Alteran Non-Interference

[Kralizec]

Why do the Alterans (AKA the Ancients) have a non-interference act? Why are they the center of moral perfection? Why do they hate/fear the Ori for directly interfering with lower planes of existence? Why don't they help people out when they're in dire need of help? It seems like a fair question, as they seemingly revere life, why don't they try and protect it? In order to stop the Ori, why don't they simply attack them in their ascended state, they have the power. Ponder this.

[cafine_us]

Our Ancients don't allow interference in a state of being lower than theirs because they don't want anyone taking advantage of the situation and using worship to gain power like the Ori have done. If the Ori were doing good things I'm sure the Ancients would love them, but as it is people are dying worthless deaths because of the Ori influence. They won't attack the Ori personally because the Ori have not personally interfered in our galaxy. Only the priors have come to our galaxy and tried to convert people.

[Kelt'ar]

There is no telling if the Ancients can actually whoop the Orii's @$$es. And considering that the Orii are actually getting stronger by sapping human strenght, it is more likely that the Orii will win (unless the ancients found another way to grow in strenght).

Spoiler:

like the kid orlin said: "it is not clear if such action will result in victory (for the ancients)

[Kralizec]

Then why don't they pull an Asguard and come in as "good gods" not asking for worship, but able to help people? It seems like that would fulfill their constraints without becoming evil like the Ori. If I'm just not seeing this in the correct light, then tell me where I'm wrong please.

[MarshAngel]

Then why don't they pull an Asguard and come in as "good gods" not asking for worship, but able to help people? It seems like that would fulfill their constraints without becoming evil like the Ori. If I'm just not seeing this in the correct light, then tell me where I'm wrong please.

Because there are billions of humans in the Milky Way who aren't advanced. If you rescue them, they will worship you and regardless of the why, posing as gods isn't the right thing to do. For one thing, it's people's choice who they worship but ultimately the ancients are like humans, in that they aren't perfect. They could just as easily get used to being worshipped like the Ori and thats a slippery slope.

Furthermore, they aren't omnipotent. There are things they can do and things they can't. They could start with saving all humanity from the Ori (if they can) only to watch them be ravaged by disease or become something worse than the Ori and start kiling each other. They could then solve those problems but at what point do you decide you've done enough to help?

[contact2918]

I think the temptation of being worshiped is a large part of the non-interferance policy, but I think Daniel touched upon another big reason in "The Powers That Be" when he said...

JACKSON: no…you're right… maybe hoarding the knowledge is wrong. Or maybe its not…maybe learning for yourself is part of the journey to enlightenment. But killing someone for not worshipping you…regardless of your power. Is wrong. Very wrong. Knowledge is power…but how you use that power defines whether you are good…or evil. (transcript from www.moon-catchin.net)

Giving power to somebody who doesn't have the maturity to handle it yet is a recipe for disaster. Likewise, if you just go in and sovle someone's problem for them, they don't learn how to stand up for themselves. The best thing is usually to simply offer guidance, and not the answer itself. People may not always understand in the midst of the trial, but their usually better off in the long run.

[cafine_us]

A good example of giving someone power and knowledge who can't yet handle it was Orlin and the planet that began to war with itself with the Ancient technology. We were able to see the consequences of breaking the non-intervention rule.

[Kralizec]

You all make a very good point. Power, when used for the wrong reasons, or at the wrong time, can cause disaster. It's very true. But if used when absolutly nessicsary, I feel that it could benefit all life, but that's just me.

[the fifth man]

You all make a very good point. Power, when used for the wrong reasons, or at the wrong time, can cause disaster. It's very true. But if used when absolutly nessicsary, I feel that it could benefit all life, but that's just me.

That may be, but the Ancients are probably thinking long-term. They want our kind to be self-sustaining, to grow without their interference. The Ori are a terrible threat, but I don't think the Ancients want to risk becoming just like them.

[immhotep]

maybe they dont need to do battle in ascended form to beat them: just become ancient again and go to war with them in a massive armarda of weapon that are not only ancient but born from all the knowledge of the universe?

