What does "the Force is strong with you" mean?

Question

For instance, in Episode V, the following dialogue occurs between the Emperor and Darth Vader:

Emperor: There is a great disturbance in the Force.
Darth Vader: I have felt it.
Emperor: We have a new enemy. [...] He could destroy us.
Darth Vader: He's just a boy. Obi-Wan can no longer help him.
Emperor: The Force is strong with him. The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi.

This raises a few questions:

Can beings who are attuned to the Force sense the existence of others who are "strong with the Force" within the galaxy?
Is affinity with the Force inherited?
Do certain people have greater potential than others? Luke's powers were not at all developed when the exchange between the Emperor and Vader took place. Why would the Force be strong with him in relation to other people?

Certain parts of this question may be duplicate (for example, the question of whether affinity with the Force is inherited). — Adamant, Jul 05 '16 at 07:42
Possible dupe of What exactly does it mean to be stronger vs weaker in the Force? — Valorum, Jul 05 '16 at 08:18
It is certainly implied that a Midi-chlorian count will follow a blood line. — DubMan, Jul 05 '16 at 08:48
As with all skills and dispositions some will channel their skills better. We may all have similar bodies for examples, but not all will become athletes or sports heros. So yes, certain people are predisposed to yield the force with greater efficiency or creativeness than others. — DubMan, Jul 05 '16 at 08:52
*cough* midichlorians no longer exist in Jar-Jar Abrams canon *cough* — DVK-on-Ahch-To, Jul 05 '16 at 13:02
@Kosmos: You don't need a source. Midichlorians were introduced in the EU, which is Legends, which is not Abrams canon. Technically he could re-introduce them, but he has not done so as of yet. — Lightness Races in Orbit, Jul 05 '16 at 17:19
@LightnessRacesinOrbit They are mentioned in Phantom Menace which is still canon as far as I know. — Kosmos, Jul 05 '16 at 17:59
In the Legends EU, it was explained that every person - even those who couldn't use the Force - have a "force aura" that can be detected by Force-users. Those who can use the Force have a much "brighter" aura than those that can't, and that aura gets brighter with potential. One of the early novels said that Vader should have known Luke was his son, because looking at him through the Force was like staring into a sun. And THAT was long before Luke grew powerful. — Omegacron, Jul 05 '16 at 18:50

score 13 · Answer 1 · edited Jul 08 '16 at 16:43

As we know, a person who wields the Force will have a noticeable increase in the midi-chlorian count of their cells. Those who have the Force can detect similar other sources of the Force. Imagine a built in infrared detector as an example. If your body was to have a higher IR signature it would be more visible to those that are sensitive to such elevations.

Also, usage of the Force is to give the person a connection to all things in the universe. So like feeling a draft from an open door, people that yield the Force feel significant events (like a planet being destroyed).

Furthermore, one of the gifts of the midi-chlorians is to give the person the ability to visualise (visions) events throughout the universe. So even smaller events that occur throughout the galaxy but carry the signature of midi-chlorian source event can be felt.

This is a true answer and I love the hate that it will cause ha. Midi-chlorians are great — user001, Jul 05 '16 at 09:10

What does "the Force is strong with you" mean?

1 Answers1