Science fiction that potrays humans as superior

[tauriprivatesoldier]

I would like to hear opinions on some science fiction stories that potray humans as superior in one way or another to other races when First Contact finally occurs. An example would be the Dammned Trilogy, where humans are exceptionally good at fighting. Some shows potray humans taking a very short-time from civilisation to sapce-flight, whereas other races take a much longer time.Thoughts, anyone?

[AvatarIII]

Revelation space universe - humans become one of only 3 races ever to survive first contact with "the inhibitors" a robotic race designed to prevent the emergence of sentience in the galaxy following "the dawn wars" early in our galaxies history

Dread Empire's Fall - out of 5 different races, all supposedly equal humans have some of the best traits. and are rather "jack of all trades" and come across as superior due to that fact.

The dreaming void - out of all sentient species in this universe humans (mid 34th C.) are the most peacefull and even going against a multi million year old civilisation, are the closest to achieving post-physical status. although the humans aren't by far the smartest or the "goodest" at heart

[tauriprivatesoldier]

Thanks, Avatar III.

I think the most extreme example would be "Independence Day". Another would be the WorldWar Trilogy by Turtledove.

[ShadowMaat]

I should think a majority of the stories out there portray humans as the most superior race, even when they're encountering races that are far more advanced. Kinda takes some of the fun out of it, IMO. Humans almost ALWAYS manage to outwit invading aliens, no matter how superior the invaders may be. I'd much rather see stories where humans are finally humbled and forced to admit that they aren't the most brilliantest creatures EVER in the entire multiverse and that sometimes there are obstacles you can't overcome, no matter how clever you try to be. Or at least have them matched a little more... realistically (for lack of a better term). The computer virus in Independence Day was an insultingly stupid solution and the fact that it worked only serves to make the aliens look like utter imbeciles. They can travel millions of lightyears (or whatever), but they can't protect their war ships from a computer virus?? Even up the playing field a bit, I say: make our enemy at LEAST as smart and resourceful as we are.

[the fifth man]

Even up the playing field a bit, I say: make our enemy at LEAST as smart and resourceful as we are.

I'm all for that, my friend.

[tauriprivatesoldier]

I don't know if anyone will consider Lovecraft's work as science fiction.... they seem more like fantasy horror... still in his stories humans are always on the losing end... unable to understand or comprehend the 'elder gods'

Outer Limits sometimes present episodes in which humans through their flaws end up enslaved or destroyed by aliens.

Has anyone read 'Preemption' by Charlie Rosenkrantz? It is a short story and it is pretty good, funny too. One of the themes presented in the story is that dogs will eventually develop intelligence asnd dominate the universe, whereas humans will destroy themselves before leaving the solar system. Apparently, dogs are superior, coz although they are less intelligent, they are more willing to learn.

[gopher65]

I've seen and read precious little of what I would term "science fiction" that portrays humans as anything other than superior to aliens. Everything from the Gates to the Treks on TV, and virtually every movie I've seen.

There's a reason for that though. Most shows show humans up against aliens that are "a vast and ancient race with the knowledge of the cosmos" and blahblahblah. Pretty standard writing. When put up against such an enemy, the only way for the humans to prevail is by out-witting their enemy. Since the writers aren't supergeniuses, they write the humans as normal (obviously). In any case, the audience couldn't identify with the characters unless they were halfway normal, or at most humourously neurotic. So in order to be beaten by the normalish humans the uber-advanced aliens turn into idiots.

It's only natural for that type of story (like Stargate). For Star Trek, well, it (they) is written to show human moral superiority over everyone else, including present day humans, more than anything.

So there are only 2 story types where the aliens can be smart: Horror movies where aliens kill humans and win (and shows like The Outer Limits on occasion), and shows along the lines of Space: Above and Beyond, which take place in the future and deal with aliens at the same tech level as us.

[Sci-Fi]

"The Day the Earth Stood Still" was a story about an alien and his robot enforcer telling humans that they must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets. The remake due out xmas 2008 might screw the original story up though.

[Xicer]

Oh God, they're remaking The Day the Earth Stood Still???? There's no way a movie like that could be reproduced successfully to interest modern viewers. I just checked, apparently Keanu Reeves will play Klaatu.

As for the subject of the thread, there really isn't a whole lot of scifi where the aliens beat the humans. Like gopher said, the only movies that show humans losing to aliens are horror/thriller movies, or instances where the aliens are as smart as we are (S:AAB).

One exeption I remember is from a scifi book called "The Illustrated Man" by Ray Bradbury (the same guy who wrote Fahrenheit 451) which was a collection of scifi short stories, and many of them had endings where humans lose. One of the ones I remember was about an invasion where Martians attempt to control all the children of the Earth in order to infiltrate and gain intelligence. The story ends with the Martians and the children taking over the Earth.

Another story was about a group of astronauts in the future landing on an ancient alien city. When they land on the city, they accidentally "wake it up" and the city starts taking the astronauts one by one and dissecting them to study them. In the end, the city finds the location of Earth and starts an invasion.

Yet another story involved a different group of astronauts landing on Venus (this book was written in the early 50s so you have to use your imagination a bit) which was full of white rain forests (and it rained constantly). It followed the astronauts trying to find a "sun dome" which was a refuge from the rain forests, and everyone in the end dies except for one person, who is described as having reached the sun dome though in the book its implied that he went crazy and was seeing only what he wanted to.

So yeah, there are a few scifi stories out there that put humans on the losing side.

[tauriprivatesoldier]

Hi Xicer were all of these stories written by Ray bradbury? They sound very interesting. I always thought he was a fine writer.

One story that shows human as no different from aliens is "Enemy Mine'. I saw the movie but never read it.

[ShadowMaat]

I don't know that the humans have to lose, necessarily, but make the fighting less of a monumental win for the plucky little Earthlings, or have the outcome be ambivalent- maybe we've won this fight, but we might not win the next one, or maybe the aliens aren't as evil as we thought, or we're managing to survive even while under alien rule. Or something. *shrug* I think my brain is shutting down. I've been up since yesterday. I just get tired of seeing humans portrayed as some sort of supreme force in the universe, even when our enemy is/should be far superior.

Or how about more stories where the humans are the bad guys?

[Xicer]

Hi Xicer were all of these stories written by Ray bradbury? They sound very interesting. I always thought he was a fine writer.

One story that shows human as no different from aliens is "Enemy Mine'. I saw the movie but never read it.

Yeah the whole book is written by Ray Bradbury. Its a pretty good collection.

[jds1982]

The Alien Years was a book where we couldn't do anything to defeat the alien invaders, although they eventually decided to leave for no apparent raisin.

[rlr149]

The Alien Years was a book where we couldn't do anything to defeat the alien invaders, although they eventually decided to leave for no apparent raisin.

why would dried fruit be a reason to leave

[Orion's Star]

The Alien Years was a book where we couldn't do anything to defeat the alien invaders, although they eventually decided to leave for no apparent raisin.

Futurama FTW!

Also, this thread is incomplete without this:

Spoiler:

Humans are superior!