Namekian Technology

[Saiyan-Professor]

When the Namek that eventually became Piccolo initially came to earth he arrived in a vehicle that could undergo intergalactic travel (which Bulma and the others used to make there trip to the planet Namek). Yet, when we are introduced to the Nameks they lack any modern technology whatsoever, instead they live a simple country lifestyle on throughout the series. When we look at the filler when Kuririn, Son Gohan and Bulma encounter the two shape shifters these beings create an illusion where the Nameks dwell in what one could call a semi large city resembling the rustic style Namekian architecture similar to what they would actually encounter on the real planet Namek. I believe that the shape shifters depicted planet Namek in this manner because they saw what it was like prior to the cataclysm. I know that the Nameks were busy replenishing their numbers and restoring the planet to what it looked like prior to the catastrophe (and then later they had to start over again following Freeza destroying the original planet). However, was it ever explained why they did not return to the use of modern technology and architecture?

[omegacwa]

interesting.

Well, look at it this way. If all of the civilization on earth was wiped out except for a few people, and those people were left to repopulate the earth,what are the odds that one of them is a brilliant architect, and one of them is a scientist, and another is an engineer, and so on. Not very high.

It is most likely because Saichiro/Guru was the last remaining Namek, and he had no idea how to build the space ships or technologically advanced houses and what not. Much like if all of humanity disappeared except for a few, we would most likely regress to Tee-Pee's and Hut s and what not.

[Rocketman]

It might've been lost. If Guru didn't know how to make any of that, then none of his kids would either.

E: Dammit, omega!

[kaioken12]

I agree, perhaps the knowledge was lost.
And otherwise, if they still had it, you can assume it just wasn't needed at this point.
Why should they travel in space when they are just a handful and have to do enough by restoring Namek?

What I never got instead, was that they didn't use their Dragon Balls to do it.
Or later, when they leave earth to new Namek - why did they choose a planet which looks exactly like the old Namek post-catastrophe?

As for the shape shifters: I think, they didn't necessarily have to see Namek before - instead, they used the imagination of Namek Gohan, Kuririn and Bulma had to form a sufficient illusion (if I recall that correctly, correct me, if I am wrong, please).

[omegacwa]

I agree, perhaps the knowledge was lost.
And otherwise, if they still had it, you can assume it just wasn't needed at this point.
Why should they travel in space when they are just a handful and have to do enough by restoring Namek?

What I never got instead, was that they didn't use their Dragon Balls to do it.
Or later, when they leave earth to new Namek - why did they choose a planet which looks exactly like the old Namek post-catastrophe?

As for the shape shifters: I think, they didn't necessarily have to see Namek before - instead, they used the imagination of Namek Gohan, Kuririn and Bulma had to form a sufficient illusion (if I recall that correctly, correct me, if I am wrong, please).

Hmm, I don't know why they wouldn't have used the Dragonballs. Maybe they only use them if it is a dire need, and they didn't feel it was necessary for whatever reason.

I guess they just chose a generic unpopulated planet. I mean, Namek wasn't unlike Earth, it just wasn't populated.

I think that was said, that they just used there telepathic abilities to make a world that Gohan and the others assumed Namek looked like.

[SSj_Rambo]

First off, I am going to totally disregard the Fake Namek filler episode. My theories as to why the technology was not used again are maybe the inter-planetary technology was only developed for the sake of getting people off of the planet and not intended to ever be used again.

Another idea is that after the catastrophe the technology was lost and no one with the knowledge to recreate it was alive.

Another interesting idea that I just came up with is that after the catastrophe (when the planet was completely peaceful) the people of Namek might have adopted a simple way of life without the aid of advanced technologies and science and material items (like how they hardly ever use the Dragonballs even though they are so easily acceptable). This can be compared to the Buddhist way of life where material possessions and Earthly pleasures are kept from their everyday life (classical Buddhism at least).

Hope these helped.

[Saiyan-Professor]

interesting. Well, look at it this way. If all of the civilization on earth was wiped out except for a few people, and those people were left to repopulate the earth,what are the odds that one of them is a brilliant architect, and one of them is a scientist, and another is an engineer, and so on. Not very high.

