AlienPsychology

Whatdoouraliens
sayaboutus?
LisaBrenan

Whydowechoosetousealiensinourfiction?

Whatcanourrepresentationsofalienshelpustounderstand
aboutourselves?
Couldourstoriesofalienshelpustounderstandan
extraterrestrialspecies,shouldweevermeetone?

Butfirst,anintroduction!

TalesoftheLostFormicans

Theabduction
project

So,whywriteaboutaliens?
Usingaliensallowsustotellastoryofferingsocialcriticism
withoutsoundingpreachy.
Alienscanpersonifypeopleandthingswefear.
Alienscanhelpustounderstandthehumanconditionby
interactingwithhumans.
Alienscanhelpgiveusabetterunderstandingofourselvesby
actingasmirrorsorfoilstothehumansinthestory.
Inthistimeofpoliticalcorrectness,aliensareauniversalenemy
thatitsokaytohateanfear.

SocialCriticism
HarryTurtledove:TheWorldWarandColonizationSagas
BeginsinthemidstofWWII
Wholeplanetistakenoverbyaraceofreptilianaliens
Allcountriesareforcedtounitetooverthrowthealiens
Everyonemustworktogetherforthepeopleof
theplanettosurvive.

PersonificationofFears
Dracula
Notsubjecttonaturallaws
Extremelypowerful
Seduceswomen
Killswithoutrhymeorreason

HumanCondition
HitchhikersGuidetotheGalaxy(andcountlessothers)
ArthurDentisoutofplace
Homedestroyed;orphaned
New,sometimesfrighteningexperiences
Learningfromhisfriends
TrillianmayactuallybetheonerevealingArthurshumanity.

DefineOurselves
StarTrek
Vulcansgiveusgreateridentityashumansbyshowing
uswhatwewouldbewithoutemotion.

UniversalEnemy
HarryTurtledoveSagas

WaroftheWorlds

IndependenceDay

Couldourstoriesofalienshelpusto
understandanextraterrestrialspecies,
shouldweevermeetone?

Well,yesandno.
Oneschoolofthoughtisthatanythingconceivedbythehuman
mindcannevertrulybealien,andthereforeanycreatureswe
maymeetinthefuturewillprobablybeevenstrangerthan
anythingwecanimagine.

But...

Justbecausewecantpredictwhataliensmightbelikedoes
notmeanthatourstoriescouldntbeapplied.Iftheytell
ussomethingabouthumans,andhumansaretheonlyexample
ofintelligentlifethatwehave,thenitisnotsoinconceivable
thatintelligentextraterrestriallifemighthavesomethingin
commonwithus.Ourstoriesmightgiveusaplacetostart.

watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/AP.html
cms.psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=PTO20030527000002
www.centerchange.org/passport/abduction.html
www.rfreitas.com/Astro/Xenopsychology.htm
www.writingworld.com/columns/sf/edge01.shtml
www.collisionproject.org/ap.html

skepdic.com/aliens.html
astro.wsu.edu/worthey/astro/html/lecufo.html
www.homestead.com/flowstate/branding.html
Cartmel,Deborahed.,Hunter,I.Q.ed.,Kaye,Heidied.,Whelehan,Imeldaed.,
AlienIdentities:ExploringDifferencesinFilmandFiction.PlutoPress;

London1999.