Hey, I was wondering if you guys could help me with a "plausibility check" for an idea I was trying to put into a fanfic. I am thinking this species description, if plausible, could explain something we saw in a TNG episode that otherwise does not make a whole lot of sense.
Basically, what I'm envisioning is a species where the brain is so biased towards a different form of language processing that the comprehension of speech sufficient for it to be the species' primary language is simply not possible. In this species, the analogue to the centers that we use for auditory processing would appear as primitive, perhaps, as those existing in a house cat...capable of sorting sounds, but not so good at attaching linguistic meaning to sounds and holding that in the memory.
However, another center of the brain--perhaps the visual cortex--is beyond our own capabilities and would allow for a very rapid uptake with visual information and the coupling of what is visually displayed to language. The way I imagine them, this species could very rapidly learn sign languages, and from there, be able to read quite capably (possibly at greater speeds than humans could manage without losing details), but even though they hear relatively well, would not really be able to process or produce speech all that well and for effective communication, would require a translation device that would display spoken information as text or sign.
There is no reason said species, in my opinion, has to be voiceless--they may have the organs to produce speech, and may use sound as an additional means of emotional expression, as well as basic signaling, but this would not develop into language. I'm figuring that to said species, this sort of use of the voice wouldn't seem any more odd or unusual than the way humans subconsciously "color" their speech with gestures.
At least, unless you had some sort of invasive meddling by another species...I could see a species that wanted slave labor demanding speech, and perhaps getting it in some limited fashion (these people might not be wired for speech, but they're not stupid either, and would do their damnedest to avoid getting killed). If this invasion went far enough, if they destroyed the non-spoken language these people had before the invasion...well, I think you could be looking at some VERY devastating results, not just including major societal disruption and the toll it would take on individuals (who are kept back quite dramatically from their full potential), but cultural destruction so severe it makes even the Cardassian Occupation look minimal. I mean, even in a Neolithic technological state, our species in question could certainly have many rich systems of belief and stories, and certain forms of art, which would all be irrevocably destroyed by what the invaders did. All it would take would be one generation that cannot pass this information to the next to break the myriad cultures that might've existed on this world pre-invasion.
Now imagine our invaders withdrawing and leaving their former slaves to fend for themselves. This slavery has lasted for generations, perhaps, and by now all memory of who these people were before is gone. And perhaps these generations no longer even have a memory of the way they once communicated--just the speech that their conquerors demanded. They have skills they learned from their conquerors by observation, but the society is severely disrupted.
Take this and I think we MIGHT have a plausible explanation of the Pakleds.
Basically, what I'm envisioning is a species where the brain is so biased towards a different form of language processing that the comprehension of speech sufficient for it to be the species' primary language is simply not possible. In this species, the analogue to the centers that we use for auditory processing would appear as primitive, perhaps, as those existing in a house cat...capable of sorting sounds, but not so good at attaching linguistic meaning to sounds and holding that in the memory.
However, another center of the brain--perhaps the visual cortex--is beyond our own capabilities and would allow for a very rapid uptake with visual information and the coupling of what is visually displayed to language. The way I imagine them, this species could very rapidly learn sign languages, and from there, be able to read quite capably (possibly at greater speeds than humans could manage without losing details), but even though they hear relatively well, would not really be able to process or produce speech all that well and for effective communication, would require a translation device that would display spoken information as text or sign.
There is no reason said species, in my opinion, has to be voiceless--they may have the organs to produce speech, and may use sound as an additional means of emotional expression, as well as basic signaling, but this would not develop into language. I'm figuring that to said species, this sort of use of the voice wouldn't seem any more odd or unusual than the way humans subconsciously "color" their speech with gestures.
At least, unless you had some sort of invasive meddling by another species...I could see a species that wanted slave labor demanding speech, and perhaps getting it in some limited fashion (these people might not be wired for speech, but they're not stupid either, and would do their damnedest to avoid getting killed). If this invasion went far enough, if they destroyed the non-spoken language these people had before the invasion...well, I think you could be looking at some VERY devastating results, not just including major societal disruption and the toll it would take on individuals (who are kept back quite dramatically from their full potential), but cultural destruction so severe it makes even the Cardassian Occupation look minimal. I mean, even in a Neolithic technological state, our species in question could certainly have many rich systems of belief and stories, and certain forms of art, which would all be irrevocably destroyed by what the invaders did. All it would take would be one generation that cannot pass this information to the next to break the myriad cultures that might've existed on this world pre-invasion.
Now imagine our invaders withdrawing and leaving their former slaves to fend for themselves. This slavery has lasted for generations, perhaps, and by now all memory of who these people were before is gone. And perhaps these generations no longer even have a memory of the way they once communicated--just the speech that their conquerors demanded. They have skills they learned from their conquerors by observation, but the society is severely disrupted.
Take this and I think we MIGHT have a plausible explanation of the Pakleds.
I always wondered why the Hur'q didn't nuke them from orbit.
