests without recourse to the dramatic solution they decided to implement, but the Wortl had Clan Tothtoon's reputation for expert and responsible uplift to consider.
The solution was the Thennanin organ of wonder.
The so-called "Thennanin organ of wonder" is not unique to the Thennanin. The organ of wonder is actually a classic, well documented, O-2 uplift technology. However, designing and implementing an organ of wonder project does require very sophisticated uplift facilities and sensitive uplift technicians. Members of Clan Tothtoon have virtually unlimited access to both, of course. Many members --like the Wortl and Thennanin --also have almost unlimited patience. The Wortl ultimately managed to produce one of the most sophisticated organ of wonder designs in history, though they (and the Thennanin) were willing to exceed standard GUI timelines by more than 64 per 128.
"Organ of wonder" is a fairly descriptive name. An organ of wonder can bestow haut-sentience on an intelligent species with limited self-awareness by endowing the client species with a sense of awe or wonder. An organ of wonder is also literally an organ. That is, the organ of wonder manifests itself as a spatially delimited, coherent organ-like body of tissue in the client species' brain or brain-analog. The fact that the client species also frequently acquires a refined aesthetic sensibility and appreciation for ecological systems are considered highly desirable additional benefits of this particular solution to the haut-sentience problem.
The reader will recall that the proto-Thennanin had a perceptual schemata heavily biased toward pattern recognition and gestalt perception. The Wortl did little to shift the primordial Thennanin gestalt perception bias toward a more anomaly-biased mode of sapience.
The proto-Thennanin also lacked periods of pronounced infancy and childhood. Not surprisingly, the proto-Thennanin --while remarkably intelligent, and intimately aware of their surroundings --did not engage in play behavior, nor did they engage in non-instrumental curiosity or exploration. The Wortl uplift solution did require a more pronounced childhood and a modicum of neo-neonatany. Thennanin childhood lasts about five hab-years. (However, sexual maturity occurs at around fifteen to twenty hab-years). After five --or at most seven hab-years --the pre-sexual Thennanin's period of childhood socialization ends, and the young Thennanin begins a combined apprenticeship and formal education, with economically productive elements becoming more pronounced with time.
Thennanin children are emotionally very robust, requiring little parenting beyond meal preparation, schooling, and shelter from more intense forms of adult social competition. The Thennanin thus have few nurturing impulses beyond an ancient instinct to protect young or weak Thennanin from danger and predation.
As a result of their brief childhood, Thennanin do enjoy a few games, and certainly are accomplished in a number of decorative arts. Thennanin games are competitive, and Thennanin afficionados take them quite seriously. However, Terragens often find Thennanin games indistinguishable from intricate simulations, and seldom appreciate the pace of Thennanin competitions that usually make cricket or golf seem positively frenetic.
Proto-Thennanin society was hierarchical, with an alpha male (or group of alpha males) having access to females. Females also had a hierarchy, although non-dominant females bore young. Bachelor troops did not exist, but sub-dominant, sexually mature males would be largely restricted to the periphery of a foraging troop. Thennanin still retain their primordial harem system, though harem size varies much more than among the proto-Thennanin. While some male Thennanin have kept huge harems, the general trend has been toward smaller alpha-male-and-harem groupings. Many Thennanin now opt for dyadic partnerships, since consciousness has given the uplifted species much more socio-biological flexibility.
Furthermore, the Thennanin do maintain a self-uplift program. This bureaucracy withholds reproductive privileges from about one in five Thennanin. Since sex is far less important for Thennanin psychology than for Human or Tymbrimi psychology, most Thennanin without reproductive privileges simply forgo sexual entanglements.
Nevertheless, the proto-Thennanin socio-biological legacy has made Thennanin thoroughly --if quietly --competitive on an intra-species level. Many pan-Thennanin institutions and practices presume intra-species competition at an individual level, and it is evident to even a casual observer that many Thennanin have a high need to achieve.
The organ of wonder, being a discrete anatomical feature, and being the product of uplift engineering, sometimes fails to manifest itself in a viable Thennanin neonate. More frequently, a Thennanin loses their organ of prayer to accident or disease. Thennanin conservatism prohibits using cybernetic substitutes in such cases, so there are many case studies of otherwise intact Thennanin lacking an organ of wonder(3). A minority of these unfortunates exhibit anti-social behavior --always rare among Thennanin. (Obviously, those Thennanin born with absent or very damaged organs of wonder are denied reproductive privileges.) Many of these patients display ecologically insensitive behaviors, deny that Thennanin laws constitute an organic whole, or exhibit unusual "maverick" behaviors.
However, most Thennanin without organs of wonder are not at all antisocial. More often they are
simply frustratingly matter-of-fact, lacking aesthetic interests, or any interest in abstraction for its own
sake. They may also be markedly socially inept, lacking the deep respect for sapience in any form --and
the resulting unflappable decorum --characteristic of so many Thennanin.
