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The Human Factor
Jun. 24th, 2007 04:41 pmThere's a trend in SF writing that I'm finding more and more annoying. Babylon 5 had it. The new Dr. Who positively revels in it. Even Sherri S. Tepper, who you'd think would know better, indulges. I'm talking about speciesism, of course.
The premise is that the human race are basically the cat's pyjamas when it comes to creativity, will to survive, or whatever. And it really doesn't ring true. Pretty much any species hardy enough to have climbed up evolution's thorny ladder to sentience is going to have to have an enormous will to survive and to persevere against the odds. The ones that didn't would be the also rans. There's a slightly better case to be made in the case of creativity or artistry, but it could just as easily be the case that the reason we haven't made contact with alien life is because we're a race of galactic dullards who the other sentient species don't invite to parties because we have nothing of interest or merit to say. Or because we pick fights and throw up in the dip.
The really ironic thing in the case of the Doctor is that arguably he's far better at all of the things he loves, nay lurves, humanity for than they are. He's pretty much the ultimate optimist/survivor.
We wouldn't say these things about a country or race on Earth, not without being labelled racists, at any rate. We're aware that the manifestation of any such qualities are usually a product of circumstance. (Artists are a huge luxury - only the rich can afford them.) Is there any reason to assume that this wouldn't hold true for the wider universe?
Just for once I'd like to see a setting in which humans are the rednecks of the galaxy, looked upon with scorn and pity by Civilisation.
The premise is that the human race are basically the cat's pyjamas when it comes to creativity, will to survive, or whatever. And it really doesn't ring true. Pretty much any species hardy enough to have climbed up evolution's thorny ladder to sentience is going to have to have an enormous will to survive and to persevere against the odds. The ones that didn't would be the also rans. There's a slightly better case to be made in the case of creativity or artistry, but it could just as easily be the case that the reason we haven't made contact with alien life is because we're a race of galactic dullards who the other sentient species don't invite to parties because we have nothing of interest or merit to say. Or because we pick fights and throw up in the dip.
The really ironic thing in the case of the Doctor is that arguably he's far better at all of the things he loves, nay lurves, humanity for than they are. He's pretty much the ultimate optimist/survivor.
We wouldn't say these things about a country or race on Earth, not without being labelled racists, at any rate. We're aware that the manifestation of any such qualities are usually a product of circumstance. (Artists are a huge luxury - only the rich can afford them.) Is there any reason to assume that this wouldn't hold true for the wider universe?
Just for once I'd like to see a setting in which humans are the rednecks of the galaxy, looked upon with scorn and pity by Civilisation.
