this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2025
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Stanislaw Lem vs. Bioware (mastodon.gamedev.place)
submitted 3 weeks ago by ksynwa@lemmygrad.ml to c/games@lemmygrad.ml
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[–] sleeplessone@lemmy.ml 16 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Humans will be so different from life in space that they will be unable to communicate with it.

So glad that there are sci-fi authors out there who actually put some thought into just how alien aliens would be. Even in some really good sci-fi, the differences between humans and various alien species seems to be, at most, some distinctive biological differences and cultural differences that can be conceptualized relatively easily by humans.

I reckon that the universe is vast and unknown enough that "life" could arise such that humans wouldn't be able to recognize or characterize it as life.

[–] OrnluWolfjarl@lemmygrad.ml 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It takes effort to make aliens actually feel alien, and then build a good story around them.

It's far easier (and possibly more engaging for most people) to make aliens by exaggerating human characteristics, and then have a story about humans facing against their worst or best traits.

[–] cayde6ml@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

But you also don't want to make aliens too "alien" to where people won't have any recognition or care of their struggles, personalities, life attributes.

I like "human" aliens, especially if they are portrayed as being very psychologically/culturally different from most humans as a whole, but I also appreciate the truly weird and strange barely recognizable ones.

[–] PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmygrad.ml 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Then again, there are legit theories that the carbon/water based lifeforms are probably the easiest to occur and thus most probable and so there is high probablility that any life form that crawl up to sapiency will be quite similar to us at least biologically, so the rubber forheads and horny blue aliens are not entirely improbable.

Also remember that Lem wrote his books when the research of other solar systems were barely starting and not even any extrasolar planets were discovered back then.

Though i agree that "alien" aliens are good for fiction, at least better than infinite iterations on dystopian interstellar capitalism.

[–] cayde6ml@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I agree that carbon/water based lifeforms are the most plausible/numerous to exist, yet I would also love and be fascinated by aliens that are like cybertronians/transformers, "natural" robots that still have recognizable biological functions, and meet the criteria of being alive and sentient. Like a silicon-based lifeform that drinks, I don't know, argon or ammonia.

I once read a pretty excellent scientific paper, a thought experiment, about an alien lifeform that could possibly live inside stars, and withstand the extreme pressures and heat, and would gain nutrients from different areas of the star, based on the thermal gradients/chemicals, almost like space-dragons.

If you ask me, I really fucking hope that there are aliens out there like the Quarians and Asari (Turians are my favorite) but also extremely weird lifeforms and worlds that defy imagination and understanding.

Like (even though it's incredibly unlikely) a planet-sized singular organism that thrives off of limited mobility.

Or even worlds where, through some exotic combination of elements and materials, combined with the weather/atmosphere and extremely strange chemical and physical reactions, basically defies the laws of physics of what should be possible.

[–] PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

I have nagging feeling that the universe, once we get over the shiny bling of the stars, will be a really boring place lol

At least counting life, i still cant get over the info there's planet where diamonds rain at supersonic speeds, that's super bling.

[–] cayde6ml@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 3 weeks ago

Then let's make it exciting! Lol.

Yeah, space is fucking majestic, horrifying, awe-inducing, scary, and gorgeous.

[–] cayde6ml@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 3 weeks ago

I'm very sympathetic to your ideas, and I wouldn't rule out the possibility of life on other worlds being so "alien" that humans might not recognize it as life.

But I do think that for the most part, it would be relatively easy to figure if something is alive, sentient, and self-aware, just in an "alien" form.

[–] cayde6ml@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 3 weeks ago

I think this makes a great meme, but I gotta say that I kinda prefer Bioware, lol.

I appreciate Lem, though

[–] big_spoon@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

aliens with some scientific thinking vs aliens with horny implications

[–] cayde6ml@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 3 weeks ago

Why not both?

Like, I really do hope/think that there are at least some, and probably many, aliens that are similar enough to humans to interact, form relationships with, and fuck.

But that doesn't mean there can't be exotic alien lifeforms that capture our imagination.

I like a healthy mix.

[–] RBridger@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 1 week ago

Lem is my favorite author and the unknowableness of his aliens is what I love most about his work. I'm moved by his depictions of how difficult it can be to communicate with, understand, and relate to others. I especially like the ending of Solaris, where the main character eventually realizes that it will never be possible for him to understand the planet, and then chooses to stay with it anyway