Warning: If you are not a steady Majgen-story reader this appendix most likely holds nothing of interest to you. My apologies for your inconvenience.
Foreword: My self-editorial skills are not as developed as I would like them to be yet. Hence this section had to be presented as an appendix rather than as a part of a chapter.
This section, 'The Human Nation' contains only historical background for the time and age of Majgen. Maybe interesting for the reader who wants to know more.
The regular Majgen chapters can be read without reading this.
*
----=(The Human Nation)=----
The human population was not divided in distinct nationalities at this time. The last traces of legally and geographically separated nations disappeared around one thousand years prior to Majgen's birth. The human population was at this time not racially divided either.
Long before the human species assimilated legally into one nation, racial distinctions had been automatically bred out. Not by active effort, simply by humanity's own choice not to breed their own kind like they would their pets; to favor certain physical appearances.
There had been ideas of human breeding programs, several times through human history. Especially back when different humans could be classified as belonging to different races.
Programs proposed during those times were not scientifically founded. Though many were falsely presented with claims of being based on actual knowledge of genetic traits in the different races. Rather they were based on emotional assumptions arising from cultural prejudice.
Historically there had once been a time span. In which large numbers of racially distinct humans lived together, in cultural similarity. In that time span it would have been scientifically possible, to discern if there were true differences in genetically based capabilities of each race. Other than pure appearance.
There were several reasons, why this was never done on the scale needed for scientific confirmation. Some were opposed to such investigations being done to avoid new occurrences of racial hatred, some were opposed because they did not believe the objectivity needed for true results could be maintained. However, the primary reason for the lack of investigation was the dominant opinion of the majority that: Humans are above breeding.
A typical occurrence through human history was that certain persons would raise their own self-esteem by considering themselves genetically superior to certain other parts of the population.
In theory this could have given rise to breeding programs, but eventually every such attempt or proposal was dwarfed. Especially by the strong aversion against viewing humans as breeding animals; an aversion shared by the majority of the population.
Another aspect was that individuals in the population would not tolerate being told to get more or less children reasons of breeding.
The unified human gene-pool at the time of Majgen's birth made dark eyes and dark hair the most occurring natural appearance of humans. Different eye and hair colours still occurred naturally, just not frequently. The untanned natural skin color in the population was an even light golden brown.
How fast or how easily darker shades could be attained by the influence of light, were still individual. However, the untanned natural color was unvaried in the human population.
In spite of now being one race the diversity in appearances amongst humans were far greater than it had been in the old days of human races. Technology made it very easy for the individual to change their appearance as desired. It was not uncommon for a person to not know the biological hair colour of their own spouse, even after many years together.
Contact lenses could be attained in an enormous variety of color and design at very low costs. A persons naked eye color could also easily be changed according to wish. Eye color change and other cosmetic procedures had been perfected to reduce recovery time, so that most of them could be done with no temporary loss of working capacity. However, cosmetic changes of an individual's body were mostly more costly than appendages, which could temporarily give the same visual effect.
In a society where visual appearance of the individual were primarily based on choice, it was difficult for historians to relate to past social conflicts relating to racial differences.
Empathic humans were not a distinct race. Only a very few empaths had an empath amongst his parents. And similarly only a very few empaths had an empathic child.
Governments had many times secretly cloned empaths, in the hope of getting more empaths.
All such attempts had failed.
At Majgen's time scientists believed, that empathic abilities were set prior to birth. In the womb. And that apparently the genes of the mother mattered far more than the genes of the empath itself. Statistically the chance for a newborn, born by a random non-empathic woman, to turn out to be an empath, was one in a million. The chance for a newborn, born by a woman who had previously given birth to an empath, was one in ten thousand.
The chance for a random empathic woman to get empath offspring was statistically but not dramatically higher than for a random non-empathic woman. The statistics for an empathic woman to get empath offspring, was matched exactly by her non-empathic sisters, born of the same mother.
Specialists had calculated how the percentage of empaths in the human population could most efficiently be increased. After a basic understanding of the biology and genetics behind empathic abilities, had been achieved. Many possible breeding plans had been gathered in reports and filed top secretly.
If it would have been easy to gain a dramatic increase in the amount of empaths, within a few lifetimes. Then maybe humanity's aversion against breeding themselves would have been overcome. But the only plan that gave any hope of dramatic increase in such a short time span, was extensive cloning of mothers of empaths. One report promised one more empath per every thousand of such clones. If they were all forced to give birth to ten children.
That report was marked with many comments, on how that should never be done. Before it was buried in top secret files. The mere existence of such a report, could lead to civil riots, on the scale of civil war; if it should ever somehow leak. The comments were a safety measure meant for such a scenario.
At Majgen's time only one indirect breeding measure was in effect; meant to slowly increase the amount of empaths. It was however cleverly disguised as a purely humane compensation, to persons who had suffered personally for the sake of society as a whole. The biological parents of and siblings to an empath, received monetary, therapeutic and social compensation for the loss of their child, or sibling: When the empath was taken by the state, and given to the Empaticon.
Experts had made reports for the GRD stating that such measures were likely to make the empath-mothers choose to get more children. And also stating that if such measures were not made, the amounts of empaths in society might slowly decrease: Because empath-mothers and their non-empathic children were likely to propagate less, after the trauma of being robbed of the empathic family member.
