Grantooans

Grantooans are a humanoid species native to Grantoo: an M-class planet located near the borders of the Klingon Empire and Gorn Hegemony.

They only recently developed warp technology, and are now at a level of technological development comparable to early 22nd century Earth.

Society, Economy, and Culture
Grantooan society has been described as obsessed with competition and continuous assessment of self and others. Every Grantooan, from childhood on, is continuously tested, evaluated, and ranked against their peers on every conceivable dimension of knowledge, skill and ability. Mathematical reasoning, mechanical knowledge, ability to visualize in three dimensions, emotional perceptiveness, knowledge of history, and so much more are all tested, measured, and logged into a planet-wide database known as The Network.

By searching The Network, one can find the highest rated Grantooans in any field of thought or endeavor. Those with the highest rankings in the most in-demand fields are aggressively recruited by businesses and organizations and paid lavish sums for their contributions.

Every individual is expected to improve and build upon their talents, both for their own sake and for that of the people at large. The socioeconomic rewards of a high Network rating are many: higher pay, better romantic prospects, the respect of peers and neighbors. Conversely, there is considerable social stigma attached to those ranked at the bottom of The Network. Those without desirable skills, knowledge, and abilities are prodded to improve themselves--perhaps directed to study at a library or technical training institute or become an apprentice. Those who are unwilling or unable to achieve a minimally desirable Network rating are quietly pushed to the margins of society and ignored.

In theory, this ensures that the personal capital of every Grantooan is cultivated and used to the maximum benefit of all. No talent goes unrecognized or wasted. No individual is given work for which they are unsuited, or education and training from which they cannot benefit. It's an eminently rational system, through one that puts a heavy emphasis on the tangible, measurable, and demonstrable.

This cultural emphasis can also manifest in occasional moral panics about, and government censorship of, ideas and influences seen as getting in the way of society's continuous self improvement. Creative or political works that 'glamorize laziness and complacency', 'misrepresent known facts about nature', or 'promote cults and superstitions', to name a few examples, are likely to run afoul of government censors and see their distribution sharply limited.

The Guidance Board
The worldwide government of Grantoo is led by the Guidance Board: a council of individuals selected on the basis of their expertise in handling whatever are thought to be the most important issues society is facing.

During an environmental crisis, for example, the Guidance Board will enlist the Grantooans with the highest Network rankings related to ecology and environmental science to solve the problem. When the crisis is over and another issue is seen as more pressing, they will be released from service and others with the highest Network ratings related to the new issue will take their place on the Guidance Board.

Any individual can be called to serve on the Guidance Board and none may refuse. It is a matter of duty for the most qualified individuals, as determined by their Network rankings, to put their expertise to work in service to society when called upon in this way.

Recent Events
First contact was made with the Grantooans in 2375 when a Trill scientific survey ship, the SS Discern, detected an unknown warp signature in the vicinity of the planet and changed course to investigate. This resulted in a less formal first contact than is typically preferred by the Federation, but the demands of the ongoing Dominion War meant that Starfleet was unavailable to spare the resources to do the long cultural observation and tightly choreographed first contact that it generally prefers.

Unsurprisingly, the Grantooans who made first contact with the Trill ship were immediately recruited to the Guidance Board to coordinate the government's response to the challenge of dealing with extraterrestrials. The commander of the Grantooan warp ship, Ambriak, is now Chairman of the Guidance Board.

First contact with alien species and learning of the existence of an alien Federation of planets stretching across a vast region of space has already left a significant impression on Grantooan culture. There is enormous demand for new information on alien species and civilizations. What they have learned so far has prompted wild and feverish speculation about the nature and extent of the wider universe, and what the future holds for Grantoo and its people as they take their place as part of an interstellar community.