What seperates sentient and sapient life force?

[Metronome]

Or expressed in another way: why is there a difference to begin with?

The basis to my question lies within the Kitsune codex witch states: "[...] each Kitsune must periodically drain life-force from other sapient beings.", which bugs me to no end cause logically speaking, there would be no great fundamental difference between the two.

If it has something to do with the soul then why is it that the "soulless"
Kitsune can (begrudgingly) feed off each other? Not only that but every
thinking being is born with one which means that animals can't fall under the s̻̜͙̻̏ͪ̃̒̾͂̓́oͪ̍̚u̴̇̽͗ͨͬ͊l̤̿̓̐̈́ͭͭͮl̰̠̹̣͇̿͐̈ͫ̈́ͤḙ͕̥̭͍̎̚͜s͈̞͟s̷̺͍͖͕̭͌̆̔̿ͯ͗̚ͅ ͔̏ͣ̒͆͑ȧ̀͗ͪͪ͑҉b̢̭̹̟͚̈ͥ̈́̒͋̚o̶̘͙̱͉̠͐͑̅̌m̵̼̥̫̤̙̫̈́́ͨͮ̓̏̒i̻̠̩͉̫̖͔ͫ̆̌͛̓̉n̙͍̤͓̥ͩ̍̎͌͒̾̕ͅaͦ̆̋t͌ͬi̗̫͉͓̣͎̾ͤ̒̓͠o͖͖͍̫̩̓̿̾n̼̻̳̭͐ͦ̂̄ category.

So why is it that a Kitsune can't just snag a rabbit off the side of the road and eat its liver or something, but has to rely on other sapient beings instead? Was there a lore point I missed? Is this an oversight? Am I just taking the lore of a porn game too serious? Maybe, but an answer would still be nice.

 

[Paradox01]

Sapients can give consent.

 

[Metronome]

Sapients can give consent.

In what way does that matter? If I read correctly then some trained Kitsune should be able to just tear the life-force off living beings from a distance, consent be damned. Since that action violates Law of Equivalent Exchange they'll be hunted down by their own of course, but the possibility exists regardless. So consent isn't needed, but is dictated by their own moral code or code of honor, which once again begs the question: why does the life-force need to be from a sentient being?

 

[Paradox01]

In what way does that matter? If I read correctly then some trained Kitsune should be able to just tear the life-force off living beings from a distance, consent be damned.

What keeps you from throwing a brick through the window of your local grocery store and making off with as much food as you can fit in your car? What keeps soldiers who are trained to kill from shooting any asshat that has something they want?

 

[Savin]

If it has something to do with the soul then why is it that the "soulless" Kitsune can (begrudgingly) feed off each other?

Collective oversoul

 

[Metronome]

What keeps you from throwing a brick through the window of your local grocery store and making off with as much food as you can fit in your car? What keeps soldiers who are trained to kill from shooting any asshat that has something they want?

Empathy, Morals, etc. contained within or bound to the soul... I see where you're going with this. Certain animals like elephants and dolphins for example are capable of feeling empathy, lets ignore them for the sake of simplicity. Kitsune are technically soulless because of their shared soul, compound soul, common soul, whatever you wanna call it and yet they are still capable of feeding off each other. You could explain it that they basically feed of that common soul, which would explain that whole "equivalent to eating each others vomit" thing, on the other hand what if it has nothing to do with the soul but spiritual aspect of a living being, the Ki instead? Which begs the question if something truly soulless like a demon can be drained. If the can then we are back at square one with the question, if not then its dependent on a beings soul, but in what way is a sapient beings soul different to a sentient one? Is it a matter of intelligence? If one loses that intelligence and becomes effectively feral, do they also lose that "spark" of sapience? Does their soul change because of that?

Damn far to many variables to come to a conclusion for me.

 

[Evil]

If you want to boil it down:

- A sentient being is one that possesses consciousness, as in is aware of their own existence and possesses a subjective experience of the reality around them.

- Sapience just literally means "wisdom", or rather "being wise".

So if we boil that down even further:

- Sentience is the ability to physically feel, be it pain or pleasure. So we can say anything can feel pain, or pleasure, or any number of physical qualities; the caress of the lover versus a slap of the hand.

- Sapience is being to able understand, contextualise and understand those sensations. A sapient being is able to understand that if their lover slaps them in the middle of sex, its part of the foreplay. A dog gets slapped while its eating, all its going to know is the pain and that their owner hurts them.

So, why might the Kitsune prefer sapient meals? Well, to paraphrase the Simpsons, "its the extra spice that makes the meal extra nice". If the meal understands what is going to happen, well, that's an extra kick. I mean, if you have steamed vegetables every day of you life and you suddenly get offered a thick fillet of steak for one night only, are you going to pass it up?

 

[Metronome]

If you want to boil it down:

- A sentient being is one that possesses consciousness, as in is aware of their own existence and possesses a subjective experience of the reality around them.

- Sapience just literally means "wisdom", or rather "being wise".

So if we boil that down even further:

- Sentience is the ability to physically feel, be it pain or pleasure. So we can say anything can feel pain, or pleasure, or any number of physical qualities; the caress of the lover versus a slap of the hand.

- Sapience is being to able understand, contextualise and understand those sensations. A sapient being is able to understand that if their lover slaps them in the middle of sex, its part of the foreplay. A dog gets slapped while its eating, all its going to know is the pain and that their owner hurts them.

So, why might the Kitsune prefer sapient meals? Well, to paraphrase the Simpsons, "its the extra spice that makes the meal extra nice". If the meal understands what is going to happen, well, that's an extra kick. I mean, if you have steamed vegetables every day of you life and you suddenly get offered a thick fillet of steak for one night only, are you going to pass it up?

THIS would be a satisfactory answer for me, it doesn't answer everything and I don't expect it to but it explains enough for me to fill out the rest. Perhaps I shouldn't take the lore of a porn game too serious but alas many thanks to you mate and everyone that replied, I mean it. ;V

 

[Balaknightfang]

https://wiki.smutosaur.us/CoC2/Souls_&_Spirits I recommend giving this a read

 

[Metronome]

https://wiki.smutosaur.us/CoC2/Souls_&_Spirits I recommend giving this a read

Thank you very much for that recommendation. Don't take this in a condescending manner, but that page was among the major reasons I had this question in the first place.