Do the Protoss know science?

[Kellanved]

I know that they're high technology, but the technology of all their buildings and units are psionic-related. I understand they were created with highly potent psionic powers, so maybe they just implement that in every piece of mechanical equipment they have. Maybe they have high templars in the Dragoon Shrine, mentally imbuing its cannons with some sort of heavy psionic fuel, and then the injured warrior in it just uses his psionic power to shoot it.

Anyways, I'm just saying, maybe the protoss are so powerful just because of their natural talent, but in fact, they never had an enlightenment age, or their very own Isaac Newton to bring a revolution of analytical thinking. Maybe they just know how to build neat-looking structures, but they're only powerful because of their builders' natural 'talent'. They all seem like a bunch of hot-headed religious zealots anyways; I don't know if they have the mental capacity to bring on a scientific revolution.

But from all the time they lived, should they evolve a bit? Or did the Xel'Naga kinda screw them over by making them incapable of that? (Although realistically, that is impossible. You can never create a species that's impervious to change, no matter how omnipotent you seem.)

Or am I just blowing smoke here? It only seems logical, since if the Protoss are some sort of space-age uber-technology high aliens, they should crush the terrans in every given situation. So given that, I'm forced to conclude that the terrans' advantage lies in being the smartest, and being able to create tools that can overpower the protoss' psionic abilities.

[DarkMirror]

Oh, they have science. Learning about all that stuff, and the age of enlightenment, that was what lead to the eon of strife.

They have AIs and stuff like that, too, so I think that they had to learn some science.

[Kellanved]

AH! *snaps* I should have thought of the robotics facility!

Even the terrans don't have AI, so does that mean that protoss have more advanced technology? If so, why didn't they ever have someone with engineering practicality to match the terrans?

[LordBafford]

Maybe the protoss just don't fully understand terran technology, as it was developed in a different way then their own. It might not be as advanced as theirs per say, so they have a hard time understanding how it works.

As example, lets say we found a space ship, we might know of a way to defend against it, but not fully understand how it works.

[Protogod]

Age of enlightenment was before and after the aeon of strife. Before when the xel' pushed their technology, and then after with the khala and the innovation of carriers and such innovative weapons.

They didnt need any individual the give practicality to their technology, the race lives for millenia (if they arent killed in battle) so any person could have countless successes, and thus all protoss are invaluable, whereas terran have short lifespans, and if one terran has many successes, he is more valuable the the terran before him.

[Kellanved]

Age of enlightenment was before and after the aeon of strife. Before when the xel' pushed their technology, and then after with the khala and the innovation of carriers and such innovative weapons.

They didnt need any individual the give practicality to their technology, the race lives for millenia (if they arent killed in battle) so any person could have countless successes, and thus all protoss are invaluable, whereas terran have short lifespans, and if one terran has many successes, he is more valuable the the terran before him.

Which is still baffling in terms of how protoss' technology is not built as cleverly or creatively as terran's.

Did Protoss have an age of enlightenment such that they had a breakthrough in conventional thought-process from passion-governing to analytical, and thus, the imposition of thinking in the 'scientific method', or did the Xel'naga sort of just start them out with technology?

[SilverCrusader]

No, they started just like humans, only they advanced at alarming rates. The Xel' Naga did help them a bit when they showed themselves to the protoss. The protoss have unlocked the mysterious of space time itself, so they are thousands of years ahead of anything humans have.

[Kellanved]

No, they started just like humans, only they advanced at alarming rates. The Xel' Naga did help them a bit when they showed themselves to the protoss. The protoss have unlocked the mysterious of space time itself, so they are thousands of years ahead of anything humans have.
The warping might just be their psionic capabilities.

[InsaneExecutor]

AH! *snaps* I should have thought of the robotics facility!

Even the terrans don't have AI, so does that mean that protoss have more advanced technology? If so, why didn't they ever have someone with engineering practicality to match the terrans?

Yes, Terrans do have AI. A few examples: The Terran Adviser (or Adjutant, as she's called in campaign). She is an AI robot-thing.
Second, the Science Vessel. Another AI robot.
Third, during one of the Blizzard-made custom campaigns you are introduced to a Science Vessel hero called Magellan. The guy speaking in the briefing introduces Magellan as their brightest AI.

