Why do Sith?

[brucewarren]

Seriously why?

Once you start using the Force to any degree you turn into a walking corpse. You're guaranteed to be murdered by anyone you're
stupid enough to train and nobody likes you. Why would any sane person want to walk this path?

[greypanther]

Seriously why?
Why would any sane person want to walk this path?

Errrr, beacuse they are not sane? Think the Yorkshire ripper...

[clakclak]

Power and somewhat ironically, freedom. Not true freedom, but the idea of freedom. The freedom to do whatever you want, to fully immerse yourself in all your desires and be able to live life free of any pesky constraints such as morality.

The problem is that for you to have your freedom others will have to pay the price, but if you have no moral compass or even worse, if you follow an ideology that teaches that the weak deserve what they are getting, well, then you don't really worry about that.

Generally speaking from all I have read/seen from the Star Wars universe so far, which as my profile picture may allready give away, is quite a bit, I would say the Sith's teaching form a circle where people are indoctrinated to seek power for the sake of power itself to ultimately reach a point where they are more or less a living deity. Also in Star Wars, unlike in the real world, the force itself works to warp your mind over time. So the Sith are usually quite frankly not just not thinking straight but are straight up insane.

[Alan Phipps]

Insanity apart, I suspect that there is an element of the Wild West gunfighter attitude at play. They want to test against and obliterate lesser but potent powers until they meet one that undoes them instead. A bit like the gunfighter ruling the roost until they meet someone even faster than them (or get shot in the back ).

[pjknibbs]

Thing is, you don't become a Sith with the idea in your head that you would ever actually *lose* in a fight with your student. Extreme arrogance is pretty much a hallmark of the breed, and they all believe they're the strongest around and that no-one else could possibly defeat them.

[matthewfarmery]

They just don't want to take the slow route. they want to jump in and embrace the full measure of the force. And lets not forget that anger also leads to the dark side. so it's possible, many don't keep their anger in check.

[Teladi CEO]

From a more humorous perspective, I would assume that not every force user wants to be sunshine and rainbows. Look at Mace Window (pun intended), he was borderline a “bad guy” at certain points.

Luke Skywalker even used a dark side ability (choking) on multiple of Jabba’s minions.

It also wasn’t always that way either, the sith used to be just as powerful as the Jedi. It’s like modern day Stalinists, they want to rebuild something that has been destroyed.

[BrasatoAlBarolo]

What really amuses me about Star Wars "bad guys" (not talking about Sith only, but more about Empire or its equivalent random goons), is how stereothypical evil they are.
I remember watching my brother playing Squadrons and, when talking to a random imperial worker in a hangar and asking "why did you join the Empire?", he answered something in the lines of "I like killing people".

[mr.WHO]

Seriously why?

Once you start using the Force to any degree you turn into a walking corpse. You're guaranteed to be murdered by anyone you're
stupid enough to train and nobody likes you. Why would any sane person want to walk this path?

Replace Sith with Sportman/Sportwoman and you'll get your answer.

[BrasatoAlBarolo]

Seriously why?

Once you start using the Force to any degree you turn into a walking corpse. You're guaranteed to be murdered by anyone you're
stupid enough to train and nobody likes you. Why would any sane person want to walk this path?

Replace Sith with Sportman/Sportwoman and you'll get your answer.

It's a bit different: in sports, when you train your apprentice you have likely ended your career. It's not like a football player is stealing the role of his trainer. Not even in any other sport. That's because "age" in sports is important: if you're old, you're not going to compete with the youngsters (I may be wrong for some less intensive discipline, like snooker, I guess?). A Sith needs to be dominant, needs to be powerful, and the only way to show power is by killing the most powerful Sith around, which at first is your own master.

[mr.WHO]

Seriously why?

Once you start using the Force to any degree you turn into a walking corpse. You're guaranteed to be murdered by anyone you're
stupid enough to train and nobody likes you. Why would any sane person want to walk this path?

Replace Sith with Sportman/Sportwoman and you'll get your answer.

