The History of Humanity in Space
In the future, as Humanity expands into the stars, certain eras of history will repeat themselves, but tailored to the contexts of space travel. These are the following eras of history that will see new life in the stars:
(This is basically my idea for a setting with elements of both science fiction and fantasy. I mainly took inspiration from the various interests that I have to come up with this concept of a fictional universe. It is still very much a work in progress, so this post will be written from an out of universe perspective. Feedback is very much appreciated.)
The Wild West:
- Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_frontier
- Why: Living the settlers life on a space colony would be just like living in the American frontier, except that frontier would be the size of an entire planet. Even with advancements in technology, mapping out the new terrain and establishing law and order would still prove to be difficult in such an unfamiliar environment.
The Sengoku Period:
- Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sengoku_period
- Why: If human nature is anything to go by, then separate nation states will still be a thing. (Whether or not Humanity will unite under one government if at all is a completely different matter.) Though unlike the Sengoku era of Earth, Humanity's warring states period would be on a much more global scale than Medieval Japan. Especially when you got superpowers like America, Brazil, China, India and Russia running around.
The Golden Age of Piracy:
- Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Age_of_Piracy
- Why: Taking the vastness of space into account, starships would be a godsend to upstart pirates who want to relive a new golden age of piracy. There's much more room for secret trade routes and hideouts to work with.
The Age of Discovery:
- Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Discovery
- Why: The discovery of new planets to call home would most likely echo the same sentiments as those from the so called old world after hearing about the discovery of the so called new world.
Colonialism:
- Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonialism
- Why: If Humanity encounters more primitive races in its space travels, then it would unfortunately not be surprising if interstellar colonial superpowers take the opportunity to exploit weaker indigenous aliens. However, if Humanity employs a Star Trek Prime Directive like policy or doesn't encounter any tribal aliens within its own galactic borders, then colonialism in space would probably mirror the relationships between the European settlers and their host countries in charge of their respective colonies.
Italian City States:
- Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_city-states
- Why: When the various Human factions aren't killing each other, they'll be engaged in standard trade in times of peace. But on a much larger scale than the Italian Peninsula.
In science fiction stories such as Star Wars, many things that you would encounter in a normal daily life would be replaced by fictionalized versions of said things in order to reflect better on a setting which takes place a long time ago, a galaxy far, far away. However, when Humans look to the stars for a better life, they most certainly will take their cultural trinkets with them. These are the following Human exports that will dominate galactic cultural life:
Martial Arts:
- Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_arts
- Why: Humans will still practice martial arts because of either fitness, self-defense or the thrill of a fight.
Drugs:
- Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recreational_drug_use
- Why: Even when space travel is achieved, humans are still going to want to get intoxicated for the fun of it. So they'll bring their drugs of choice with them to new frontiers.
Guns:
- Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun
- Why: Guns will still play a part in warfare whether they would be in the form of metal bullets or laser beams.
Traditional Games:
- Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game
- Why: When humans travel to space, they aren't going to invent new games on the spot, they're going to stick with what's familiar to them. Which is why you probably won't see any shortages of arcade games, casino games, pub games, redemption games, sports games and vending machines in the far off future.
Though when new inventions and traditions become codified in the far off future, old practices could have the chance to come back into vogue if all the cards are played right and the stars become perfectly aligned. With that in mind, here are some ancient ways that might have a chance at seeing a revival in the future of galactic civilization:
Cavalry:
- Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavalry
- Why: This could go two ways. Humanity either finds a new species of one or more animals that can feasibly serve as a modern equivalent to horseback cavalry or invents a mechanized cavalry in the terms of motorcycles or speeder bikes.
Melee Weapons:
- Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melee_weapon
- Why: Either through genetic modifications or cybernetic augmentations, humanity's ability to fight with melee weapons on the modern battlefield could become a viable option again.
Ranks and Titles:
- Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title
- Why: As various people groups colonize the stars, institutions old and new alike will set out to mark their foothold on the unclaimed land of these newly settled planets. Whether these institutions just started out, existed for well over a thousand years or have been revived after previously being destroyed, they'll take their hierarchies, ranks and titles with them too.
In the universe of the popular war game known as Warhammer 40,000, the various playable factions are all lumped together in these broad categories based on one common trait. Said categories happen to be the Imperium of Man, the Forces of Chaos and the Xenos. The Imperium serves as Humanity's sphere of influence within the galaxy while the Chaos faction represents a cosmic horror aspect of life in space. The Xenos share a common trait of not being a fan of the Imperium when they're not fighting each other. Which is why I believe that there would be three broad political associations that would hardly be united unless they were under extreme circumstances:
Sphere of Humanity:
- Why: This sphere would consist of every nation state on the planet Earth that would have enough resources to create and maintain settlements in space via artificial or natural means. Nation states that aren't strong enough on their own would pool their resources with other weak nation states to form intergovernmental supranational organizations designed to get in on the space colonization action.
Sphere of the Aliens:
- Why: This sphere would consist of all the alien races that would see Humanity's rapid expansion despite its fragmented political structure as a threat to the galactic balance of power. Each major alien superpower would be governed by either one of the following forms of government: a Technocracy with academic ranks, a Corporatocracy with corporate ranks, a Kleptocracy with criminal ranks, a Kritarchy with judicial ranks, a Stratocracy with military ranks, a Theocracy with religious ranks, a Monarchy with royal and noble ranks, a Chiefdom with tribal ranks, an Ergatocracy with proletarian ranks, a Federation ruled by a President, a Union ruled by a Premier or Prime Minister, a Confederacy ruled by a Chancellor, a Horde ruled by a War Chief, a Hegemony ruled by an Overlord and an Empire ruled by an Emperor/Empress.
Sphere of the Pantheons:
- Why: This sphere would consist of the realm of gods. The pantheons of Earth fighting amongst themselves just like their mortal brethren. However, their power pales in comparison to that of the Lovecraftian god.
Not Registered Yet? No problem.
Do you want Strolenati super powers? Registering. That's how you get super powers! These are just a couple powers you receive with more to come as you participate.
- Upvote and give XP to encourage useful comments.
- Work on submissions in private or flag them for assistance.
- Earn XP and gain levels that give you more site abilities (super powers).
- You should register. All your friends are doing it!
? Responses (5)