It's probably just little Protoss kids who make space ships and weapons out of tons of levitating rocks, and the real machines are left to experience Khalai and High Templar.

[Protogod]

Which is still baffling in terms of how protoss' technology is not built as cleverly or creatively as terran's.

Did Protoss have an age of enlightenment such that they had a breakthrough in conventional thought-process from passion-governing to analytical, and thus, the imposition of thinking in the 'scientific method', or did the Xel'naga sort of just start them out with technology?

The khala was pretty limiting, but to say that protoss tech isnt as clever as terran tech is just ridiculous. protoss technology is brilliant, to say the least. They know pretty much everything about physics (from what it seems.) They are limited by how they use that technology.

I mean, reavers are a very creative idea. They were transport robots for protoss facilities, before they got retrofitted to carry & produce scarab robots.

[SilverCrusader]

No, they mastered it, Blizz even says so.

[qwertyuiop106]

The Recall effect works by poking a hole through space-time and enlarging it. It funnels the result and opens another tear, which is where the tunnel is led to. The Statis Trap works by creating a pocket of space-time that is not in the slightest chance, able to break, or escape. When was the last time you broke a hole in the space-time continuum with a gun anyway?

[dragon907]

Of course the Protoss know science. "The second Caste, known as the Khalai, comprised the greater bulk of Protoss society. The Khalai caste represented the driving industrialists, scientists, and workers who continued to rebuild their homelands after the harsh conflicts of the Aeon of Strife." (http://www.sclegacy.com/encyclopedia/race_histories.php#p) This site has the b/g info on all three races. Also, about the technology they create, the Protoss look down upon creating weapons who's sole purpose is carnage. For example, the colossus in SC2 "... is unusual for the fact that it was created purely as a war machine. ...The mass slaughter unleashed on the kalathi by roving colossi appalled the protoss...." (http://starcraft2.com/features/protoss/index.xml?tab=warpray (http://starcraft2.com/features/protoss/index.xml?tab=warpray))

Now concerning Terrans and how they compare to Protoss, the thing about humans that most sci-fi uses as humanities wild card is that humans are unpredictable thus giving them one advantage over any others. This is generally true in reality too, if you're out gunned it doesn't mean that you've lost, you just need a tactic that will give you the advantage.

But I definitely think that the Protoss are centuries more advanced that the Terran, technologically.

[Oldmano]

I don't really think that the Protoss are all that more advanced than the Terran, I think that their technology has just developed in a different way, while the Protoss utilize very sophisticated tech that deals with manipulating energy, space and time and such they aren't innovators and they rely more-so on very old time tested tactics, the backbone of their military (Zealots) use psi-blades, SWORDS. By any means you can call them primitive just for that, the lowliest Terran unit, a Marine uses a magnetic accelerated Uranium spike as his weapon. Most of the Protoss technology I'm sure is derived from the Xel' Naga, look at the Xel' Naga temple and look at the Protoss Nexus, awful similar right?

The Terran are a race that is constantly changing, innovating and creating and adding this to that and making that fire these new rounds, and genetically altering them and making that vehicle have the ability to go into "siege" mode.

The average lifespan of a Terran is I'm guessing around 90 years with their advancements in technology, but look at what they accomplish in such short lives it's amazing, in the little time the Terran have been in the Korprulu Sector they have built a thriving metropolis, a battle ready force, capable of holding it's own against not one but TWO races, older, and more well established and created by an entity so omnipotent, not only that, but they fought civil wars and were caught off guard.

To say that the Protoss are so much more advanced than the Terran, then have the Terran capable of being a very formidable enemy, with their tiny life spans and short time in the universe is pretty degrading to the Protoss.

So in conclusion, either the Terran are truly the more intelligent, more efficient force pound-for-pound, only hindered by their short time around, or each races' technology is about equal but based on radically different principles.