It is most likely because Saichiro/Guru was the last remaining Namek, and he had no idea how to build the space ships or technologically advanced houses and what not. Much like if all of humanity disappeared except for a few, we would most likely regress to Tee-Pee's and Hut s and what not.

Would this lead us to believe that there was a 3rd class of Namek? Beyond Healer and Warrior that became extinct after the calamity, one that specialized in technology and architecture.

I agree, perhaps the knowledge was lost.
And otherwise, if they still had it, you can assume it just wasn't needed at this point.
Why should they travel in space when they are just a handful and have to do enough by restoring Namek?....

As for the shape shifters: I think, they didn't necessarily have to see Namek before - instead, they used the imagination of Namek Gohan, Kuririn and Bulma had to form a sufficient illusion (if I recall that correctly, correct me, if I am wrong, please).

Given the look of the illusionary planet Namek, that they created it seemed to correlate quite a bit with what we saw on the real planet with the exception of the Ogre living in the clouds. Perhaps they pieced that image together by looking at the ship’s design. But then again the Saiyans (Vegeta, Nappa and Raditz) in addition to Freeza and his army was familiar with the Nameks. I always thought that prior to the disaster the Nameks would frequently travel off planet. This brings me to my next thought. One would believe that they would leave the planet in search of technology that would assist in restoring the planet at a much faster pace.

Another interesting idea that I just came up with is that after the catastrophe (when the planet was completely peaceful) the people of Namek might have adopted a simple way of life without the aid of advanced technologies and science and material items (like how they hardly ever use the Dragonballs even though they are so easily acceptable). This can be compared to the Buddhist way of life where material possessions and Earthly pleasures are kept from their everyday life (classical Buddhism at least).

Perhaps the technology was the cause of the tragedy and following that they swore off its use. Similar to how we see in various science fiction works the scenario where earth’s population is almost completely annihilated because of nuclear war and the new society swears off technology (I think there was an Outer Limits episode addressing this).

Hope these helped.

Yes, thank you.

[Vivisection]

<snip> the people of Namek might have adopted a simple way of life without the aid of advanced technologies and science and material items (like how they hardly ever use the Dragonballs even though they are so easily acceptable). This can be compared to the Buddhist way of life <snip>.

I could imagine something along those lines myself, it's a classic scenario.

Would this lead us to believe that there was a 3rd class of Namek? <snip> one that specialized in technology and architecture.

I'm probably sticking my foot in my mouth here, but Piccolo (even before re-uniting, and even considering that he was incapable of creating dragon balls) demonstrated the ability to conjure clothing and such from nothing - assuming that the ability wasn't exclusive and that there was such a specialized class, perhaps they used an extension of that ability?

[Saiyan-Professor]

...Piccolo (even before re-uniting, and even considering that he was incapable of creating dragon balls) demonstrated the ability to conjure clothing and such from nothing - assuming that the ability wasn't exclusive and that there was such a specialized class, perhaps they used an extension of that ability?

Perhaps that is what Saichiro was referencing when he said that the child of Katatz was a “prodigy of the Dragon Clan”. Maybe the Dragon clan was the 3rd class of Nameks that was responsible for technological and architectural advancement. Like a division of Namekian Bill Gates, Frank Lloyd Wright and Steven Hawkins.

[Super Ghost Kamikaze]

They can make Dragonballs.

If you can make Dragonballs, what else do you need?!

And I just always assumed that they were advanced, but CHOSE a life of simplicity and natural stuffage. Like Wookies.

[Bussani]

They can make Dragonballs.

If you can make Dragonballs, what else do you need?!

And I just always assumed that they were advanced, but CHOSE a life of simplicity and natural stuffage. Like Wookies.

Makes sense to me. They're quite a spiritual people.

As for the shape shifters: I think, they didn't necessarily have to see Namek before - instead, they used the imagination of Namek Gohan, Kuririn and Bulma had to form a sufficient illusion (if I recall that correctly, correct me, if I am wrong, please).

