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M0AI In reply to thomastapir [2011-07-28 21:29:57 +0000 UTC]

Thanks, Tom!
I've thought about that issue as well. Instilling aliens with a certain level of anthropomorphism in order to make them sympathetic, as well. I really don't know if there is a way to make creatures sympathetic without making them at least a little anthropomorphic, in behavior if not in appearance. Take the Pixar lamp or the robots in Wall*E. Most of them resemble humans only in the weakest, most subtle way, yet they all have cues in their behavior and body language that makes them seem human. If you had an alien with an entirely different set of instinctual and cultural cues, would an audience be able to relate to it and sympathize with it, beyond simply recognizing it as a fellow organism with a right to live? Or, would the process of evolving to compete for resources necessarily lead to a similar set of instincts and behaviors that we could understand?

Fun to speculate!

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thomastapir In reply to M0AI [2011-08-10 03:07:26 +0000 UTC]

Reminds me of stories I've heard about divers communicating with cuttlefish via "sign language," using their hands to mimic the cephalopods' body language! You can say hi, signal submission, or threaten them (but really, who would want to threaten a cuttlefish? They're adorable!). I even read a cute story about a kid who befriended the cuttlefish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium to the point where they came up to the glass and tried to feed him shrimp ([link] ). (I was toying with a tongue-in-cheek Lovecraft pastiche about the ram horns of Ammon actually being a corrupted memory of ammonite worship. In this scenario, the "metal horns" hand sign is actually a secret cult symbol emulating cephalopod body language.)

--But ANYWAY!! My point is, if you were in ongoing intimate contact with an intelligent race that had a totally different communications system, would you become conditioned to respond to it automatically over time? Obviously you would have to learn their symbol set--I mean, it wouldn't be instinctual like feeling sad when you hear a puppy whimper--but wouldn't it eventually become ingrained to the point where you would have an automatic emotional response when your friend flushes black with happiness or releases a pleasant jasmine scent in a fit of rage....? (Nobody seems to care when I do it) Seems like there's huge potential there for new forms of communication, compromises in communication, miscommunication...Reminds me, I was fantasizing the other day about somebody being guided around an alien spaceship by neurally broadcast gustatorial signals. Come to a branching hallway and one "tastes" bitter and stale, the other sweet and salty--the message is obvious.

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M0AI In reply to commander-salamander [2011-07-28 21:32:52 +0000 UTC]

I think I can talk about who they are, though I don't have much more information beyond what's already visible in the image.
The first one is Roko, a friendly and diplomatic female. All I know about the middle guy, Omna is that he wears a hat with a symbol. The right one, Sonti, is actually a female as well, and all I know is that she's tall, lean, and scarred.

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