[Protogod]

The average lifespan of a Terran is I'm guessing around 90 years with their advancements in technology actually it's 1 battle

To say that the Protoss are so much more advanced than the Terran, then have the Terran capable of being a very formidable enemy, with their tiny life spans and short time in the universe is pretty degrading to the Protoss. Well lets see - Protoss civil war: more epic, violent, and tragic than the terran wars. The protoss kicked out most of their population, and decimated most of the remainder through civil war (not in that order)

the terran have massive numbers compared to the protoss, and have warred the zerg longer than the terran had. The protoss lost their homeworld to the zerg. Their homeworld had massive amounts of people compared to the terran homeworld.

So in conclusion, either the Terran are truly the more intelligent, more efficient force pound-for-pound, only hindered by their short time around, or each races' technology is about equal but based on radically different principles.

compelling argument, if not for a few factual errors, and a horrendous oversight regarding circumstantial evidence. In short - no.

You mock the protoss for using psi-blades instead of machine guns. Nevermind the fact that the zealot deals 16 damage, while the marine deals 6. The zealot has more hp, and it regains its own shields automatically, or instantly with a shield generator. Terran ghosts and wraiths can cloak, but only temporarily. DT's do it forever.

The protoss have warp gates with an indeterminate longevity, and can warp in complete structures from across galaxies. Terran attack with magnetically accellerated uranium spikes. ooohhhh ahhhhh. The protoss attack with plasma and pure energy.

Protoss can CONTROL YOUR MIND. Anything a terran knows can be stolen by a protoss controlling his mind.

Remember, rome had incomparable beauty and technology for its time. It had running water even. It was destroyed by barbarians plaguing their lands.

After that technology for running water didnt appear for hundreds and HUNDREDS of years.

Success =/= technology.

[Kimera757]

I think that Protoss scientific advancement is slow, and is very often tied to psionics. I think, to them, psionics is simply better than science, so there's little reason to every do science without it. However, they do have science, more advanced than what Terrans have, because they've been a space-capable race for longer. (They were space capable before the Aeon of Strife, which was more than a thousand years before the start of StarCraft. Even in the StarCraft universe, humans have been flying in space for less than six hundred years.)

During the Aeon of Strife (according to the Firstborn novel), Protoss didn't even know how to read! They stored their information psionically on crystals. This (and not knowing the Xel'Naga language) made it impossible for the Shelak Tribe to read the writings on the very relics they were guarding!

Fortunately a certain famous Protoss was something of a linguist :)

[Protogod]

Why read? It was entirely unnecessary if they can get a greater effect without it.

[Oldmano]

I have no idea how you're statement "actually it's 1 battle" has anything to do with what we are discussing.

Please enlighten me on these "factual errors" and "horrendous oversight regarding circumstantial evidence" you speak of, "In short- no" doesn't propel your argument anymore than your stupid, unwitty/unoriginal partonizing. "Terran attack with magnetically accelerated uranium spikes. ooohhhh ahhhhh. The protoss attack with plasma and pure energy."

Wow, you really got me with the "oooooooh, ahhhhhhhh" that's a water tight body of evidence againtst what I said, I'm ooooo-ing and ahhhhhhh-ing at your wit (sarcasm).

"the terran have massive numbers compared to the protoss"

The Protoss must have massive stupidity compared to the Terran to be thriving in a place so long and have such a small military compared to a newly arrived and may I add, in the fashion of your claims less advanced species. You just kinda rendered your statement ineffective...

To my knowledge the Protoss began fighting with the Zerg at the time that the Zerg began seeding spores on Terran planets, at which point the Protoss "sterilized" said Terran planets. Hardly what I would call warring with them for longer than the Terran.

Furthermore you based most of what you've said on the Protoss' more powerful cloaking technology, if that's the case then you can quickly call the Protoss less advanced on the grounds that the Terran can neutralize more than half of their total health with one attack (E.M.P shock wave.) Oh yeah, the Protoss also lack irradiate, defensive matrix's, nuclear arms, and anti-personnel explosives, just to name a few, of course, you will be quick to point out that the Terran lack so-and-so, and you're right. Basing one of the races technology on one or even a handful of things is stupid, as you can tell by now, so what's the deal with "Oh yeah, well Dark Templars can stay cloaked forever!"

You also manage to overlook the fact that despite a Zealot having more health and dealing more damage, it costs twice as much, and isn't ranged, I definitely wouldn't have noticed that one.

