Quick jump to: Anthropocentrism in Sci-Fi
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Many people would like to know which Sci-Fi vision actually reflects the real situation of the intelligent life in the universe. Well, nobody knows the answer, since we haven’t been yet contacted by any civilization. But since I would guess that all the really intelligent species would grow up following some common rules of good sense, I have a quite defined idea about it.
So, mainly there are 4 big threads in the imagination of the Sci-Fi world:
1) Star Trek
2) Star Wars
3) Independence Day
4) Alien
Frames from Alien Prometheus
Well, I think that the vision which is more close to the reality of things, is: Star Trek. And it is also the only possible of these three.
It is very plausible that all the ‘intelligent’ species eventually existing in the galaxy already know each others, since all they would be hundreds of millions years older than us, on average. 99,99% sure, we are the younger civilization in the Milky Way at the present time.
If these old civilizations could survive a such long time they live probably pacifically and have built constructive relationships among each other, grounding a pacific federation of civilizations. It is a logic concept, it is not a sci-fi vison. Also on the Earth many nations are trying to collaborate more constructively in federations. It is a natural evolution of facts.
Therefore I think that the vision of Star Trek, by its legendary author Gene Roddenberry, is the more close to the reality and the more plausible.
I am very thankful to Gene Roddenberry to have give to the world, a plausible vision about this theme. Furthermore In Star Trek there is also not a monetary economy. Gene Roddenberry expressly avoided to insert more details about this aspect. Only in one of the old series (the bests) Captain Kirk mentioned like “In our system we work only to produce goods and services for everybody”.
In fact, some Americans define Star Trek a communist vision… while they appreciate more Star Wars (the capitalistic version).
The only flaws in Star Trek are the presence of warlike species (as the Klingons), which I hold for very unlikely when applied to intelligent species, and that everywhere present anthropocentric bias, whenever the Homo Sapiens feces with the other species. (Read more below)
Star Wars is actually a representation of all the human flaws. It is nothing different than a Middle Age novel, applied to a context with technologically advanced civilizations (which makes it very unlikely to be real).
There is an empire (the obsession of the Homo Sapiens for power and domination), there is a princess (the obsession of the Homo Sapiens for privileged social status and for hierarchy), there are privileged Jedi knights. There are smugglers who struggle for money.
Star War is the reflection of the aggressive, hierarchic and warmonger nature of the Homo Sapiens. I am not surprised that Star Wars gathers more fans than Star Trek. It has been surely a very good business idea, but it is intrinsically out of track.
Independence Day. An extraterrestrial specie comes here to invade the Earth and take our place, after to have exploited all the natural resources of their last used planed. There is not much to say. It is what the Homo Sapiens would do to other civilizations, if it would have the possibility or need to do it. It is what the Homo Sapiens already did, and continues to do, on the Earth among different populations, and toward all the other animal species. No wonder that the capitalist Americans, with their dream about infinite growth and expansion are so obsessed with alien invasions.
The Alien saga is the most absurd vision. It is the transposition of the obsession of the Homo Sapiens to be a voluntary “creation” by a superior specie, and about the creation of copies of himself, at “his image“.
In the Alien saga, an advanced specie has the hobby to seed life around in the galaxy, creating similar hominids like them, “at their image”. Then afterwards, they decide to exterminate their creations in a horrible and cruel way, throwing parasite being among them, who eat people from inside.
What to say? No comment. A good horror movie, but nothing more.
Anthropocentrism in the Science Fiction world
An interesting remark about the entire Sci-Fi world is that practically in each sci-fi work, in each sci-fi vision there is an evident anthropocentric bias, even in Star Trek.
When the Human encounters any other intelligent, even mystically “superior” specie, the Homo Sapiens is always the most “human” being. He is always the most positive, the most charitable, compassionate specie, the most rich of feelings and emotions. The Human is the one who has always something to teach to the other species, about how to be more “human” in their doing. The Homo Sapiens has never something to learn about it. This is really a so anthropocentric and nauseating attitude!