The end result of Wortl uplift is that Thennanin society is shot through with competition, but Thennanin intra-species competition is subtle and almost never violent. The Thennanin have, at most, a mild sexual dimorphism with males and females filling social and work roles without regard for an individual's sex. Sexual equality combined with a reasonably long life-span and early entry into the labor force has made the Thennanin economy highly productive. However, Thennanin products are not very innovative --though always durable, of good quality, and frequently very decorative.
Despite having no strong nurturing instinct, the Thennanin have proven to be surprisingly good at the
art of uplift. The short-coming of an abreviated nurturing instinct has been turned into an asset in
the Thennanin, who are unusually fair and objective when dealing with clients and assessing client
talents. As patrons the Thennanin have also benefitted from their respect for pattern and
complexity. The Thennanin gestalt oriented psychology combined with objectivity has resulted in
optimized mini-max uplift programs. Thennanin clients also benefit from Thennanin patience --over the
long term.
The Thennanin have a well deserved reputation as good citizens and good neighbors. (Though many regard the Thennanin as prone to somewhat tedious personalities.) This reputation combines with Thennanin membership in an august and powerful lineage, and with a talent for long-range planning to produce a system of very strong strategic alliances that the Thennanin can count on in times of extreme duress. The fact that the Thennanin are themselves highly reliable allies also contributes to the strength of Clan Thennanin's bilateral and multilateral alliances.
Of primary import is the fact that the Thennanin are not only nominal members of clans Wortl, Tothtoon, and so on --but that the Thennanin are quite dutiful, mature clients who enjoy good relations with their lineal elders. The Thennanin also enjoy equally productive relationships with their client races and lineal descendent races. Branching out from their lineal trunk, the Thennanin also have friendly relationships with the majority of the collateral races and clans within Clans Wortl and Kosh. The Lesh ab-Erbl ab-Kosh etc./Thennanin ab-Wortl ab-Kosh etc. alliance is particularly important for both Thennanin security and Galactic stability. Building on this background, the Thennanin have no trouble extending their web of alliances to unrelated clans. With the exception of doctrinaire Obeyers, few indeed are the clans that do not strive to keep good relations with the Thennanin. (Note the scale of efforts by Clans Gubru and Soro to patch relations with the Thennanin and Lesh even after the expensive Thennanin "victory" in the Siege of Earth. See also, Thennanin-Lesh relations.)
Militarily the Thennanin are a formidable O-2 power, equal to either the Jophur or Soro military machines. Clan Thennanin is militarily well prepared. It must be admitted that the Thennanin (and most of their client species) are tactically stodgy and uninspired. Also, several members of the clan --including the Thennanin themselves --are poorly adapted to space travel and low-gravity environments. However, these unfortunate deficits are largely offset by Thennanin tenacity and physical power, an uncanny knack for strategy, and a genius for logistics.
On an individual level, most Thennanin are hyper-rational, yet on certain topics --such as ecology --they tend toward an odd sentimentality, even passion. It is rather like dealing with a caricature of a religious scholastic such as Calvin or Pascal, but the Thennanin rationalistic ideologue also has more patience than a Zen monk. Thennanin passions have a certain monotonous unidimesionality --all revolve around pattern, system, and complexity. Pattern, system, and complexity (and little else) trigger the Thennanin capacity for awe.
As a result of the strong Thennanin bias toward gestalt perception, it is common for the Thennanin to overlook novel threats and unique opportunities since such situations are almost always foreign to established patterns. The unique seldom intrudes on Thennanin consciousness because it never reaches the level of cognition. A unique anomaly is almost always rejected by the Thennanin pre-conscious as irrelevant noise.(4)
In short, many species (including Humans) react to the Thennanin as proper, thoughtful, well-behaved neighbors and as rational, calm, fair individuals who are quite predictable.
However, typical Thennanin behavior can change rapidly and dramatically when some cherished system or intricate pattern is thought to be threatened. Such abrupt changes in demeanor are made even more problematic for non-Thennanin because others may not even perceive a pattern or system, let alone suspect a threat to it. Almost as common is the case where others may believe a system under threat and find the Thennanin unperturbed, usually because the Thennanin (rightly) believe the "threat" an inherent property of the system. Also problematic are the rare occasions Thennanin opinion may be deeply --but civilly --divided over some obtuse theory of systemic behavior(5). Fortunately, even when at their most stubborn and inflexible, Thennanin are seldom driven to excess by dogma or passion.
1. The NuDawn Memorial Foundation Center for Strategic Studies. New York.
2. After the natural extinction of the proto-Thennanin populations that provided the bulk of the Thennanin genetic code, the Thennanin moved their home world from Kufq to Thennan.
3. In the vast majority of cases where an organ of wonder is lost to accident, a replacement organ is successfully cloned and implanted. Case symptoms are therefore transitory
4. The Thennanin do not have a sub-conscious per se, and experience a very abbreviated dream-life relative to Terragen mammals.
5. The best known case among Terragens is the debate between a Thennanin party favoring forced Terragen socialization to Galactic norms versus that favoring a program intense "psycho-historical suasion" and "hegemonic pseudo-clienthood." The psycho-historical approach has, of course, been much in ascendancy since the Garth incident and the adoption of Clan Thennanin by Neo-Gorilla.
"Thennanin" IN The A4P Encyclopedia
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