Prime's Philosophy

Needing a break from such heady discussions, you found the reference section and noted several links to something called Prime's Philosophy. From some of it's sections, it became apparent that teachings of an ancient and acclaimed Grey known as Prime were fundamental to portions of the original IEI document, but his views weren't entirely in alignment with the eventual views supported in the IEI. For example, Prime's Philosophy strongly supported sampling over exhaustive measurement. His reasoning was that exhaustive methods wasted too much time, and sampling methods could greatly reduce the time and effort needed to make key discoveries much more quickly. This differed from a core principle in the IEI that only by observing things fully can they be fully understood.

Prime also had some unique views on classification of species and worlds, only part of which made it's way into the IEI. Prime argued that certain species provide no benefit or value in the universe, and are thus expendable. This differed starkly from the IEI teaching that all forms of life should be protected from harm if possible. Prime also suggested that certain types of worlds (something known as D-grade planets) were essentially doomed from the outset, and studying them was more or less useless. Furthermore, providing aid to the species of those planets was a complete waste of time and resources.

Some of the more curious items you found in Prime's Philosophy were discussions about sexual characteristics of the Grey and how it had impacted the species technological development. Although it was unknown why the Grey had lost sexual differentiation millennia ago, historical evidence showed that several of their rapid technological advancements began near the same point in time. A prevailing theory suggested that genetic manipulation for increased mental capacity had led to the accidental loss of their sexual organs as an unintended side effect, and that cloning technology was then developed to continue the species. However, Prime suggested that the trade-off was both intentional and understood in advance, and their ancestors believed the increased mental capability was well worth the sacrifice. Prime's view also seemed to be supported by early records showing that cloning technology was already developed and available at a much earlier time even if it wasn't in widespread use.

Another chapter discussed how the Grey's loss of genitalia coincided with the sudden and steep advancement in probing technology. Prime suggested that the Grey subconsciously viewed probes as substitutes for their missing anatomy, and as a result, their primal urges for procreation were instead being channeled into developing probes and using them on the various species they encountered. If the probes were a direct substitute for the Greys' lost sexual appendages, that basically meant they were subconsciously having sex with every species they encountered, all under the excuse of advancing scientific discovery. This was considered ludicrous by nearly all Grey, and thus it wasn't surprising that there was no mention of this portion of Prime's Philosophy in the IEI or other recognized publications.