So who told Thor...

[rbetieh]

He says someone told him about "Natural Selection", was that another god? Who did he hear this from, and why would the concept even have been conceptualized considering worlds dont last long enough for the idea to take to fruition?

[Rrmcklin]

Obvious joke, is obvious. You're thinking too deeply about it.

It's no different from Blackwing considering himself "clade brothers" with dinosaurs even in a world like this, that obviously shouldn't be the case.

[Gnoman]

Obviously, the idea came up while they were brainstorming ideas for the next world(s), was fairly popular, but kept getting rejected because the worlds don't last long enough.

[CJG]

I agree that it’s just a joke but if you *want* to overthink it...

Remember that you can see natural selection at work over relitivly short periods of time if you have an organism that replicates quickly. Maybe one of the god(esses) of disease picked up on natural selection and passed it on?

[Darth Paul]

Overthinking it further still, most insects have a very short lifespan, and selection can work very quickly indeed in those situations. For instance, think of the bugs that came from Azure City on the fleet to their new continent. No doubt many species are evolving rapidly in response to their new environment, with different food supplies, different predators and prey, even different climate. (And even ghosts. See Good Deeds Gone Unpunished.)

[rbetieh]

I dont know... with the amount of goblins lost year over year, for example, I would expect there had been a couple of monster mass extinctions by now. But even 2ed monsters are still crawling around the world. I would not be surprised to find out that the gods just make more of anything that is about to disappear. And if that's the case, then where did the idea come from? Is this even a godly idea, or did he hear about it from other outer plane people?

[Emanick]

I thought about making this thread myself, and am pleased to find that somebody beat me to the punch. Yes, it's obviously a joke, but overthinking is fun.

Maybe it happens on the Outer Planes? Those have been around for millions of years, presumably. Plenty of time for natural selection to take effect.

And bacteria can easily evolve over the course of a few millennia, so natural selection has probably already had time to have a low-level effect on the Material Plane. Maybe Hel mentions this occasionally at Northern Pantheon Christmas parties.

[Darth Tom]

The obvious, in-universe-confirmed, answer is that druids are accelerating the process. See here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0358.html) for details.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[D.One]

The obvious, in-universe-confirmed, answer is that druids are accelerating the process. See here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0358.html) for details.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Good catch! Didn't remember that.

[rbetieh]

I thought about making this thread myself, and am pleased to find that somebody beat me to the punch. Yes, it's obviously a joke, but overthinking is fun.

Maybe it happens on the Outer Planes? Those have been around for millions of years, presumably. Plenty of time for natural selection to take effect.

And bacteria can easily evolve over the course of a few millennia, so natural selection has probably already had time to have a low-level effect on the Material Plane. Maybe Hel mentions this occasionally at Northern Pantheon Christmas parties.

I suppose I can buy that Mummy rot passing from Cat to Human would be evolutionary in nature. You would think a disease like that might not affect cats.... Then again, that's more true if its viral and not bacterial...

[D.One]

I suppose I can buy that Mummy rot passing from Cat to Human would be evolutionary in nature. You would think a disease like that might not affect cats.... Then again, that's more true if its viral and not bacterial...

And now I remember that I'm expecting that Mummy Rot problem being addressed in the strip...

[SlashDash]

If you really want to overthink it, then if Xykon's Tivo shows him stuff like Lord of the Rings or Star-Trek then it's safe to say that Thor and the rest of the gods can watch our TV shows and movies too and might have gotten the concept from there.

[Mad Humanist]

In order to answer this question, you need to first work out the wider metaphysics. Is there a whole ecosystem of gods? Perhaps gods create worlds so they have something to feed off. Those worlds eventually spawn gods with their own quiddity. Those Gods can either be absorbed into the system of pantheons or go off and create their own worlds. Probably the possibilities are quite complex and open-ended so that what happened to this world was one of many unique events so gods are constantly having to write the rule-book as they go along. Still there are fundamental laws that gods by their nature are universally subject to. And within that framework the gods themselves are subject to natural selection and have more or less worked out its principles and realised that you could use it in the longer lasting worlds to reduce work load. In fact I expect Mani has a poster of Darwin on his bedroom wall.

