• Zorque@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      9 hours ago

      The thing with past relationships is that they give the worms to people so that the worms can learn new experiences and pass them on to the next generation. If the worms are basically just living the same generation over and over again it defeats the purpose (in their eyes). I think the whole banishment thing was a bit harsh of a punishment, though.

      • Of the Air (cele/celes)@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        0·
        9 hours ago

        Yes, but this assumes that:

        1. The ‘worms’ don’t change and nor do the people who inherent them, normally, over a lifetime.

        2. Polyamory isn’t an option, which it could and should be.

        3. People won’t have very different relationships, even within monogamy (kind of related to 1).

        Definitely agree banishment is harsh.

        • Zorque@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          8 hours ago

          The worms themselves don’t seem to have personalities unto themselves, they basically only hold on to the personalities of their past hosts. So, in that way they do change… but only if their hosts do. If the hosts just fall back into the personalities of their past hosts, it defeats the entire purpose. That’s not just a romantic relationship thing, that’s something that’s covered in a number of other episodes. One in particular that I just re-watched was where Jadzia was hosting an initiate, and pushed back on their acceptance because they had defined themselves by the joining.

          Polyamory is potentially an option (it’s at least implied for different races/cultures in the show), but you’d still have to overcome general societal prejudices. Provided that individuals can even handle that kind of relationship personally. Sometimes it’s just too much for someone to accept.

          People can have different relationships. Heck, relationships evolve within a single lifetime to a great degree.

          But that’s really just specific things they’re discouraging because it’s one aspect of the whole of a person. They’re not just trying to prevent past relationships from being relived, they’re trying to avoid entire lives from being relived. And, while it’s not a guarantee that that’s what’d happen… it’s a very real risk.

          It’s similar to risky behaviors being illegal in our society. It’s not that they’re guaranteed to cause harm, it’s that they increase the risk of harm happening. You could speed down every road in the world at ten times the highest speed limit and never hit anyone… but it’s still incredibly risky.