This take seems the most reasonable, since there are some logical problems with a spacefaring race of 'hunter Gatherers'. My thoughts are that there was an 'elite aristocracy' that prized hunting (something which very much did exist in Europe throughout the Middle Ages to various degrees). So the ruling class became these "hunters' that all other species encounter, but then there are Hirogen worlds who handle the boring, 'day-to-day' matters. This makes them much more like the Kzin, using their original, Larry Niven-based lore. They had various occupations in their society, but the warriors looked down upon everyone else (we see similar among the Klingons, to a lesser degree). So somewhere there are scientists and what-not, we just never see them, because the 'important folk' are out doing their dumb 'big game hunts'. This makes even more sense considering how they embraced and adapted the Holodeck tech - I can see the bureaucrats and scientists getting together to figure out a way of please the 'nobles' while making things more manageable from their end (because such a lopsided society would begin taking its toll on resources). But even if all of this were true, I still feel the communications network was built by someone else, perhaps even one of the great, fallen Alpha-Quadrant powers (also be aware that this network seems to stretch pretty much along the path the Voth would have taken from Earth to their new area, and they preexisted the Hirogen Network by millions of years). Thus, the Voth may have had an even larger territory at one time, and then got pushed back by other species, like the Borg, over hundreds of thousands of years. If that Network was ancient Voth tech, they likely have developed even more sophisticated means of communication, which is why you don't see that tech near their current holdings. In this scenario, they may be completely unaware that the Hirogen are using their old stuff, or simply do not care. In fact, given the sauroid nature of synapsids (reptile-like mammals), one could even theorize the Hirogen are a lost branch of Voth, or even a creation of the Voth.

The Klingons would get wiped out

FIGHT!

@@canis2020 I doubt it ship for ship certainly but that won't matter in a war. The Klingons are at worst slightly weaker then the UFP and have actual infrastructure. As well as a large amount of territory and population. Nothing we see from the Hirogen indicates a large scale civilization. In fact they seem to be very tribalistic and unorganized

They could literally be the equivalent of modern sport hunters instead of a poor man's Yautja.

That's an interesting idea. Perhaps there was some sort of apocalyptic event that made the planet want to murder all that walk its surface. Maybe that's why The Hirogen are the way they are: It's Mad Max in space, but their society formed to become dominated by the hunters over millennia

Interesting - I have to say, everything I discuss in the video notwithstanding, I wouldn't be surprised if this more nuanced version of history were closer to the truth.

Thank you James!

@@discobolos4227 Procyon is the name of someone else who commented, if you scroll down a little you'll see them.

@@qetoun Harrari is a vegan so I'm sure he's aware!

Thank you Michael!

Many Federation worlds do not have access to replicators. At least not enough replicators to feed their entire populations. Some Federation worlds are purely agricultural, they export their food surplus to non-agricultural worlds. Some Federation worlds lack enough technology and energy infrastructure for replicators. Few worlds are as wealthy and developed as Earth.

Replicators are mostly useful in space structures were space is at a premium, growing food is still more energy efficient than the overhead of assembling it in a transporter buffer. Plus many Maquis were described as ex-farmers who just wanted to make something of their land, so I assume the Federation has space for all kinds of ways of life among the total of all their colonies.

I'm assuming the only real reason why food is still planted besides a hobby is because it's cheaper to grow than replicate.

"Similar markings, proximate nostril position, near-identical colouration, generally similar features and stature." Like humans and vulcans. Or humans and betazeds, trills, bajorans. They all must obviously be diverged from a recent common ancestor with common civilization, society, and technology.

Thank you so much!

Like if the planet was turned into a giant, hungry, psychic monster that devours everything on it and lures people to their doom?

Yep, I did talk about it in my Borg video last year!

You know, in a lot of fiction, as in real life, the decision to limit technology is usually for a religious reason (i.e. The Amish,) or because of some cataclysm brought about by technology running amok (The Terminator.) Dune is an interesting case because one leads to the other. The cataclysm leads to religious restrictions on technology.

@@subraxas The biggest problem isn't lack of funds...It's academic resistance to something that can contradict every classic timeline. This is the biggest problem and this in several other archaeological sites... anything that goes against it is immediately stopped from proceeding.

Exactly. There's still so much we don't understand from that far in the past.

@@subraxas No Ancient Aliens...but a much older civilization than we think!

@@subraxas Boa! KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

Thanks Trevor!

@@subraxas This essay most certainly could be applied to some ideas of the Fox movie Predator as well, which is great. Getting into socieital evolution of a culture was deep and indeed fresher.

Thank you!

Haha, it's a small reference to a channel in-joke: kzfaq.infoWNa-dJdKefA

Lots of Trek aliens would be more interesting if they made different design choices like this, yep :/

@@subraxas 😁

Well, technically, the Encyclopedia and other reference books--even if they reference information from canon--still engage in some speculation. So, by definition, they're not canon. Canon is only what's in the TV shows and films, period. That said, they do update these reference books periodically to bring them in line with new canon material, and they are often helpful in giving readers a general "guide" to the universe.

@@OrangeRiver Hmmm... Thank you for clearing that up. I would just like to add, that both books do properly indicate when they are engaging in speculation by putting such at the end of the entry and making the text italicized. Not contradicting you, I just thought that would be important for those who don't know.

Yeah I think that's an appropriate clarification