Yep, I agree. Considering that most SciFi is human story telling, it can't go too far in "imaginings" that are outside the envelope. At least Starship Troopers assumed that contact with intelligent Bugs quickly would become a race to annihilate the "Other".
However, Arthur C. Clark's novel, Childhood's End, came close to positing the Other (not the look-like-devils) as inconceivable rather than merely dangerous. Considering that 75% of our galaxy's stars are in the hub, are 25-45% older than our local solar system and are only 1-2 light years apart, the chances of inhabited planets has got to be even higher than current speculation. This might also explain why we have not been visited by ET's. We are just too far away ... way out on the archipelagos. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <no_re...@...> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "emptybill" emptybill@ wrote: > > > > Thanks for the tip. I'll look them up. > > > > No one else on FFL seems to have poised this Q. > > I'm wondering if an ethicist, philosopher or social scientist has > > considered it? > > It has been considered in science fiction since > its earliest days, and well. All of the best SF > authors know the limitation they labor under. > They may be trying to write about alien civil- > izations, but they just can't be too alien. If > they were, their readers could not "identify," > and thus they cannot sell their fiction. As a > result, most aliens are pretty much like us. > But this does not mean that these authors have > not tried to portray aliens who were *not* > like us. > > This theme -- one species with its own view > of what ethics entails meeting another with an > entirely different, not only incompatible but > *inconceivable* view -- has been dealt with > often in classic science fiction. > > Might I recommend, as a starting point, a story > by Terry Carr in World's Best Science Fiction > 1969 called "The Dance of the Changer and the > Three." Brilliant. Or many of the works of > Ursula K. Le Guin, especially "The Left Hand > of Darkness" and "Rocannon's World." > > > The time may be coming in the current century when we feel > > the need to give it a very close look. > > As Ray Bradbury once wrote about what he did for > a living, "'We do this not to predict the future > but to prevent it." > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, azgrey <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "emptybill" emptybill@ wrote: > > > > > > > > Who has written or theorized about "morality" in our possible future > > > > contacts with ET-s? > > > > How could we even evaluate them enough to judge if there is any form > > of > > > > "moral code". > > > > > > > > That means no human analogues. WTF? > > > > > > > > > > Sometime back TurquoiseB mentioned Mary Doria Russell's > > > "The Sparrow" and "Children Of God." They are compelling, > > > very well written, and have the crux of your question as a > > > key theme. > > > > > >