[Kralizec]

maybe they dont need to do battle in ascended form to beat them: just become ancient again and go to war with them in a massive armarda of weapon that are not only ancient but born from all the knowledge of the universe?

That would be really sweet to see, but I don't think that we'll be seeing it anytime soon though .

[PyRo1896]

Or we no that the Alterans (ancients) had the best shield ever created (in atlantis). So maby if they fight the Ori they wont win but they wont lose eaither. The Ori can be like the wraith. Im not saying they are but they can be like them. The wraith never defeated the Alterans. But the Altarens never won. There shield was protecting them from any onslaught the wraith brought. So maby they can defend very easily if the Ori attack them. They will never lose. Or maby its the same "shield" thats defending us from the Ori.

[immhotep]

i think the shield on atlantis would crumble to the full power of the orii, think if the ancients built atlantis as humans and the orii build there ships as 'gods' who is going to win? the atlantis shield can be penetrated by asgard beams....so one only needs to beam a nuke in to atlantis and poof.
atlantis/altertan - wraith war was a physical war of ships and numbers.....the alteran/MW - orii war is a philosophic war, a war of ideals and power of a kind no ship can really provide. sure a massive fleet of oniels would slow the war down but it wont stop because how to you fight and idea with a mortal weapon against an immortal enemy with power limited only by the devoutness of the followers.
we cant win this war, we can win a battle but not the war, to me there are two fronts the human side and the moral side, we ( tauri,jaffa,asgard) can fight that but only the ancients can finish this.
without inflicting mass geneside to the orii galaxy, killing all the follower, like the retu and human atrition to stop the goauld all we can ever do is keep trying to keep them out ( by blowing up supergates ect) and doing the best we can when the time comes.

[Congerking]

I think a lot of people are missing the point. Yes, Orlin said that they dont interfere because they don't want people to rely on them or they dont want to sap the life force out of the people that would worship them. But this isn't what I'm taking about. We know that ascended alterans favored science rather than religion, that the ori favor. Pretty much Orlin said it: "[Sucking the life force out of worshipers] is not necessarily the next best step to further enlightenment." The Alterans want further enlightment above all else, they are curious; one of the byproducts of being a scientists and studying science. Interfering in the lower plans for whatever reason is just moot point in the quest to further enlightment...anyway, I'm rambling on, so that's it. Hope that made sense.

[MarshAngel]

I think a lot of people are missing the point. Yes, Orlin said that they dont interfere because they don't want people to rely on them or they dont want to sap the life force out of the people that would worship them. But this isn't what I'm taking about. We know that ascended alterans favored science rather than religion, that the ori favor. Pretty much Orlin said it: "[Sucking the life force out of worshipers] is not necessarily the next best step to further enlightenment." The Alterans want further enlightment above all else, they are curious; one of the byproducts of being a scientists and studying science. Interfering in the lower plans for whatever reason is just moot point in the quest to further enlightment...anyway, I'm rambling on, so that's it. Hope that made sense.

I don't know if I do understand you. If you're saying the Alterans don't interfere simply because it doesn't further their enlightenment in any way that is somewhat true but not completely.

The Ancients do interfere they just don't interfere with us. By that, I mean the Ancients have prevented the Ori from finding the Milky Way. That's interfering to our benefit which indicates they care about more than their own enlightenment. By doing that they haven't done anything on our plane of existence, rather they have altered things on their own to help us because they were able to do the right thing within the boundary of their own ethics.

If the ancients were able to have their cake and eat it too, I believe they would. If they could stop the Ori for our sake (on their own plane) without sacrificing further enlightenment they would. But unless we do the job of stopping the followers of the Ori ourselves ( the harder task) there is no proof that stopping the Ori on their plane of existence without interfering to change the minds of their followers will stop what the Ori already started.

Even if the Ori stopped doling out superpowers people wouldn't stop believing in them over night. The evidence of their power is unquestionable. Jesus stopped turning water into wine over 2,000 years ago. And more people believe in him now than then.