Just thinkin' out loud.
There those things, you know know. Harmony and discipline. Yet another scale one can use when good and evil fail to make clear point. It's not exactly law and chaos either, because chaos is neither harmony nor discipline. It's something else.
Harmony means making things influence each other, letting things achieve themselves without disturbing their flow, and results born of individualities working together.
Discipline would be a cause rather than a consequence. A sort of efficient conformity, born of analysis and will. Predictible results and self-awareness allow some modifications, when a specific intent is given, but it is still rather still.
Heh. It's kind of hard being objective between those two.
With those definitions, it's kind of easy to say that jedis are the disciplined ones, with their code and fettered feelings, while siths are the harmonious ones, going with their feelings, right ?
Well, wait a minute.
The Jedis are supposed to go with the Force, to go with the flow and make sure things turn out the way they should. Ain't that harmony ? On the other hand, Siths have specific ideas, usualy firm ones, and the will to force them on the ones that would disagree. Ain't that Discipline ?
One should not mix intent and act.
Various exemples of SW works would side with Harmony. "let the force flow through you" say the Jedis, until what ? What if the Force asks of you to slay a friend, a sibling ? Is that comfort enough to know it was asked without malice ?
But in the Star Wars universe, Discipline and trying to control don't fare well. Siths end up being controled by their own emotions, Harmony slapping Discipline in the face and taking back its rights. Empires rise and fall; and Republics all the same. Heroic officers and generals are Discipline's heralds, but often end up being secondary characters, or dead before the end of the story (you'll be missed, Thrawn).
I wonder if the Jedis emphasis on internal Discipline isn't there to balance for that fact. 'Trying to be the best puppet for the Force' isn't very attractive now, is it ? Neither is being a mindless brute bent on killing every sentient.
Interestingly, though a bit off-topic, pirates are usualy described in a much better light as soon as their are said to be organised. Apparently, Discipline still hold some scenaristic weight when not a force-user.
Should that point out a fact, it would be that the Force is too great to be wielded by a normal mind. All fall before such a universe-bending power, and being force-attuned basicaly means losing your freedom, one way or another. Your options are to Discipline yourself into tolerating it, or love it enough to Harmonize yourself with it.
Back on topic, the states of things goes well with the fact SW's universe is a 'space-opera' one. Heroic actions and idealism are a better show than cultured generals, far from the lines, and calculated pragmatism.
And after all, why would we watch SW if not for the screaming TIEs and lightsaber battles ?
Subject: Harmony and Discipline in Force concepts 
Tue Aug 09, 2011 12:46 pm