Oh yeah, the Protoss fire "Pure energy and plasma" oooooooooooh ahhhhhhhhhhhh (had to add the obligatory "oooooooh ahhhhhhhh") but the Terran Wraiths and Battlecruisers fire lasers, so isn't the purpose of your whole "plasma and pure energy are more sophisticated than projectiles" argument defeated? I mean, lasers can be viewed as "pure energy, they amplify light into a beam that has the ability to destroy things." Can it not?

Also sort of off-topic, but Rome didn't just fall at the hands of barbarians, it needed a couple (alot) of mentally unstable (for example Nero) rulers, as well having a good sum of it destroyed in a fire, and resulting in Nero, the ruler at the time to begin raise taxes and steal reserves of money that were supposed to be tributes to the Gods from Rome itself, before the fall of Rome came.

[qwertyuiop106]

The Protoss must have massive stupidity compared to the Terran to be thriving in a place so long and have such a small military compared to a newly arrived and may I add, in the fashion of your claims less advanced species. You just kinda rendered your statement ineffective...

You make a couple of good points, however. Here are the REAL facts.

Firstly, the Protoss frown on war. None of the Protoss units constructed were made purely for destruction. As far as my sources, tell me, the Colossus was the first real Protoss fighting machine. The Reavers were Protoss supply transports refitted with scarabs, Carriers did not possess Interceptors before, and were simply used as a mobile form of command. The reason they sterilize entire planets is because Protoss generally do not use empathy upon the other species.

To my knowledge the Protoss began fighting with the Zerg at the time that the Zerg began seeding spores on Terran planets, at which point the Protoss "sterilized" said Terran planets. Hardly what I would call warring with them for longer than the Terran.

The Protoss have actually been physically fighting with the Zerg a little more then the Terrans' first contact. The Protoss simply use this tactic as a much more effective way of taking out the threat.

Furthermore you based most of what you've said on the Protoss' more powerful cloaking technology, if that's the case then you can quickly call the Protoss less advanced on the grounds that the Terran can neutralize more than half of their total health with one attack (E.M.P shock wave.) Oh yeah, the Protoss also lack irradiate, defensive matrix's, nuclear arms, and anti-personnel explosives, just to name a few, of course, you will be quick to point out that the Terran lack so-and-so, and you're right. Basing one of the races technology on one or even a handful of things is stupid, as you can tell by now, so what's the deal with "Oh yeah, well Dark Templars can stay cloaked forever!"

You also manage to overlook the fact that despite a Zealot having more health and dealing more damage, it costs twice as much, and isn't ranged, I definitely wouldn't have noticed that one.

The Defensive Matrix is adapted from PROTOSS technology, they focus particles of energy around the target and create a "shell" of sorts that protects the user from certain death. Also, you've contradicted yourself already. You personally state that the Protoss can remove all life on a planet with their sterilization beam. A weapon one hundred times more powerful then the Nuclear Bomb. The Protoss are beyond the use of nuclear weaponry, why use one costly bomb when you can harness the power of the Khaydarin crystals and wipe everything off of the planet? Anti-personnel grenades? We've got them in the present! The Protoss are beyond our time by more then a millennial, I might of thought they went beyond gunpowder weaponry by now.

Another contradiction. You say "Basing one of the races technology on one or even a handful of things is stupid", well, guess what? Just now, you've tried to base Terran technology on with Protoss. In fact, you've based a handful of things! The Terran are more innovative then the Protoss, true. But it doesn't stop them from being ahead.
FYI, you're trying to use the "Protoss disadvantage". Which is cost. And doesn't make any sense on trying to belittle them in a mandatory balance. One Zealot can kill you five marines anyway.

Oh yeah, the Protoss fire "Pure energy and plasma" oooooooooooh ahhhhhhhhhhhh (had to add the obligatory "oooooooh ahhhhhhhh") but the Terran Wraiths and Battlecruisers fire lasers, so isn't the purpose of your whole "plasma and pure energy are more sophisticated than projectiles" argument defeated? I mean, lasers can be viewed as "pure energy, they amplify light into a beam that has the ability to destroy things." Can it not?