It's a bit different: in sports, when you train your apprentice you have likely ended your career. It's not like a football player is stealing the role of his trainer. Not even in any other sport. That's because "age" in sports is important: if you're old, you're not going to compete with the youngsters (I may be wrong for some less intensive discipline, like snooker, I guess?). A Sith needs to be dominant, needs to be powerful, and the only way to show power is by killing the most powerful Sith around, which at first is your own master.

That's what I mean - fusion of sport spirit and survival of the fittest and you basically end with a Sith philosophy.

Edit: Also throw in a drug abuse - eveyrone know it will destroy you, yet there is plenty of addicts.

[jlehtone]

The student's viewpoint is "easy": you want to become powerful and for part of that you do need training.

The question is: Why take a student? That has the risk.
* You can send your student to errands. That extends your reach and influence. A sane reason.
* Does teaching improve your own skill? If yes, then that is a sane reason too.
* Do you like to be called "Master"?
* Do you have the ambitious goal to be the first Sith that survives all students? (Like Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully.)

[Mightysword]

What really amuses me about Star Wars "bad guys" (not talking about Sith only, but more about Empire or its equivalent random goons), is how stereothypical evil they are.
I remember watching my brother playing Squadrons and, when talking to a random imperial worker in a hangar and asking "why did you join the Empire?", he answered something in the lines of "I like killing people".

That's just it, they're stereotype, and as such doesn't make sense for the most part. They're evil for evil shake, and most of the justifications the setting try to give them fall flat. I always found it unbelievable the Sith can evolve to something like an empire, they would have killed off each others before discovering spacefly or stuck in middle age.

[pjknibbs]

I think it makes more sense when you think that Sith and Jedi are more like religions than anything else. They both have bizarre rituals and behaviours that don't really make sense to outsiders (Jedi can't ever get married? Really?) and people who follow them can seem almost brainwashed in their fervour.

[Mightysword]

The thing is the Jedi's philosophy and concept are applicable in real life. I just imagine Jedi are Shaolin monks and it makes sense. The mantra of the Jedi has a lot common with Buddism that I would be quite surprise if that's not where it took inspiration from. Also, a society that believe in the Jedi's philosophy can still evolve and progress. The sith though ... are just straight up destructive, and the best indication it doesn't make sense because we have no real life equivalent that is sustainable (yes, we can find examples of Sith like instance, but they are a'll short lived ... for good reason).

[greypanther]

I think it makes more sense when you think that Sith and Jedi are more like religions than anything else. They both have bizarre rituals and behaviours that don't really make sense to outsiders (Jedi can't ever get married? Really?) and people who follow them can seem almost brainwashed in their fervour.

Why not a religion? Believe in whichever sky fairy/philosophy you want to. Is the Bible etc. really any better?

I had a friend in Blackpool, who put Jedi for his religion, on a Census, some time ago.

Then a quick search gives this: https://www.churchofjediism.org.uk/
It's not just the UK either...

[BrasatoAlBarolo]

Replace Sith with Sportman/Sportwoman and you'll get your answer.

It's a bit different: in sports, when you train your apprentice you have likely ended your career. It's not like a football player is stealing the role of his trainer. Not even in any other sport. That's because "age" in sports is important: if you're old, you're not going to compete with the youngsters (I may be wrong for some less intensive discipline, like snooker, I guess?). A Sith needs to be dominant, needs to be powerful, and the only way to show power is by killing the most powerful Sith around, which at first is your own master.

That's what I mean - fusion of sport spirit and survival of the fittest and you basically end with a Sith philosophy.

Edit: Also throw in a drug abuse - eveyrone know it will destroy you, yet there is plenty of addicts.

I've always been shocked by professional sportsmen doing drugs. I mean, why? You know you're going to be caught, and it is going to end your career!
In my thoughts, I created a plausible explanation: imagine yourself, a teenager, getting the first contract for a top team. You suddently go from "normal guy" (sometimes even less than normal, economically) to "filthy rich guy". If you have no psychological help (from your parents, your team, a professional would be better), you're likely going to lose your mind, because you are not "ready" to be that rich. Wealth needs education, in some ways. It's not just sports, if you think about it: young movie stars or singers end up struggling with auto-destructive behaviour when their careers boom.