[martianmister]

Maybe the gods are originated in a world similar to ours.

[rbetieh]

In order to answer this question, you need to first work out the wider metaphysics. Is there a whole ecosystem of gods? Perhaps gods create worlds so they have something to feed off. Those worlds eventually spawn gods with their own quiddity. Those Gods can either be absorbed into the system of pantheons or go off and create their own worlds. Probably the possibilities are quite complex and open-ended so that what happened to this world was one of many unique events so gods are constantly having to write the rule-book as they go along. Still there are fundamental laws that gods by their nature are universally subject to. And within that framework the gods themselves are subject to natural selection and have more or less worked out its principles and realised that you could use it in the longer lasting worlds to reduce work load. In fact I expect Mani has a poster of Darwin on his bedroom wall.

The thing for me is, if the gods regulate reality, then why even come up with the concept? Why would the patron of the Dwarves even want the Dwarves to turn into something else over time, or go extinct? I mean I thought worshipers fueled them.... I feel like it would have to be a really lazy god that came up with this concept in this universe...

[woweedd]

The thing for me is, if the gods regulate reality, then why even come up with the concept? Why would the patron of the Dwarves even want the Dwarves to turn into something else over time, or go extinct? I mean I thought worshipers fueled them.... I feel like it would have to be a really lazy god that came up with this concept in this universe...
You've met Mani, right? Plus, as Freyr put it, "no profit without a little risk." If you control everything, and have to regulate it yourself, you're gonna get bored eventually. A little random factors keep things interesting. Loki would approve.

[rbetieh]

You've met Mani, right? Plus, as Freyr put it, "no profit without a little risk." If you control everything, and have to regulate it yourself, you're gonna get bored eventually. A little random factors keep things interesting. Loki would approve.

I thought Mani was God of the Moon (I am hoping not a living thing in DnD)? I cant imagine what species she has a stake in, besides the Mooninites.

[woweedd]

I thought Mani was God of the Moon (I am hoping not a living thing in DnD)? I cant imagine what species she has a stake in, besides the Mooninites.
He, and, in the comic, his reason for saving the world is "I'll go for whatever option means I have to do less work." That means he is a "really lazy god".

[DaggerPen]

Some gods might just also think it's neat to see how much a sequence of small changes over time can shape a species, etc.? Think of the coolest time lapse video you've ever seen (or go check some out if you've never seen any; they're cool). One really fun thing about creating something can be seeing it take on a life of its own, and I imagine that's easily true for worlds. Especially since they've created, what, millions of worlds by now? Thor himself said they're scraping the bottom of the barrel. The idea of a long running world wherein natural selection slowly shapes things over time is probably a big novelty that's out of reach to the gods right now that they'd all love to check out given a chance.

[Fyraltari]

Except Fenrir. He just wants to break stuff and piss on it.
This is why we can't have nice things...

[woweedd]

Except Fenrir. He just wants to break stuff and piss on it.
This is why we can't have nice things...
I'm sure you could pitch it to him too. Think of it: A contest of domination, where only the best will live! Think of all the violent adaptations that could arise, as nature competes itself to make the best killing machine! That should appeal to a God of Monsters.

[Fyraltari]

Could work.

[woweedd]

Could work.
Loki is his dad. He could spin it to him. All the violence, half the work! Sounds luxurious, no?

[Fyraltari]

Loki is his dad. He could spin it to him. All the violence, half the work! Sounds luxurious, no?

Right know it doesn't look like Loki is very popular with his offspring. Notice how Jörmungandr did not show up at the Godsmoot? Coincidence!? Maybe.

[woweedd]

Right know it doesn't look like Loki is very popular with his offspring. Notice how Jörmungandr dis not show up at the Godsmoot? Coincidence!? Maybe.

I think he's busy around the core of the Earth.

[Fyraltari]

I think he's busy around the core of the Earth.

? He's supposed to be around the world, not inside it.

[woweedd]

? He's supposed to be around the world, not inside it.
Ah. I may have misremembered. :smallredface: