The Factory Floor

7:09 AM

Since this question's more a discussion question, I figure chat is the most appropriate site to discuss the following question as it's highly subjective.

How alien can a alien be made without making them "too alien" while still making them alien enough that they can't be confused for humans and are different enough that they would come from another planet? I am not asking for alien designs, simply to what degree of "alienness" would you consider "sufficiently alien" while not being so alien that they are difficult to relate to.

Thats nice question which has two answers

1st: Writers one. Decide how you want your alien to look like and then design a planet which would plausibly produce such alien

2nd: Worldbuilding: Design a planet where your alien works and try to determine what type of intelligent life would it produce

The second one has a drawback: You are most certainly to produce an alien which is "too alien"

What would you consider "too alien"?

thats psychology type of question

have look at the movie "Alien" - the alien here is definitely "too alien" and would be too scary to work with if we are about to form an alliance with them

So they can be physically alien, but still be relatable if they are psychologically anthropomorphic?

I did not get the question, but I think its actually vice versa

The humans would rather form alliance with Cuddly Bears type of aliens, even if their psychology do not match ours. Just because they are cuddly

And on the other hand, dealing with "Alien" movie aliens would be hard even if they followed exactly the same rules of living as we do

7:21 AM

So how physically alien could a alien get but still be relatable?

Not that much, actually. Have a look at this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_effect

(And thats one of the reasons why "good aliens" look as something you can relate to and "bad aliens" look really ugly in the movies)

Would a alien that is uncanny valley be less relatable than a alien that doesn't really resemble any animal on earth, but doesn't look threatening or ugly? (Like say, a octopus)

(Of course a octopus is a animal from earth, but it doesn't resemble anything on land)

Q: Accidentally deleted low ranked question. Now what?

I think the one which does not resemble any animal on earth, but looks not dangerous would be better to work with

BTW, I studied biology on high school, so just a side note: Our animal range is really huge and some animals on Earth look really really alien like

But I think it is good worldbuilding question: How would people relate to this alien? (with provided picture or detailed description)

Worldbuilding Meta

8:36 AM

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Question to discuss: http://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/22836/what-would-happen-if-affirmative-action-activists-had-free-reign Now got deleted, thanks to me. I think its bad question. I think it is troll question. Thats why I did click "Delete" on it. I got told, that next 9 vote...

discussion support specific-question

12:45 PM

@InterstellarFascist As long as the alien doesn't trigger anything that our brains identify as "threat" and doesn't lie in the bottom of the uncanny valley, then it should be workable. Anything in the uncanny valley just comes across as creepy to really creepy.

James

3:50 PM

How was everyone's weekend?

Really good. Ate way too much candy (Seriously, Welch's Fruit Snacks are gonna kill me.)

I had a few 200+ days this weekend too which I'm really happy about.

James

@Green I never seem to get here on the weekends...to much real life to manage...you know...kids.

A: How shall we celebrate our birthday?

@James Ah, that would do it. I have neither wife nor kids.

Although, on the scale of things, a weekend with kids that you love is a bit more valuable than twiddling Internet Numbers.

James

@Green Oh for sure...though on occasion it would be a nice trade...lol

Monica Cellio

4:13 PM

I just had this idea; what do people think about it?

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How about a "share a glimpse into your world" week? If you've asked questions here it's probably because you have a project -- maybe a full-on novel/game/script/etc you're in the midst of, or maybe a more early-stage idea. Either way, would people be willing to share a (non-contract-voiding, no...

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Oh, I see that in the time it took me to bring it here somebody has already upvoted. Cool. :-)