Hacker News Reader

Comment by andrewl | Hacker News Reader

In the novel Footfall by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, the government employs science fiction writers to help them understand the invading aliens and predict what they'll think and do.

View on HN

The US Government convened Hollywood action film writers and producers to speculate on terrorist attacks they hadn't foreseen:

https://www.foxnews.com/story/army-looks-to-hollywood-for-sc...

https://www.wired.com/2007/03/foiled-by-foia-/

That gives a new meaning to "security theater."

How about a mass hackjacking of flying cars?

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle (and other sci-fi writers) were engaged by the Reagan administration to counter the USSR during the cold war, leading to the "stars wars" Strategic Defence Initiative. Niven and Pournelle stated in a documentary that this was the cause of the collapse of the soviet union.

Remember the crap Tom Clancy took after 9/11, so folks do sometimes blame writers for the actions of others, so asking scifi writers isn't out of the realm of possibilities.

My first thought was this book. But the book treated this idea almost tongue in cheek. (the writers in the book were treated like royalty) And as a teen I thought this was a good idea, but as an adult I feel this is a marketing gimmick. :P

Both Niven and Pournelle are part of the SIGMA Forum, which is a real-life consortium of science fiction writers who consult with the government. While the Pentagon and the White House have flirted with the concept over the years, they generally haven’t had any significant policy impact, SDI aside.

A humours note on SDI, I read somewhere there Reagan made this up almost on the spot (or it was only ever "discussed" nothing actually planned in meetings) and left people in his administration scrambling to explain what he was talking about. (ie, he "announced" the star wars system in 83' but SDI didn't even get started until 84')

They literally claimed to have been responsible for the downfall of Russia and the end of the cold war.

https://youtu.be/34T8s0D-Fxo?t=2503

Possible plot twist: The aliens follow the books too, in order to understand the human response?

Actually that seems like a highly likely plot twist.

I wonder if some alien species would appear as Vulcans if only to fit our expectations?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4xm7x052XQ

Hopefully they didn't see this version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXw6hC7hxBA

I think it's likely that if we were to see them as "alien" they would need to be the same or very very similar to human form. Otherwise, it's likely we'd just call them a beast of some sort. Would you say a Gorilla is alien to a Human? They're not that different. Would you say a Dolphin and a Human are too different? They both have the capacity for independent thought, a consciousness, and are self-aware.

I agree.

It would make sense that if you're going to make first contact.... you want to meet those folks on the most similar or relatable terms.

Humans read body language a lot and such. It would probabbly facilitate a lot of communication to emulate human behaviors and etc to get started. Reduce tensions, communicate better, etc.

Plot twist: The most accurate and prescient Sci fi author is a benevolent and shapeshifting alien.

That would be a very pleasant twist.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com