They do not fire just "Pure energy and plasma", I'm sorry to say. The Protoss have adapted the use of Singularity Charges (A large mass of gravity, that explodes like a reverse black hole), neutron energies, quantum energy, particle acceleration modules (the puny attack the Probe attempts. The concept is good, and could be effective is a larger model is created.), anti-matter, etc. The Wraiths and the Battlecruisers may shoot energy, (The Battlecruiser actually uses nuclear energies instead of refracting light through a prism), the Protoss possess all that much more.

Sure, the Terran are more innovative, but the only reason they're achieving so much in advances, is simply because the Protoss have achieved all that much more.

[vIsitor]

The Protoss are massively advanced in the knowledge and application of traditional sciences. As DarkMirror pointed out, the Aeon of Strife was caused by the Protoss trying to outdo each-other and impress their Xel'Naga masters. When the strife escalated, the innate psionic link between the tribes was severed, and without it the Xel'Naga saw reason to abandon the Protoss as a failure (although, perhaps, their decision was a bit hasty).

Despite their sudden lack of psi-related powers, the fighting did not stop. In fact, each of the tribes blamed the others for driving the Xel'Naga away, and continued to fight each-other, continuing to advance alarmingly quickly as they warred, each forever trying to outdo the other.

When Khas put an end to the fighting with his Khala teachings and his dabbling with the Khaydarin crystals (formerly abandoned by the Xel'Naga), he set the Protoss race into a perpetual state of stagnation. This was because the Khala makes personal ambition a cultural taboo, seeing only the advancement of the Protoss race as a whole as being a worthy aim for the Kalai workforce. Notably, this caused quite a bit of discontent at first, but was put to an end by the Conclave, culminating with the exile of the Dark Templar.

Modern Protoss really have not advanced far since the days of Adun. The Dark Templar, however, who encourage personal achievement instead of frown upon it, were, out of force of necessity, highly adaptive, and inventive. With the reunification of the Dark Templar with the survivors of Auir, the Protoss race has begun to advance again as a whole. However, this comes with the price of great civil unrest, and another rebellion is just waiting to be instigated.

[Kellanved]

It's obvious to look at starcraft and see that the Protoss are more advanced than Terran. But it seems that every piece of technology they use utilizes their own innate psionic power in some way. Rather than studying nature and forming logical structures and ideas of how things work, it seems they just test their own powers in different ways until they can master various phoenomena. Given that pylons are required for building any single unit in the entire race (even the robotic units), that already implies that all their technology is psi-driven.

I'm just saying that for humans to have built technology they way they did is a much greater achievement in that, given their limited physical capabilities, they are basically required to get a thorough analytical grasp of the nature of things, while protoss only need to test their own gifted capabilities. Thus, I think that human scientists have a more vast, logical grasp of the nature of things.

Also I read the zerg history in that page just linked, and it says that the zerg only ever observed the protoss, and decided to infest Terrans and gain their psionic abilities before ever going against the 'toss.

Also, the Protoss' conflict of the Aeon Strife sounds no worse than anything that has happened here on Earth. They were also unified when they struck the terrans, and the terran history states that at that time, they were in the midst of a major war between the Confederacy and the Sons of Korhal.

[Protogod]

It's obvious to look at starcraft and see that the Protoss are more advanced than Terran. But it seems that every piece of technology they use utilizes their own innate psionic power in some way. Rather than studying nature and forming logical structures and ideas of how things work, it seems they just test their own powers in different ways until they can master various phoenomena. Given that pylons are required for building any single unit in the entire race (even the robotic units), that already implies that all their technology is psi-driven.

so, because their technology works different, it's less advanced? Because they used their gifts instead of ignoring them they are stupid?

learning to utilize their own abilities took justas much, if not more, practice and effort as our technology. It isnt like they woke up one day and decided to make a plasma cannon. That took work, regardless of what innate abilities it works on.

What your argument boils down to is that its different from us, so its less advanced. This sentiment has existed throughout history. Unfortunately I thought we were intelligent enough by now to know that is simply not true.

[Kellanved]

What your argument boils down to is that its different from us, so its less advanced. This sentiment has existed throughout history. Unfortunately I thought we were intelligent enough by now to know that is simply not true.