5/5 for all the work put into this.

Solid bit of work, and I like the approach you are taking: lay out the logic of the setting and then put out the details. I think many people work the other way . They start with the glowing axes, the bad guy in pink spandex and the hyper intelligent shades of blue and work backwards to justify the existence of these things.
I too have been using the citadel to work on a galactic sized human civilization. But while there is some overlap, what these ideas and your style of writing reminds me off is Scrasamax and his Cosmic Era setting. His stuff is fairly Earthbound and relatively near future but you should check it out. There might be some overlaps you can exploit and adapt into your setting.
But you asked for feedback
Some things to think about:
How are you going to manage the deep space travel (time distortion, energy requirements etc)?
What type of tone (i.e. Grimdark, Macho-adventure, Cherry flavored space Opera) do you want to set? *
Who are the five most interesting people in your universe?
Are you bringing characters straight out of mythology like Zeus, Oden, Hercules and/or Shiva?
Pro-tip: If you are looking for lots of feedback and interaction about this, start a forum thread, the comments section can become unweildly.

This was a fun read despite its workbook type of format. I like where this is headed. Particularly like that you mention how things won't be all *that* different because human nature will be what it will be and that history will repeat itself amidst the stars.

This is a great start.! Welcome to Strolens! I look forward to you going further with this.

Wanted to make sure you got my apology, VERY VERY SORRY FOR HARSH CRITICISM ON OTHER THING, I did not mean it to be so poorly worded, again, sorry!!!!!!