-2

The Sith conduct experiments with the Force and they have changed the Force many times (for example, the Grand Experiment). Provided that the Jedi have researched both the Force and the Sith, it's safe to assume that they know this fact.

If the Force isn't clean and immutable, why do Jedi trust the Force to make decisions?

Wad Cheber
  • 69,816
  • 70
  • 523
  • 684
user931
  • 115,946
  • 150
  • 581
  • 1,075
  • 1
    define "experiments on the Force"? ... ... – Adam Head Mar 31 '14 at 18:19
  • @AdamHead See this: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Grand_Experiment – user931 Mar 31 '14 at 18:22
  • 3
    Why does anyone trust the so-called will/decisions of any "higher power"? – phantom42 Mar 31 '14 at 18:26
  • 2
    Can you define how the Sith have changed the Force many times? – Xantec Mar 31 '14 at 18:27
  • 1
    The Grand Experiment link seems to answer the question, tbh - even when Plagueis tried to control The Force, it worked against his will. – joshbirk Mar 31 '14 at 18:28
  • Just a grammar clarification - are you intending to say that the Jedi have studied both the Sith and the Force, or that both the Jedi and Sith have studied the Force? Your current grammar indicates the former. – phantom42 Mar 31 '14 at 18:30
  • @Xantec See the accepted answer to this question: http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/22754/how-did-darth-sidious-manage-to-diminish-all-of-the-jedis-ability-to-use-the-fo – user931 Mar 31 '14 at 18:31
  • @phantom42 Yes, I intended the former.. – user931 Mar 31 '14 at 18:32
  • The Force is not a sentient thing... it's more like a wind blowing through the universe, or a great engine driving the universe. There are differing schools of thought on that one. – Omegacron Dec 17 '14 at 22:02
  • Is the plural of Sith, Siths? – Daft Dec 18 '14 at 15:51
  • @phantom42 Jedi can actually feel the Force. They can use it to do all sorts of crazy shenanigans. We're not talking about a bunch of televangelist gobshites – Daft Dec 18 '14 at 15:53
  • @Daft Haha.. Nobody knows. It's a closely guarded secret just like origin stories of Yoda. – user931 Dec 18 '14 at 15:59

3 Answers3

4

Your question actually assumes a certain philosophical perspective of Jedi called The Living Force. Jedi who follow this theory tend to be more willing to make snap decisions in the heat of the moment, because they believe in being focused on the present. As you put it, they "trust the force to make decisions".

There are many Jedi who do not make snap decisions and instead choose to meditate on the topic at hand in order to come to a conclusion.

The true nature of the force is unknown, and it is the subject of canonical debate amongst many interesting characters. Even the Jedi have two major competing schools of thought. The Living Force and The Unifying Force. The statement "changed the force" doesn't hold much weight here because we don't know if they have changed the force. We only know that it was their intention because their particular religious interpretation of the force tells them they can.

Which brings me onto my final point about the Jedi. Your question is why do they trust the force, even in the face of the potential deception. It's true; from an objective point of view it might seem somewhat risky, but they are a religious order. They exist to study the mysteries of the force, and circumstances often arise that forces them into a violent conflict, in which they are at risk. They have faith that the force is their ally and the light side of the force is the true path. There is no reason why; it's just their particular doctrine.

christopher
  • 286
  • 1
  • 7
  • The Force does not deceive. Trusting the Force has more to do with trusting it to continue to exist. Trusting it will continue to guide their actions but in the event it is unavailable to them, their conviction to do the right thing continues to function in the absence or their momentary inability to utilize the Force in that moment. They rely on it, they are not dependent on it. They trust it, but do not wait for it to make decisions. – Thaddeus Howze Sep 04 '14 at 22:49
  • There are plenty of examples where the Force has been clouded or disrupted. I think OP's question was relating to that. For example, when Sidious prevented the Jedi from seeing into the future. If the force can be manipulated in this way, then why do the Jedi rely on it for decision making? And they train that from an early age; you only need to look at Anakin training blindfolded. He has no ability to make decisions for himself, so he relies entirely on the force. This type of decision making is ingrained in any proponent of the Living Force. – christopher Sep 06 '14 at 07:34
1

The correct answer is very simple - because it works. They trust the Force, and it guides them to correct decisions, in multitude of situations.

Digging deeper: as to WHY that's the case if the Force is mutable:

Yes, the Force isn't immutable as an absolute thing, and Sith can change it in some rare cases (E.g. Plagueis or Sidious).

But that's NOT a common occurrence, and doesn't happen for random things.

As such, an individual Jedi CAN rely on the Force for a majority of decisions.

As a good out-of-Universe analogy, consider this: Newton's laws of motion are wrong according to Einstein's both Special and General Relativity.

BUT, for a majority of mechanical calculations that most humans do and rely on, relativity effects are so insignificant, that they CAN rely on Newton's laws, without worrying that they are actually NOT 100% correct if you account for relativistic effects.

Also, when it matters, they DO know when they cannot rely on the Force, such as Yoda indicating that they can't predict the future during the events of the prequels, precisely because the Sith clouded the Force.

DVK-on-Ahch-To
  • 342,451
  • 162
  • 1,520
  • 2,066
0

The Jedi may detect the "disturbance in the force" caused by changing it. All things are interconnected and a theoretically all things, everywhere, can be sensed. The force as a whole will always be neutral, always in conflict between light and dark. Changes made by users are irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. The Jedi know the force as it truly is and will always be in harmony with the will of the force.

user2035846
  • 29
  • 1
  • Then you don't know anything about Sith experiments on Force. It's entirely different from disturbance. – user931 Apr 02 '14 at 04:07
  • From my view, they are the same. The page cited uses the word "influence" when describing the experiment. Any change in the force, if it be the loss of life from across the galaxy, the gift thereof, or the simple levitation of a pear (think: Anakin) will cause a disturbance. All of the force is interconnected. – user2035846 Apr 02 '14 at 04:40
  • See this: http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/22754/how-did-darth-sidious-manage-to-diminish-all-of-the-jedis-ability-to-use-the-fo – user931 Apr 02 '14 at 05:03