The Institutes

Over the millennia a distinct academic culture has emerged, largely transcending empire and species boundaries. While applied research and politically motivated science remains hugely popular, there are always people questing for the real, unadorned truth - whatever that is, however that may be achieved. The Institutes are the diffuse organisations/cultures of the scholars, based more on traditional protocols for review, procedure, networking and research paradigms than any political or economic consideration.

For the last five thousand years the core of the Institutes have been in NoCoZo volumes; not just because the NoCoZo encourages free research but because many of the other empires have a conservative or hostile view of independent research, especially into dangerous areas - be they philosophically or practically dangerous. The NoCoZo gladly accepts the Institutes, allowing them to pursue whatever they want no matter how unethical, heretic, impractical or radical the ideas are.

The actual form of the Institutes in any era varies, but some structures have crystallized. Especially the Institutes involved in long-range exploration tend to be stabler due to the presence of relativistically travelling members. The Hamilton Institute of Exopaleontology has remained stable since the 6th millennium, and the Astrographic Institute has not changed in structure since it was forced to move to Mekelon during the Version War. On the other hand, the mathematical sciences have grown so complex that there are at least 300 mutually nearly incomprehensible Institutes working on different branches, and many do not last more than a century or so.

The academically dominated worlds of Ken Ferjik (Encyclopedia Galactica Institute, Negentropy Alliance), Alexandria (general information storage, Negentropy Alliance), Delta Upali C/D II (HIE), Mekelon (Astrographic Institute, NoCoZo), Chibootis (Free Eschatology and Cosmology Institute, NoCoZo), Polyanna (Institute of Applied Hermeneutics, NoCoZo), Mutual Satisfaction (Institute of Interstellar Economics, independent world but close to NoCoZo) and others are the backbone, but most of the Institute culture exists on the nets and in schools. It propagates itself from teachers to students, retaining its structure by the rigorous demands of publication and method. That does not mean there are no schisms, in fact there is a constant cladization of disciplines and groups, not to mention traditional enmities between some institutes (in 9365 the Institute of Ruffa Geometry attacked the Network of Temp-logic with antimatter weaponry on Cavy Australis, although in this case more complex political considerations was behind the act). In general the Institutes get along, although many ignore each other as irrelevant or incomprehensible.

If there is any core world, it is Ken Ferjik which houses the Encyclopedia Galactica Institute. The local academician-priesthood attempts to gather all known knowledge into their massive Encyclopedia database. All Institutes and a myriad research organisations, cults or megacorps have representatives there to add to the Encyclopedia or try to dig up relevant information (far harder, for the Library Judges have extremely strict standards on access). It is a busy world almost on par with Eden for interstellar politics, plotting and business.

Unless otherwise specified,
this work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.