Lisa Brenan

Alien Psychology

What do our aliens say about us?

What can our representations of aliens help us to understand about ourselves?

Why do we choose to use aliens in our fiction?

Could our stories of aliens help us to understand an extraterrestrial species, should we ever meet one?

But first, an introduction!

Tales of the Lost Formicans

The abduction project

Aliens can help give us a better understanding of ourselves by acting as mirrors or foils to the humans in the story.

So, why write about aliens?

Using aliens allows us to tell a story offering social criticism without sounding preachy.

Aliens can personify people and things we fear.

Aliens can help us to understand the human condition by interacting with humans.

In this time of political correctness, aliens are a universal enemy that it’s okay to hate an fear.

Social Criticism

Harry Turtledove: The World War and Colonization Sagas

Begins in the midst of WWII

Whole planet is taken over by a race of reptilian aliens

All countries are forced to unite to overthrow the aliens

Everyone must work together for the people of the planet to survive.

Personification of Fears

Dracula

Not subject to natural laws

Extremely powerful

Seduces women

Kills without rhyme or reason

Human Condition

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (and countless others)

Arthur Dent is out of place

New, sometimes frightening experiences

Learning from his friends

Trillian may actually be the one revealing Arthur’s humanity.

Home destroyed; orphaned

Define Ourselves

Star Trek

Vulcans give us greater identity as humans by showing us what we would be without emotion.

Universal Enemy

Harry Turtledove Sagas War of the Worlds

Independence Day

Could our stories of aliens help us to understand an extraterrestrial species,

should we ever meet one?

Well, yes and no.

One school of thought is that anything conceived by the humanmind can never truly be alien, and therefore any creatures wemay meet in the future will probably be even stranger than anything we can imagine.

But...

Just because we can’t predict what aliens might be like doesnot mean that our stories couldn’t be applied. If they tell

us something about humans, and humans are the only exampleof intelligent life that we have, then it is not so inconceivable that intelligent extraterrestrial life might have something in common with us. Our stories might give us a place to start.

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cms.psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=PTO-20030527-000002

www.centerchange.org/passport/abduction.html

www.rfreitas.com/Astro/Xenopsychology.htm

www.writing-world.com/columns/sf/edge01.shtml

skepdic.com/aliens.html

astro.wsu.edu/worthey/astro/html/lec-ufo.html

www.homestead.com/flowstate/branding.html

www.collisionproject.org/ap.html

Cartmel, Deborah ed., Hunter, I.Q. ed., Kaye, Heidi ed., Whelehan, Imelda ed.,Alien Identities: Exploring Differences in Film and Fiction. Pluto Press;London 1999.