Why Humans from Earth Wouldn't Fare Too Well in the Star Wars Universe

For the past forty two years many a Star Wars fan has fantasized about what it would be like to exist within the Star Wars universe. Day dreaming about living in a fictional universe is typically an exciting and carefree experience with limitless possibilities, and one should always hold tight to that imagination and wonder. However, looking at it from a more logistical perspective, real-life humans of Earth probably wouldn't fare too well if somehow magically transported to the Star Wars universe.

First and foremost, I'd argue that the humans in Star Wars are a different, and slightly advanced, breed of human when compared to us, the humans of Earth. Fictionally speaking, George Lucas and company developed the Star Wars human race to share a plethora of the qualities and characteristics that make us "human". That's a major factor in how/why we as fans relate and gravitate to the characters. They're essentially like us, just living in an amazing space adventure. That's the point from a storytelling point of view. But after watching the movies and TV shows countless times, and especially when reading the Expanded Universe novels, we realize that despite the large pool of fundamental similarities, there's an even bigger ocean of tangible differences. While there are varying degrees of intelligence in both breeds of humans, Star Wars humans appear to have brains capable of both processing and remembering larger, and more complex, amounts of information. Technologically speaking, their entire existence is drastically more advanced than ours, even on the Outer Rim worlds. Granted they do receive a ton of assistance from droids and computers, but said droids/computers had to be designed, built, and programmed to provide such assistance.

The modern humans of Earth have a brief history, only exist on one planet, have a relatively small understanding of the universe at large, and have yet to come in contact with another evolved/intelligent species. In contrast, the humans of Star Wars have a history spanning well over a hundred thousand years, exist on thousands of different planets, possess a greater knowledge of the universe, and have daily interactions with a wide variety of different species. Therefore, the sheer amount of information in existence and available to the humans of Star Wars is staggeringly more immense than we humans can even begin to comprehend. Daily Star Wars-human life, on virtually any world, much less space travel, would far exceed the mental limitations of humans from Earth. Even the non-Force sensitive humans in Star Wars have faster reflexives and response times, both physically and analytically. And despite appearance, they tend to be physically stronger, with a much larger threshold for pain.

There is also a stark contrast on a psychological level. In addition to higher brain functionality, more advanced technology, and a deeper universal understanding, Star Wars-humans have daily experiences utterly foreign to that of Earth-humans. To them, these experiences are simple reality. To us, they would be hard to comprehend and digest. From space travel, hyperspace, non-Earth-like planetary environments and rotation cycles, to natural wonders. From multiple species, creatures, monsters, the Force, witches, healers, insectoids, to changelings and more. While the human spirit is robust, the human psyche is fragile. Thus, if a human from Earth was to suddenly encounter life in the Star Wars universe, it could very well cause a sensory overload and mental breakdown. The Star Wars universe is also a very violent place. While sadly, many on Earth are forced to live in environments where violence is a daily occurrence, most Earthlings would not be prepared to witness violence of a Star Wars caliber. And think about how many humans on Earth have a fear of heights, of flying, a fear of insects, etc. In the Star Wars universe those types of fears would be crippling. We won't even get into the religious, racial, and social implications. As far as language goes, 43% of people on Earth fluently speak two languages, while 13% are fluent in three. That’s not bad, but as 3PO reminds us time and time again, there are over six million forms of communication in the Star Wars universe. And even he, a droid, has been stumped a time or two.

Writing this was just for fun. And though I could explore this topic at novel length, the intent was a short, "something to ponder" type of article. Because both breeds of humans are highly adaptable one could reckon that an Earth-human could potentially learn and experience enough over time to survive. But mere survival would still be a far cry from being on par with the rest of the Star Wars human race. And adapting and evolving is really a separate conversation. We know that the humans of Star Wars evolved from ape-like creatures, the same as us, so to be fair, they’ve had thousands more years of evolution. And of course, all of this is a broad generalization of humans, of both universes. This was more of a first encounter, and human race to human race as-is comparison piece. Still, all things considered, I'd go in a heartbeat! First stop, Coruscant!