The Jedi are often those who remained on the light side of the force, often considered the “good” side. This side of the force only used their force powers to hurt others when they had no other alternative. These force users have a devotion and trust in the force itself and follow where it leads. Their focus is on honesty, compassion, mercy, and even self-sacrifice. It is important to keep in mind that this side of the force removes major emotional entanglement.
The dark side of the force is often the exact opposite of the light. Many consider this to be the “evil” side of the force, but some believe that is an unfair concept. In fact, it is this very ideology that caused many Jedi to turn from the light to the dark side. Jedi were criticized because they refused to let trainees or padawans learn or be exposed to dark side use. Which made them more sensitive to accepting it later on. The dark side uses emotion entirely, as a dark force user will focus their entire workings of the force based on their emotion at the time. If angry, they could cause the deaths of thousands.
Now that we understand the Force itself as well as its dark and light forms, we should go over major things one can do with it when capable. Most force users are capable of some form of telekinesis. For those unaware, telekinesis is the ability to move objects from various distances by mental power alone without the use of any physical means. While science fiction, of course, telekinesis is also what allows force users to pick up humans, force choke, etc.
The Star Wars universe also sees force users manipulate humanoid beings and other creatures across the universe itself. The question for many is, how are they capable of doing this? When Obi-Wan Kenobi told stormtroopers “these are not the droids you’re looking for,” it seemed crazy how they easily fell for it. Some assume that this was easier to do with clones but the Stormtroopers from the original films were not cloned but were random children that grew up learning to become a trooper. The “Jedi Mind Trick” worked on them but also worked on other beings too.
Force lightning is something that only experienced dark force users are even capable of. It’s also important to note that this type of thing is technically possible. Moreover, it’s one of the most believable things in the Star Wars universe. We have electricity in our body but it’s not enough for us to be shocking people all day. Rather, the force lightning concept uses something called “breakdown voltage.” This is normally connected to insulation, and the air itself is a great insulator. But when stressed, high voltages will cause air to break down and become partially conductive.
This is usually the hardest one for most people to accept. However, while we are currently in the process of developing ships that can enter space and shoot weapons to protect us, those do not exist right now. While we all know space is silent and would not cause any noise regardless of what blows up, the other stuff from the Star Wars universe is not exactly crazy. They use lasers or protons within their main weapons.
We’re told at the beginning of the Star Wars movie that the activities and results of the original trilogy happened “a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away.” While it is unknown exactly where everything happened, we do know that the Death Star blew up the planet Alderaan. This type of thing was so big for the universe that Obi-Wan Kenobi felt a disturbance in the force, meaning it would have been seen by people close by. Yet if it happened in real life, we might be able to see it too. If we factored it out, Alderaan could have exploded roughly 160,000 years ago.