Actually, I explicitly stated that it's more advanced. I'm just saying that the Protoss may not have needed to gain as thorough an understanding of nature as humans did in order to develop technology because their own bodies naturally tend to manipulate the very core of their technology. Because of this, it's possible that their scientific knowledge of the universe isn't nearly as sophisticated as that of the terrans. (In this case, use of the term 'sophisticated' just means to view the phenomena of the universe in an objective and logical sense, and level of sophistication just refers to the depth of understanding it in said manner.)

I also never mentioned that they had gods to give them a major kick-start in the pursuit of technology (though I am aware that much of their work was independent).

I also might just be one of the least ethnocentric people you may have encountered in considerable time.

I have another (unrelated) issue to bring up as to the history of starcraft: When Blizzard mentions 'years' just what exactly are they referring to? Earth cycles? Also, they must know that the passage of time is not absolute anywhere in the universe, so if a certain amount of time that passes in the SC sector is the same as at Earth, then the solar systems of the SC sector have the exact same velocity as Earth's solar system, or are stationary with respect to one another.

There's also a point in that history where it says that the Terran carriers travelled thousands of light years in 30 years. Did anyone else catch that? Although it is an expected mistake for a company that previously only had experience making sword & sorcery fantasy.

[Protogod]

There's also a point in that history where it says that the Terran carriers travelled thousands of light years in 30 years. Did anyone else catch that? Although it is an expected mistake for a company that previously only had experience making sword & sorcery fantasy.

Thats not a mistake. It means they found a way to travel faster than light. A light year is the DISTANCE light travels in one year.

[Kellanved]

Well, thanks for accepting my other argument as valid :) (Even though you don't have to buy it, as it's purely a 'maybe').

As for this issue: Don't think of the speed of light as merely a speed that an entity called 'light' moves at; it's more of a universal limit that defines a bound between energy in and out of its state of matter. It's pretty much been proven that as matter is more and more converted to energy, its speed gets closer and closer to c (c = speed of light) but never reaches the universal limit, since it's impossible for us to convert matter to pure energy. If, in this future, they actually found a way, then fine, they can travel at c. But to say that they go anywhere higher than c, without actually making a rift in 4-D space as the Protoss do, takes Starcraft from sci-fi to fantasy.

Also, I have the glaring suspicion that, had I not written the following message, I would hear the '1000 years ago it's been "proven" that the Earth was flat' argument. I can admit that it's a credible argument, and my only real defense for that is that those kinds of observations; that the earth is flat, or that it's absolutely impossible to fly etc... were made with a somewhat stoic religious philosophy (that the earth is flat because there's a hell below and a heaven above, or that flying is exclusively a magic property that a god chose to give to birds and not to us). There has been more than extensive scientific (empyrical and mathematical analysis) by bloody scientific geniuses working with the property of light (and currently studying this stuff myself, I must say that what I've learned thus far makes perfect sense).

[Protogod]

einstein was brilliant, and for practical purposes his theiries are solid, but there are theoretical holes and the future always has new possibilities.

[ryuugaki]

The Khala, like any philosophy, limits what they can do, so they can't just build WMD's left and right. See the description for the Colossus; it's incredibly strong, but the Conclave banned it.

And there's the thing about how Protoss tech evolved differently.

And there's the thing about how humans reproduce like rats.

@Kellan: Blizzard's already decided the Protoss can convert into pure energy; see the Zealot's Charge and the... other thing. The Arbiter/ Pylon / Shuttle thing. The Whatchamacallit. Phase. Prism. That's it.

[ecyor0]

Look at it this way.....

Protoss science is to Terran science what modern chemistry is to alchemy. Obviously modern chemistry is far ahead of alchemy, but there are bound to be certain techniques and/or formulas lost with their discoverers that modern chemistry has yet to find. Likewise, While Protoss technology far surpasses Terran science, there is still room for Terrans to spring a few surprises on the Protoss (Protoss don't have ships with personal cloaking fields, do they?)

[IceSkirt]

Wouldn't the Protoss be able to have ships with personal cloaking? I just thought they didn't ships with it was because they have cloaking fields.

[DarkMirror]

Arbitor cloaking is based of of space-time, not light.