This sounds right to me, I always assumed they created it based on what Bulma, Kuririn and Gohan were expecting. But I don't think they say anything that contradicts your theory either.

[Saiyan-Professor]

They can make Dragonballs.

If you can make Dragonballs, what else do you need?!

Nuclear physicists can make nuclear reactors but that does not mean it would be wise to use them in any manner that they wish, even if you dismiss the events in GT the Old Kaiôshin during the Buu Saga warned that a cavalier attitude toward the use of the Dragonballs were dangerous. I think that they would have to develop and manufacture the things in question through other means.

[Yasai-R-Mighty]

And I just always assumed that they were advanced, but CHOSE a life of simplicity and natural stuffage. Like Wookies.

Exactly, I was always under the impression that even during pre-storm times, technology never played such a large role in Namek day-to-day life as it dose on Earth. I imagine they did have extensive knowledge of physics, and expanded on that knowledge through the generations, to the point that they can build ships. In fact even if the Nameks that did posses such knowledge died out because of the storm, I find it hard to believe that every written scientific reference was destroyed too.

[Velasa]

Perhaps the technology was the cause of the tragedy and following that they swore off its use. Similar to how we see in various science fiction works the scenario where earth’s population is almost completely annihilated because of nuclear war and the new society swears off technology (I think there was an Outer Limits episode addressing this).

This here would be what I swear by more or less.

As for Fake Nameksei? I always say it was piecing together things from the travelers' minds and the fact that the artists didn't want to come up with another completely new planet design so they just recycled real Nameksei.

As to types? I doubt there was a specific 'class' or Clan specializing in architecture. There would have been the classes we know, possibly a few more, and they'd have been spread out in the separate Clans. Skill jobs I believe would have just been spread around randomly as they are in the current population here on earth.

[Dayspring]

Perhaps the technology was the cause of the tragedy and following that they swore off its use. Similar to how we see in various science fiction works the scenario where earth’s population is almost completely annihilated because of nuclear war and the new society swears off technology (I think there was an Outer Limits episode addressing this).

This here would be what I swear by more or less.

As for Fake Nameksei? I always say it was piecing together things from the travelers' minds and the fact that the artists didn't want to come up with another completely new planet design so they just recycled real Nameksei.

As to types? I doubt there was a specific 'class' or Clan specializing in architecture. There would have been the classes we know, possibly a few more, and they'd have been spread out in the separate Clans. Skill jobs I believe would have just been spread around randomly as they are in the current population here on earth.

We know for a fact that the cataclysm was a natural disaster. Since post-cataclysm Namek consists solely of Ryuzoku and Fighters, my guess is those were the only classes to begin with. Otherwise there'd be only Ryuzoku after the catackysm.

[Velasa]

The disaster is described as "storms" every time I hear of it. I don't believe further context was attributed to it in how or why it happened, unless I'm missing a Japanese translation somewhere. It's possible that I'm wrong, but 'storms' has always seemed vauge enough to me that there was a little more possibility behind it.

As for the type, thus the use of the word 'possibly". Beause warriors alredy seem to be sparce enough in the population, so there's a chance there were other types who were sparcer that are now all but gone. We really didn't spend enough time on the planet in cannon to get to know everything that was going on with them.

[Super Ghost Kamikaze]

The disaster is described as "storms" every time I hear of it. I don't believe further context was attributed to it in how or why it happened, unless I'm missing a Japanese translation somewhere. It's possible that I'm wrong, but 'storms' has always seemed vauge enough to me that there was a little more possibility behind it.

As for the type, thus the use of the word 'possibly". Beause warriors alredy seem to be sparce enough in the population, so there's a chance there were other types who were sparcer that are now all but gone. We really didn't spend enough time on the planet in cannon to get to know everything that was going on with them.

A problem that is further compounded by the fact that the time we DO spend on Namek is mostly spent fighting non-Namekians, with our time with real Namekians MOSTLY consists of:

-Namekians are alive.
-Freeza and/or his men show up
-Namekians are no longer alive