It's probably also worth remembering that even Qui-Gon, who was unusually tapped into the living force only *suspected* Anakin was strong in the force and needed a blood test to confirm it.
I think people get the impression that the force acts as a sort of radar for other force users, where really a more accurate analogy would be that it's more of a slightly louder whisper amidst an ocean of whispers. Sometimes it's fleeting, sometimes it's pronounced. Sometimes it's directional and sometimes it's fuzzy. Sometimes, you're not entirely sure you heard anything at all.
Take Snoke in TFA. He sensed Rey's "awakening" from half a galaxy away, but had no idea who or where it was. It was less like a ripple one could follow back to a source than it was a sudden change in the weather.
Also remember that even someone as powerful as Palpatine couldn't sense all of the lost Jedi, whether they used the force or not. Obi-Wan, Yoda, Kanan and who knows how many others survived the purge and it took decades to track them all down and that with the Vader as the hunter and his Inquisitors beating the bushes, so to speak.
I think people get the impression that the force acts as a sort of radar for other force users, where really a more accurate analogy would be that it's more of a slightly louder whisper amidst an ocean of whispers. Sometimes it's fleeting, sometimes it's pronounced. Sometimes it's directional and sometimes it's fuzzy. Sometimes, you're not entirely sure you heard anything at all.
Take Snoke in TFA. He sensed Rey's "awakening" from half a galaxy away, but had no idea who or where it was. It was less like a ripple one could follow back to a source than it was a sudden change in the weather.
Also remember that even someone as powerful as Palpatine couldn't sense all of the lost Jedi, whether they used the force or not. Obi-Wan, Yoda, Kanan and who knows how many others survived the purge and it took decades to track them all down and that with the Vader as the hunter and his Inquisitors beating the bushes, so to speak.