[Protogod]

Arbitor cloaking is based of of space-time, not light.
They both render your units invisible.

[DarkMirror]

But different principles. The toss have learned about the classical bending light way, and forgotten it in favor of mass versions.

[Oldmano]

I still believe that pound for pound, the Terran are a more intelligent species, look at their incredibly short life spans, and what they can accomplish in them. They have been around for a universal blink of an eye, yet they can still go toe-to-toe with the Protoss. Also, like people have stated the Protoss have innate Psi powers that have greatly propelled their technologies, not to mention the divine intervention that they got with the Xel' Naga, and the fact that they were molded to be a perfect species. The Terran were never blessed with such conveniences, yet they still developed galactic space travel, and weaponry to match, and in some ways excel those of the Zerg and Protoss. Although, I must admit that all things considered Protoss technology is more advanced than the Terran, you must bear in mind, that had the Terran been around as long as the Protoss their weaponry would crush that of the Protoss'.

[Protogod]

you must bear in mind, that had the Terran been around as long as the Protoss their weaponry would crush that of the Protoss'.

Prove it. Right now. gogogo.

[sdbolts11]

I know that they're high technology, but the technology of all their buildings and units are psionic-related. I understand they were created with highly potent psionic powers, so maybe they just implement that in every piece of mechanical equipment they have. Maybe they have high templars in the Dragoon Shrine, mentally imbuing its cannons with some sort of heavy psionic fuel, and then the injured warrior in it just uses his psionic power to shoot it.

Anyways, I'm just saying, maybe the protoss are so powerful just because of their natural talent, but in fact, they never had an enlightenment age, or their very own Isaac Newton to bring a revolution of analytical thinking. Maybe they just know how to build neat-looking structures, but they're only powerful because of their builders' natural 'talent'. They all seem like a bunch of hot-headed religious zealots anyways; I don't know if they have the mental capacity to bring on a scientific revolution.

But from all the time they lived, should they evolve a bit? Or did the Xel'Naga kinda screw them over by making them incapable of that? (Although realistically, that is impossible. You can never create a species that's impervious to change, no matter how omnipotent you seem.)

Or am I just blowing smoke here? It only seems logical, since if the Protoss are some sort of space-age uber-technology high aliens, they should crush the terrans in every given situation. So given that, I'm forced to conclude that the terrans' advantage lies in being the smartest, and being able to create tools that can overpower the protoss' psionic abilities.
Rofl. They know a lot of science. What the hell do you call all that crap the Protoss have in the game? They even created a cure for Infested individuals (see "Resurrection IV" mission, where you deinfest Alexei Stukov, the pwnxor general).

[vIsitor]

Ah ha! I found a very specific, if rather obscure, passage within the back-story that definitively shuts down the 'Protoss don't have science' argument.

And I quote:

The Xel'Naga marveled at how driven the Protoss were to plumb the mysteries of the universe around them. The Protoss harbored an insatiable lust for knowledge that led them to develop radical, progressive strain of scientific and meta-neural study.


True enough, this was before the Aeon of Strife, but it should also be noted that their previous pursuits were resumed after Khas put an end to the fighting.

With their growing prosperity leading them to rediscover many of the sciences and studies they had lost, the Protoss learned to travel amongst the stars.

[Ktan]

So, yes, Protoss have science. The evidence is now undeniable.

I'm going to close this now. It was devolving into 'OMG! Terranz were smarter dan Protoss1111!!!!one111!!!' and vice-versae.

Of course, I might add, Protoss have mastery over space-time. We struggle to unite Quantum and Relativity Theory and most Terran tech is based on refined knowledge of classical physics. Protoss are smarter, end of. There is no relative quantity of 'Terrans have done more in their life spans', it's irrelevant that the Protoss have possibly 'had longer' or 'had more help'. By that logic, we should put both species in a room with NO FORM of education whatsoever, which would achieve damned near nothing.

The Protoss have had more time and more ability to research science. This makes them better equipped than the Terrans. There really is no other was to debate this, unless you were to argue a dog, elephant or other animal that had learnt special tricks, like 'painting' or 'counting', had achieved more than Einstein, Planck, Scwarzchild, Bohr or Hawking because, relatively, it had made more out of its existence than was expected.