Foreword: My self-editorial skills are not as developed as I would like them to be yet. Hence this section had to be presented as an appendix rather than as a part of a chapter.
This section, 'The Human Nation' contains only historical background for the time and age of Majgen. Maybe interesting for the reader who wants to know more.
The regular Majgen chapters can be read without reading this.
*
----=(The Human Nation)=----
The human population was not divided in distinct nationalities at this time. The last traces of legally and geographically separated nations disappeared around one thousand years prior to Majgen's birth. The human population was at this time not racially divided either.
Long before the human species assimilated legally into one nation, racial distinctions had been automatically bred out. Not by active effort, simply by humanity's own choice not to breed their own kind like they would their pets; to favor certain physical appearances.
There had been ideas of human breeding programs, several times through human history. Especially back when different humans could be classified as belonging to different races.
Programs proposed during those times were not scientifically founded. Though many were falsely presented with claims of being based on actual knowledge of genetic traits in the different races. Rather they were based on emotional assumptions arising from cultural prejudice.
Historically there had once been a time span. In which large numbers of racially distinct humans lived together, in cultural similarity. In that time span it would have been scientifically possible, to discern if there were true differences in genetically based capabilities of each race. Other than pure appearance.
There were several reasons, why this was never done on the scale needed for scientific confirmation. Some were opposed to such investigations being done to avoid new occurrences of racial hatred, some were opposed because they did not believe the objectivity needed for true results could be maintained. However, the primary reason for the lack of investigation was the dominant opinion of the majority that: Humans are above breeding.
A typical occurrence through human history was that certain persons would raise their own self-esteem by considering themselves genetically superior to certain other parts of the population.
In theory this could have given rise to breeding programs, but eventually every such attempt or proposal was dwarfed. Especially by the strong aversion against viewing humans as breeding animals; an aversion shared by the majority of the population.
Another aspect was that individuals in the population would not tolerate being told to get more or less children reasons of breeding.
The unified human gene-pool at the time of Majgen's birth made dark eyes and dark hair the most occurring natural appearance of humans. Different eye and hair colours still occurred naturally, just not frequently. The untanned natural skin color in the population was an even light golden brown.
How fast or how easily darker shades could be attained by the influence of light, were still individual. However, the untanned natural color was unvaried in the human population.
In spite of now being one race the diversity in appearances amongst humans were far greater than it had been in the old days of human races. Technology made it very easy for the individual to change their appearance as desired. It was not uncommon for a person to not know the biological hair colour of their own spouse, even after many years together.
Contact lenses could be attained in an enormous variety of color and design at very low costs. A persons naked eye color could also easily be changed according to wish. Eye color change and other cosmetic procedures had been perfected to reduce recovery time, so that most of them could be done with no temporary loss of working capacity. However, cosmetic changes of an individual's body were mostly more costly than appendages, which could temporarily give the same visual effect.
In a society where visual appearance of the individual were primarily based on choice, it was difficult for historians to relate to past social conflicts relating to racial differences.
Empathic humans were not a distinct race. Only a very few empaths had an empath amongst his parents. And similarly only a very few empaths had an empathic child.
Governments had many times secretly cloned empaths, in the hope of getting more empaths.
All such attempts had failed.
At Majgen's time scientists believed, that empathic abilities were set prior to birth. In the womb. And that apparently the genes of the mother mattered far more than the genes of the empath itself. Statistically the chance for a newborn, born by a random non-empathic woman, to turn out to be an empath, was one in a million. The chance for a newborn, born by a woman who had previously given birth to an empath, was one in ten thousand.
The chance for a random empathic woman to get empath offspring was statistically but not dramatically higher than for a random non-empathic woman. The statistics for an empathic woman to get empath offspring, was matched exactly by her non-empathic sisters, born of the same mother.
Specialists had calculated how the percentage of empaths in the human population could most efficiently be increased. After a basic understanding of the biology and genetics behind empathic abilities, had been achieved. Many possible breeding plans had been gathered in reports and filed top secretly.
If it would have been easy to gain a dramatic increase in the amount of empaths, within a few lifetimes. Then maybe humanity's aversion against breeding themselves would have been overcome. But the only plan that gave any hope of dramatic increase in such a short time span, was extensive cloning of mothers of empaths. One report promised one more empath per every thousand of such clones. If they were all forced to give birth to ten children.
That report was marked with many comments, on how that should never be done. Before it was buried in top secret files. The mere existence of such a report, could lead to civil riots, on the scale of civil war; if it should ever somehow leak. The comments were a safety measure meant for such a scenario.
At Majgen's time only one indirect breeding measure was in effect; meant to slowly increase the amount of empaths. It was however cleverly disguised as a purely humane compensation, to persons who had suffered personally for the sake of society as a whole. The biological parents of and siblings to an empath, received monetary, therapeutic and social compensation for the loss of their child, or sibling: When the empath was taken by the state, and given to the Empaticon.
Experts had made reports for the GRD stating that such measures were likely to make the empath-mothers choose to get more children. And also stating that if such measures were not made, the amounts of empaths in society might slowly decrease: Because empath-mothers and their non-empathic children were likely to propagate less, after the trauma of being robbed of the empathic family member.