Is the Force an intelligent enity?

[Mamatried]

is it's nature light or dark?

Most would brush this off as silly, BUT

Look at how it seems the force is actually controlling the events.

if the force didn't have a "motive" a will of its own, then why would not a force user at the magnitude of Yoda (comaprable to palpy) simply save planets, use the force for things, be alerted of things like the major order 66.
they are "alerted" about the messenger that can come to morrow, or the friend in trouble tomorrow across the galaxy.

So to me it seems there is a third player in the events, the Force it self, and I am leaning to this being DARK but in a "dark phase" with a light phase comming later

[RyanDarkstar]

I've always viewed The Force as Obi-wan described it, "an energy field created by all living things." As living things, especially sentient entities, are swayed by emotion in one form or another, The Force, too, ebbs and flows between light and dark, but The Force itself is neutral. I don't see it as having an agenda or consciousness.

Whether consciously or not, those with the ability to tap into The Force augment the passions and egos that drive them while enhancing their abilities to be more than the ordinary. I believe this is why the Jedi and Sith were doomed in the end. The Jedi were too detached from the living while also interposing their perceived justice on the very ones from which they were removed, while the Sith were too focused on selfish desires and power over others. While nearly impossible for sentients to reach, a balance between the two philosophies would be, in my opinion, the best path for which to strive. Or, Force-users should simply break away and live their days fully apart from society to prevent the galactic catastrophes that always seem to follow.

But, that's just the way I look at it. The Force is like fire -- it can keep you warm, or it can burn you to a crisp.
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[MrNexx]

My general opinion is that the force is somewhat aware, but not intelligent, as we think of it... it doesn't make decisions on a Character-scale, but it reacts to stimuli. I am also of the opinion that there is no "Light Side" of the Force... there is the Force, and there is the misuse of the Force, which is the Dark Side.

Someone who is Force Sensitive is aware of the Force's responses to stimuli, and can lightly influence it.

Someone with Force skills can influence the Force, aands make use of its presence and influence to do things.

A Dark Side Force user does these things as well, BUT using the Dark Side is abusing the Force to get a reaction... like, you can get your dog to bite your child, but only if you beat it first. The Force does not "like" this, which manifests as Dark Side points, but it doesn't really have a consciousness... it responds to stimuli.

IOW, using the Force is being nice to the Force and it doing nice things for you. Dark Side is abusing the Force and making it do things for you.
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[RyanDarkstar]

[Grimace]

[MrNexx]

On another board, I summarized my Force idea, and someone suggested a way of viewing it: Dark-sider users are parasitic, while regular Force users are symbiotic with the Force.
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“We're going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
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[Yora]

I even think that there is no Light side. There is only the Force.
I would even say that the Dark Side is not actually "the Dark Side of the Force", but only the Dark Side of a person who uses the Force. The Dark Side does not make you evil. You make yourself evil, if you're using the Force or not.

As far as I am aware, the whole concept of Light Side first appeared in Knights of the Old Republic in 2003, and was first mentioned in a movie in 2015. I consider it pretty apocryphal and not part of the original concept.
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[Mamatried]

[Yora]

I think one thing that is always confusing ideas of how to Force influences things is all the talk of "Destiny". It assumes that the Force has a plan and is actively involved in making this plan happen.

But a very important thing about Destiny is that it's almost entirely Vader and the Emperor talking about it, and always in the context of "do as you are told by your betters!"

In the first movie, Obi-Wan tells Luke to stay with Han and Chewie in the guard room while he goes to disable the tractor beam, saying "Your destiny lies along a different path than mine."

In Empire and Jedi, Yoda twice tells Luke "Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny".

The final time that Obi-Wan uses it in Jedi, he tells Luke "You cannot escape your destiny." when Luke says he can't fight and kill Vader. Which is again a case of "do as you are told by your betters!" And very importantly, Obi-Wan is proven wrong!

Except for that last case, the Jedi masters use Destiny to simply mean "future". But not a predetermined future.
Vader and the Emperor simply use it to attempt weakening Luke's resolve by implying he has no choice but to obey them. But it never actually means anything. Again, both of them are proven wrong.

There is no such thing as Destiny in Star Wars. That is the entire point of the story of Luke and Vader. There is no predetermined future that has been set in stone by the Force, and the Force does not actively interfere to make it happen.
Sadly, many later secondary writers totally missed that part. There's at least a card game named "Destiny", a kid's cartoon "Forces of Destiny", a Clone Wars episode titled "Destiny", and the Jedi Sourcebook for FFG "Force and Destiny".
But even then, to my knowledge, you never see any cases where a lucky accident just happens to save the day. It's always a character managing to pull of something incredibly difficult at the moment it really matters, which gets attributed to a little boost from the Force. You never have a villain accidentally drop something, or something falling over and causing a distraction at the right moment, which then gets attributed to invisible help by the Force. That's just not how it works.
The only case that I can think of that could possibly qualify is that monk in Rogue One walking through stormtrooper fire without getting hit, trusting that the Force will protect him. But that's Disney Star Wars and was made after 30 years of telephone game.
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"Adventure? Eh... Excitement? Eh... A Jedi does not crave these things."

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[Whill]

Interesting discussion here.

[garhkal]

YEs it's intelligent. its named BOB>
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[Yora]