The vorts aren't sentient?

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What does this quote from Episode One mean:

Dr. Issac Kleiner said:
Fellow citizens...residents of City 17 and environs...by which I mean sentient residents, of course, human and otherwise, although I believe there is little need to explain recent developments to our vortigaunt allies...

Does it mean they found out the vortigaunts aren't sentient or what?
 
no - it probably means that if one vort knows, they all know
 
I think the otherwise are the local fauna (cats, birds, etc.) He mentions the vortigaunts separately in the next phrase, and $kelet0r has it right; the vortigaunts apparently already know what he's talking about because of their own telepathic (?) network.

edit - I digress, Rim-Fire's got it right (see below). :thumbs:
 
I think the otherwise are the local fauna (cats, birds, etc.)
He saids sentient residents, human and otherwise. Meaning that the otherwise are also sentient. The flora and fauna are by defenition, not sentient. He then goes on to comment on how although the transmission is for Vortigaunts too they will probably find it useless (due to their physcic abilities). It's bloody simple.
 
Doesn't the "otherwise" apply to the "human"? So I think he rather means "humans" and "non-humans" and then goes on about the Vortigaunts.
 
The Vorts are NPCs so no they are not sentient.;)
 
English is not my Mother Language, so I am allowed to make a few errors and not get flamed for it. :p
 
Sorry :eek:
I should stay in the politics section when I'm in a bad mood :p
 
If someone is controlled by a hive mind, does that make them non-sentient?

(I'm still undecided on whether the Vortessence is a hive mind, or some sort of interspecies communications channel, or what.)
 
They just have telepathic abilities; like the Protoss, but not the Zerg.
 
If someone is controlled by a hive mind, does that make them non-sentient?

(I'm still undecided on whether the Vortessence is a hive mind, or some sort of interspecies communications channel, or what.)
1: If the Vortigaunts where hive minded then each individual Vortigaunt would not be sentient, in the same way our arms aren't sentient or a piece of our brain isn't sentient.

2: They aren't hive-minded. I take this from 3 pieces of evidence
  1. If they where a single mind speaking through different mouths then the word 'I' would be more aproprate rather than the word 'we' which is what they use because they are many minds speaking through one mouth.
  2. You see two Vortigaunts communicating via 'flux shifting'. If they where controlled by the same mind then this form of vort-to-vort comunication would be pointless (unless the hive mind was arguing with itself)
  3. The Vortigaunts speak of both a greatest poet and philosipher. This is a blatent statment of individualism.
 
1: If the Vortigaunts where hive minded then each individual Vortigaunt would not be sentient, in the same way our arms aren't sentient or a piece of our brain isn't sentient.

2: They aren't hive-minded. I take this from 3 pieces of evidence
  1. If they where a single mind speaking through different mouths then the word 'I' would be more aproprate rather than the word 'we' which is what they use because they are many minds speaking through one mouth.
  2. You see two Vortigaunts communicating via 'flux shifting'. If they where controlled by the same mind then this form of vort-to-vort comunication would be pointless (unless the hive mind was arguing with itself)
  3. The Vortigaunts speak of both a greatest poet and philosipher. This is a blatent statment of individualism.

I'm convinced. So ze vortessence, then - wtf is it?
 
As I referred to it in my vort article, "a slice of mysticism in the otherwise scientific world of Half-Life." It's the vortigaunt religion but it's also a tangible thing...seems to be the source of most of their powers.

Some things about the vortessence:
  • Connects all vortigaunts
  • Said to be the bridge between life, death, and rebirth for them
  • Possible to be tapped into by other beings
  • Allows for not only communication, but astral travel and manipulation of space-time
 
As I referred to it in my vort article, "a slice of mysticism in the otherwise scientific world of Half-Life." It's the vortigaunt religion but it's also a tangible thing...seems to be the source of most of their powers.

Some things about the vortessence:
  • Connects all vortigaunts
  • Said to be the bridge between life, death, and rebirth for them
  • Possible to be tapped into by other beings
  • Allows for not only communication, but astral travel and manipulation of space-time

You did a vort article? Like the headcrab one?
 
Maybe there's just some things they like to keep to themselves. Like, maybe when they communicate with sound its so that the whole species doesn't have to hear unimportant things. And there's plenty of things a Vortigaunt might want to say but not want every other Vortigaunt to know. How would you feel if you accidentally pissed off your entire species after a few too many? :D

And, the speaker is not suggesting that Vorts aren't sentient. He says 'human and otherwise', the latter referring to the Vortigaunts, which is why the next thing he says makes sense.
 
One: The Zerg have telepathic powers, hence their attraction to Kerrigan. Also, do not forget the Overmind, Cerebrates, and Overlords, how did THEY control the zerg, they do not have mouths.

Two: The Vorts WERE non-sentient, when they were controlled By Nihinlanth, Vortessence is probably like a frequency where Nihinlanth USED TO contact them, now they use it for other purposes. SO, I'd say they are sentient, but Kleiner (and the rest of humanity) don't know it, cause they figure Vortessence to be a hive mind.
 
What does this quote from Episode One mean:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Issac Kleiner
Fellow citizens...residents of City 17 and environs...by which I mean sentient residents, of course, human and otherwise, although I believe there is little need to explain recent developments to our vortigaunt allies...

Does it mean they found out the vortigaunts aren't sentient or what?

Like other people have said, the 'otherwise' are the Vortigaunts, and their telepathic link means if one knows, they all know,so he doesnt really need to tell them as they all will already know.

The reason he talks about sentient beings is due to the fact there are human zombies in the city, these would be 'non-sentient' residents of City 17.
 
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