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Companion Humans among Aliens

Q99

Q99

I ran across this series of tumblr posts, which both had the idea that human's 'hat' among alien species is our ability to bond with species outside our own pretty easy, plus a few shorts of a human in the setting.


Which, as a concept, I really like. Humans are special in plenty of stories makes us the most innovative, flexible, or aggressive, which normally doesn't make much sense. Or as most of you are probably aware, our real biological advantages tend to be long-term endurance, shock/injury resistance (we can recover from wounds and conditions more significant than most else), and throwing things.

Throwing in our willingness to bond with lots of stuff and be emotionally attached- domestic animals, but well beyond that- which may not be *unique* but I could easily see us being on the upper end, tied in with our high endurance and willingness to push really hard to take care of whatever living things we've bonded to? Cool idea, and a nice 'alien' niche for humans.


So yea, I felt this was cool and worth sharing ^^
 
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I agree it's original, and a vastly more interesting theme to explore than the usual "humans are speshul aggressive/smart/whatever".

But I don't think that it's likely that trans-species bonding is particularly unique, considering how fundamental symbiosis is in biological life.

Actually aliens that are the reverse could be interesting, like extremely monophyletic so that it would like humans were the only vertebrates on Earth and everything else would be starfish and sea cucumbers and other animals with vastly different bodyplans. And when they meet other aliens in space it could be that they are more similar with those than species from their own planet and what that would mean for them.
 
xa na xa said:
I agree it's original, and a vastly more interesting theme to explore than the usual "humans are speshul aggressive/smart/whatever".

But I don't think that it's likely that trans-species bonding is particularly unique, considering how fundamental symbiosis is in biological life.
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I don't think it'd be unique, but it's quite possibly we'd be on the high end. A species with only one other closely associated species may not draw links as easy, for example, while we have pet spiders, snakes, birds....
 
To a certain extent this idea was covered by CJ Cherryh (possibly the most underrated SF author period) in the Chanur novels.
 
Turandokht said:
To a certain extent this idea was covered by CJ Cherryh (possibly the most underrated SF author period) in the Chanur novels.
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Hah, yea, Cherryh is incredible!

It never became a widespread thing, what with the all of *one* human in the Compact, but I could pretty easily have seen things going different and Tully becoming the first Companion....


Though one can contrast the Foreigner series, where Bren's attachments conflict with the Atevi view of things, creating issues.
 
I love this idea. :)

While other aliens may have various forms of symbioses with other organisms it is possible they might not take this to the extreme of humans what with our long history of domestication? We are very social creatures (sometimes to the point were our desire to fit in with the group will cause us real problems) and practise a very high degree of emotional projecting. We can become invested with fictional characters completely different for us or even inanimate objects, that would definitively be something we would get use of in meeting with aliens.
 
Q99 said:
I ran across this series of tumblr posts, which both had the idea that human's 'hat' among alien species is our ability to bond with species outside our own pretty easy, plus a few shorts of a human in the setting.


Which, as a concept, I really like. Humans are special in plenty of stories makes us the most innovative, flexible, or aggressive, which normally doesn't make much sense. Or as most of you are probably aware, our real biological advantages tend to be long-term endurance, shock/injury resistance (we can recover from wounds and conditions more significant than most else), and throwing things.

Throwing in our willingness to bond with lots of stuff and be emotionally attached- domestic animals, but well beyond that- which may not be *unique* but I could easily see us being on the upper end, tied in with our high endurance and willingness to push really hard to take care of whatever living things we've bonded to? Cool idea, and a nice 'alien' niche for humans.


So yea, I felt this was cool and worth sharing ^^
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So, Humans are Diplomats?
 
I specifically remember a short story in which humans were the ones who'd have sexual relations with any other sapient species, and there was an interview with IIRC a married couple of human and what was essentially a sapient sponge.
 
Q99 said:
Not exactly. Like, other species generally don't have a problem with making deals & agreements with others, you don't need to bond to be a diplomat, it's just put a mixed crew together, and the human in it will care deeper for the others and be willing to go to further lengths for them.
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So basically a reflavor of humans are diplomats then.
 
Malbutorius said:
So basically a reflavor of humans are diplomats then.
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Yea, shifting it on to a more personal level. Dealing with someone different than you is a learned skill that I think most species can manage, but personally caring for something pretty different than you, pretty quickly, is something that a species could do without with no major problems- plus it ties in well with the 'humans are relentless' aspects of our endurance.
 
Goldiefish said:
It's almost more like a general protector/guide position. Human skills, endurance and ability to survive in addition to their caring means that you know they won't betray or abandon you, so they're a loyal guard or survivalist
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Right! They don't necessarily help you deal with other groups per se, but they'll watch your back, stay up long hours if you need a watch in a wilderness situation, and can be counted on to go 'above and beyond' compared to other species, so to speak.
 
Goldiefish said:
It's almost more like a general protector/guide position. Human skills, endurance and ability to survive in addition to their caring means that you know they won't betray or abandon you, so they're a loyal guard or survivalist
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Except for the ones that are willing to kill people let alone things that aren't human. They have a reputation for being kind and loving and then bam Yogi goes Yaoguai.
 
Malbutorius said:
Except for the ones that are willing to kill people let alone things that aren't human. They have a reputation for being kind and loving and then bam Yogi goes Yaoguai.
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Obviously, those ones wouldn't be hired in the companion gig :) I mean, even aliens will get that not all humans bond as easily and some make better guardians than others.

Heck, the story briefly touches on someone too xenophobic to get a job in the role.
 
Q99 said:
Right! They don't necessarily help you deal with other groups per se, but they'll watch your back, stay up long hours if you need a watch in a wilderness situation, and can be counted on to go 'above and beyond' compared to other species, so to speak.
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So what, like a dog?

Because that is pretty much the niche dogs fit for a lot of peoples.
 
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