tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7808733415551134993.post5706656003745246678..comments2024-03-05T13:51:24.898-07:00Comments on Spacefreighters Lounge : THE MAN IN THE MIRROR: THE CASE FOR ALIENS THAT LOOK LIKE USUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7808733415551134993.post-63091671250537678422013-02-19T23:41:03.462-07:002013-02-19T23:41:03.462-07:00I think the main reason most sci-fi characters loo...I think the main reason most sci-fi characters look humanoid is that the reader must relate to the story. Aliens that look like the things we squash with shoes or spray with, well spray, hardly evoke empathetic emotions when the species is in danger of being wiped out. Debbie Richardsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07107270665321036483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7808733415551134993.post-91832472452576480232013-02-11T10:50:53.216-07:002013-02-11T10:50:53.216-07:00I agree, Laurie, life is one thing, sentience is a...I agree, Laurie, life is one thing, sentience is another. And recognizing it and communicating with it completely something else. We humans will be doing the defining in most cases, so we'll be likely to overlook the intelligent spiders and sentient giraffes on other planets--until they kick our asses, of course!Donna S. Frelickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16431686010313020234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7808733415551134993.post-35670251565525276832013-02-09T11:58:50.484-07:002013-02-09T11:58:50.484-07:00The "we're all humans" in the univer...The "we're all humans" in the universe is part of the religious canon of my church, but I'm willing to suspend my personal belief and enjoy the non-humanoid stories. Fiction is, after all, made up. (grin)Paulinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06673963438671468441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7808733415551134993.post-54109508550664159042013-02-08T15:27:09.071-07:002013-02-08T15:27:09.071-07:00I've read two studies - one that theorized ali...I've read two studies - one that theorized alien life would look like us and one that, like Laurie, suggested it would be as diverse as life on our own planet.<br />My editor raised the point about the alien races in my book all being humanoid and I argued the same point in a blog post on Spacefreighters - like would attract like, especially if you're bringing romance into it. It helps if there's at least some physical compatibility between your characters. But something I love about one of my fave scifi authors (Neal Asher) is that he explores intelligent species completely alien to the human race. Pippa Jayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15146591827060731958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7808733415551134993.post-10475045148957552272013-02-08T15:12:39.392-07:002013-02-08T15:12:39.392-07:00Fabulous blog, as always Donna.
I'm not sure ...Fabulous blog, as always Donna.<br /><br />I'm not sure I agree with the scientists who think intelligent life will look much like we do. Yes, we may all be built from the same cosmic building blocks, but look at the vast diversity of life on our own planet alone. <br /><br />Who's to say sentient aliens wouldn't look like giraffes, or vultures, or deep sea angler fish. Why would they have to be bi-pedal with appendages that come in twos? What if they didn't even have heads at all, but evolved with brains inside the protective mass of the ribcage (assuming, of course, they even <i>have</i> a ribcage). <br /><br />Even though Earth-like, other planets would present unique scenarios for adaptability and evolution, possibly with very different obstacles to survival that present very different outcomes in body structure. <br /><br />I think we may indeed find life out there--abundant, wildly divergent life--but I don't think we'll find many life forms, if any, that have reached our level of understanding. Intelligent and advanced are two very different things. Other civilizations may have existed at some point in time, but the lifespan of most species--whether due to environmental catastrophe or self-destruction, would most likely be very limited. <br /><br />There have been billions and billions of years for civilizations to rise and disappear. What are the chances that another like ours exists in the same eyeblink of time that we've occupied, and close enough that we would even encounter each other in the lifespan of our species? <br /><br />But the universe of storytelling is a very different place. In fiction, aliens have to have some relatable, recognizable features so they are comprehensible to human readers. So things like eye contact, body language, and personal interaction pretty much ensures our aliens have to be somewhat humanoid.L. A. Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01198035351359321392noreply@blogger.com