“My main goal right now is merely to obtain a basic understanding of emotions. Though one race may feel something more strongly than another, the foundations are the same. Only when I’ve gained an understanding at that level will I continue into the complexities of emotions.” Dhivael felt her explanation was adequate. She had thought about this for a long time, and coming to Earth had proven her studies would be far more difficult than she anticipated. However, she would not be daunted from her task.
“I am certain my studies will be beneficial to my people in one way or another.” Everyone absorbed information for different purpose, and not all minds thought alike though there were often similar means of connecting things. Dhivael was an intelligent woman, and she was certain she could understand emotions given time, and the copious amounts of patience and her observational skills would be great aids to her.
“Manuscripts are a valuable source of knowledge. I think it’s wise of you to collect something so useful.” The Rihan also collected written works in a sense. They were files compiled into a single computer, so she could access them more easily than trying to find a single book from shelves and shelves of books. Recently, Earthlings had begun to get an idea for something similar that they called a Kindle, but it was still very rudimentary in comparison.
Dhivael thought she knew what point Meda was trying to make. “I do study history, and I anticipate that you will say that historical records can and have been changed in order to suit a specific purpose, but I do not study history so extensively on Earth as I have on ch’Havran. My people prefer to record facts, not fancy. Even on Earth, if one is able to ignore the obvious emotional biases, studying multiple sources will grant insight into what may have actually happened. For instance, it is well known by Earth that a second world war occurred, but the United States has written that they were the main reason why those with whom they allied won. However, in Europe, you will find that they do not feel the same way about that victory. Instead of trying to decide who led the victory in war, I simply acknowledge that specific countries were allied, and a war was won or lost depending on your position.”
Whether or not humans evolved from apes was also up for debate, but Dhivael did not bring this to Meda’s attention. It would be a direct violation of the Rihannsu non-interference policy. The Rihan was not convinced that humans were descended from her people, but that was definitely something that was being studied extensively by them. Professor Gideon Whyte had helped to sort of add to the small belief that maybe humans and Rihannsu were related, but nothing had been proven. However, there were not apes on ch’Havran, and Rihannsu were definitely not evolved versions of such a creature.
“It could be argued that every living being runs on basic instincts, but sentient beings do not solely use them as animals do.” Dhivael listened as Meda explained that “genetic” was perhaps not the proper sentiment. “I will simply think of it as an uncontrolled factor, a weakness in a kind of magick that is determined by the individual brain patterns and nothing more.” After all, there were many things that occurred that while stemming from hereditary genetics, was different in each individual.