[Mightysword]

I've always been shocked by professional sportsmen doing drugs. I mean, why? You know you're going to be caught, and it is going to end your career!

Just like with everything else, they do it because they think they will not get caught. AFAIK, it's not like test are done on a consistent permanent routine, during competition the authority kinda do a roulette or a stratified sampling. They just bet on the chance of their number not coming up. We also see half of the case out there are institutionalize, so not only they hope they don't get caught, many believe the system can protect them from getting caught as well.

[Vertigo 7]

I've always been shocked by professional sportsmen doing drugs. I mean, why? You know you're going to be caught, and it is going to end your career!
In my thoughts, I created a plausible explanation: imagine yourself, a teenager, getting the first contract for a top team. You suddently go from "normal guy" (sometimes even less than normal, economically) to "filthy rich guy". If you have no psychological help (from your parents, your team, a professional would be better), you're likely going to lose your mind, because you are not "ready" to be that rich. Wealth needs education, in some ways. It's not just sports, if you think about it: young movie stars or singers end up struggling with auto-destructive behaviour when their careers boom.

It's not just that. There's peer pressure, often from fellow teammates and sometimes even the coaches themselves. Look at Russia. Didn't their entire Olympic team get busted for steroids? Or most of it, at any rate?

It's not really a wealth thing, imho. Sure, rich kids have the means to buy drugs at their disposal, but whatever the motivation was to do it in the first place has little to do with wealth. And there's so many reasons why people choose to do drugs or drink. Perhaps the most prevlant reasons being an inability to cope with pressure (looking for an escape), and the afore mentioned peer pressure. And there's others like curiosity or social/recreational use. It's all very situational.

[BrasatoAlBarolo]

I've always been shocked by professional sportsmen doing drugs. I mean, why? You know you're going to be caught, and it is going to end your career!
In my thoughts, I created a plausible explanation: imagine yourself, a teenager, getting the first contract for a top team. You suddently go from "normal guy" (sometimes even less than normal, economically) to "filthy rich guy". If you have no psychological help (from your parents, your team, a professional would be better), you're likely going to lose your mind, because you are not "ready" to be that rich. Wealth needs education, in some ways. It's not just sports, if you think about it: young movie stars or singers end up struggling with auto-destructive behaviour when their careers boom.

It's not just that. There's peer pressure, often from fellow teammates and sometimes even the coaches themselves. Look at Russia. Didn't their entire Olympic team get busted for steroids? Or most of it, at any rate?

It's not really a wealth thing, imho. Sure, rich kids have the means to buy drugs at their disposal, but whatever the motivation was to do it in the first place has little to do with wealth. And there's so many reasons why people choose to do drugs or drink. Perhaps the most prevlant reasons being an inability to cope with pressure (looking for an escape), and the afore mentioned peer pressure. And there's others like curiosity or social/recreational use. It's all very situational.

Wait, I'm not talking about drugs which improve their performance, I'm talking about recreational drugs. But it's not only that, it's about burning their money and doing very stupid things (like normal youngsters, although they're not normal youngsters).
I'm making an example: the difference between Del Piero and Cassano, two equally talented football players. Both of them, at a very young age, got huge contracts (one for Juventus, the other one for Inter). One of them had a careful society, with a professional staff of psychologists. The other one, did a lot of crazy stuff throughout his career and because of that, never showed his potential (and trust me: he's one of the most technical players I've ever seen). You can do a similar example with Balotelli, you British may know a little more than Cassano: impressive potential screwed by the lack of a proper psychological aid.
You know: one thing I really don't like about Italian culture is how underestimated psychology is. I'm not talking about the American way of doing it (like: my child plays too much, so I gave him Xanax to calm him down!), but we act like depression or "minor" psychological issues (e.g. the ones you experience after a trauma - which can also be "winning the lottery") are just fake illnesses you can cure with a glass of water and some relax on the sofa. If you're depressed, all you need to do is smile.