Earthlings, Martians and terrans

[terran]

Discussing people, humans.

In the 23rd or 24th century in the show Star Trek Voyager, they say earth will have Klingons, Vulcans, humans and other races living together in multispecies harmony. Nice. Then I watch another episode saying people on Earth will no longer called be Earthlings but terrans.

All Earthlings could be called terrans, for they are born on land and a planet. Mars is made of land too, so Martians could be called terrans too. Is an Earthling born on Mars a Martian, an Earthling or a terran? All Earthlings are terrans but not all terrans are Earthlings because some may be born on Mars one day.

Assuming you must be born on Earth to be called an Earthling, then to be born on Mars you are not an Earthling, but a Martian and a terran. Are we humans first or earthlings first?

Earth means a specfic place like a planet, terran does not, terran means any land on any planet in any galaxy. Terran is not a planet specific term like Earthling or Martian is.

 

[ray gower]

Welcome to Ascifi, terran :wave:

Forgive me, I'm going to move this to the species and cultures, because it is a good general question.

As for the answer, I would say if you are born on Mars of earthling parents, you are still an earthling. Let's face it, a cat born in a stable isn't a horse.

As for Terrans, I got the impression that we became Terrans simply because somebody decided Earth was a dull name, so renamed it in Galactic circles as Terra. Though humans may still call it Earth.

But why is every race HUMANOID?
Why not Vulcanoid or Klingoid, afterall they as races have been kicking about longer. Yet no matter how foreign they are,m they all refer to themselves and each other as 'Humanoid'!

 

[Dave]

I think I agree with Ray, Terra comes from terra mater -- Greek for 'mother earth'. Tellus is the Latin name for the Earth godess. Interestingly Earth is the only planet whose English name does not derive from Greek/Roman mythology. The name derives from Old English and Germanic. The other Greek name for Earth is Gaia.

Really Earth should be more accurately called 'Water' since the surface is 70% water.

Also on the subject of Humanoids -- after 'The Chase' TNG episode we all should be called after the race who seeded the DNA, (only they didn't leave a name.)

 

[terran]

Moving a terran from one part of the cybergalaxie to another is no big deal, we feel at home anywhere, species and culture seems like a better section.

I would agree too that a person born on mars is an earthling, but they are also a martian, but that sounds very alien-pun kinda intended. Human martian, but earthling too.
However, the outlook of a human martian is going to be quite different. An earthling martian will have an outlook on the "world" that will include two planets, mars and earth. This will be a novel event in human history if and when it occurs. Their view of the "world" will be less earthcentric, ergo terran.

I think terran entered the English language because it offers flexibility in the language. Other species in the Star Trek series are always humanoid because it is about today and our changing world. What else can we think about? If you have children, you live in the moment.

Earth, sun and moon, all old English words, not Latin/Greek. We named them, we own them! Little joke there. But did we build and pay for them? Do we own terra, sol and luna?

 

[ray gower]

There are lots of ways of paying for and building things.

In the case of the Earth we have paid with millions of generations, adapting to the environment and adapting it to us.

In the case of any planets we decide to conolise it must be the same, though technology may make things a little easier, but perhaps not as easy as ST makes out.

When would somebody become a Martian (or whatever)?

I would suggest that the most sensible point would be when they can live as natives and not be wiped out by the local equivalent of the common cold

 

[terran]

The little joke referred to the Panama Canal, when president Jimmy Carter gave it back to the Panamanians many were against doing so, specifically Republicans who said because Americans paid for building it, there was nothing to "give back".

Naming things is a source of power. We humans name animals and land masses all the time.

Terra just means land, the land humans are on, someone is already selling real estate on the moon, although this may not actually work out as intended.

Terra and earth are two different words with two different meanings. I cannot say when exactly, but I am sure these words did not enter Latin and English at the same time. Earth in English also means dirt and not a planet.

 

[Dave]

Originally posted by ray gower
When would somebody become a Martian (or whatever)?

I believe that changes in the populations would begin to occur within a few generations. In low gravity people would grow long, tall. lanky and gangly. In high gravity you would get squat, short, muscle men -- heavyworlders.

Natural selection would take place because the body was not designed to live under these conditions and organs would fail -- heart attacks, blood clots , kidney failure. Depending on the level of medical care, those whose bodies were better suited to the conditions would survive longer and have more offspring. This is classic evolutionary behaviour.

How long before we have totally different sub-species of Man co-existing together?

Bear in mind that NASA have already discussed the benefits of having paraplegic astronauts, since they do not suffer the same effects of muscle wastage in the legs that fully abled people do, they have stronger arm muscles, and are already use to not using their legs.

 

[terran]

Maybe the different physiology of humans on different planets would encourage the term terran to separate the earthborn from the non-earthborn. But that would be a negative designation, terran is supposed to be positive, an outlook beyond earth without losing sight of it, culturally and physically.

I would say terrans born off earth would have to be like humans born on earth physically and sexually, we would after all have to have a standard of what is human and an earth born human is obviously the age old standard. Apes or chimps are not humans, nor was Cro-Magnum, they are not and were not terrans.