First contact (science fiction)
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First contact is a common science-fictional theme about the first meeting between humans and aliens, or, more broadly, of any sentient race's first encounter with another one. The theme allows authors to explore such topics such as xenophobia, transcendentalism, and basic linguistics by adapting the anthropological topic of first contact to extraterrestrial cultures.
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[edit] Overview
Murray Leinster's 1945 novelette First Contact established the term "first contact" in science fiction, although the theme had previously appeared in e.g. H. G. Wells' The Time Machine (1895), The War of the Worlds (1898) and The First Men in the Moon (1901).
There have been entire series devoted to this theme. One classic series is the "interstellar trader" series by Andre Norton. A more modern treatment, using radio rather than spaceships, is Contact by Carl Sagan. Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's The Mote in God's Eye was written to be, in Niven's words, "the epitome of first contact novels". Here it is humanity which plays the role of the visiting aliens, as the religious, technological, political, psychological, military, cultural and biological implications of first contact are explored.
The Star Trek television series explores the theme in depth, and introduced the concept of the Prime Directive - a law which explicitly forbids first contact (or any form of interference for that matter) between humanity and its allies, and any and all races not sufficiently advanced (i.e. capable of interstellar travel) for such an encounter.
By contrast, in the novels of Iain M. Banks, the Contact division of the galactic civilization calling itself The Culture (which features in the majority of Banks' science fiction) are frequent manipulators of less advanced civilizations, steering them towards peaceful progress, especially those which may become aggressive or dangerous, under the pretense of maintaining the balance of galactic power. A notable exception being when the Culture encounters the Earth in the short story The State of the Art and deems humanity not to be worth contacting. Novels such as The Player of Games and Look to Windward delve into the psychology of first inter-species contact in considerable depth and it is in the novel Excession where Banks coins the phrase Outside Context Problem in relation to first contact.
The novel The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov eerily explores simultaneously the potential unity of all races, and the possibility of conflict that is inherent in all first contact situations: even as members of different races understand each other, their disparate ways may endanger both their worlds, even the fabric of their respective universes. This gap between individuals and their respective societies is characteristic of the First Contact plot of ET. Other explorations of the theme in popular culture include encounters with predatory or semi-sentient races as in Alien and Independence Day.
The absence of First Contact is evident in other works of science fiction, such as Asimov's Foundation series, where the Galactic Empire of Humanity is the undisputed ruler of the known cosmos, since no aliens exist. Examples of the mutual inscrutability and the potentially unbridgeable gaps between races which - by their very natures - are just too different to bond or even to accept each other, include Stephen Baxter's Xeelee Sequence concept of the dark matter photino birds, the god-like Firstborn from Arthur C. Clarke's Odyssey series. In other cases, such as Greg Bear's Forge of God and Anvil of Stars, or Bruce Sterling's Schizmatrix, aliens are presented as falling into a highly diverse spectrum, some easily relating with humans, others too alien for meaningful communication.
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In the exploration of the potential effects of a real-life First Contact situation, there is a multitude of scenarios, none of which can be proven more likely than the next until such an occurrence is actually upon us. Since the best evidence suggests that there has never been contact between humans and extraterrestrial species, the degree of culture shock which might occur is, of course, highly speculative. In science fiction, First Contact between intelligent species has resulted both in the ushering of eras of peace, and in cosmic warfare. Some science fiction writers, such as Arthur C. Clarke, have suggested that the technological gulf that would exist between two intelligent species would be so vast that Star Wars style scenarios are highly unlikely.
Conversely, the potentially colossal differences in cultures have frequently been considered to make the risk of causing offense during first contact, leading to conflict, extremely high. In the universe of the computer game Descent: FreeSpace, for example, a protracted, bloody war between humans and an alien race known as Vasudans is implied to have been sparked simply from a human mishandling of the Vasudan language, which is far more complex than any on Earth. Similar misunderstandings lead to the Bugger Wars in Ender's Game, and to the war against the Taurans in The Forever War.
Consider for example, how soldiers from the 16th century would fare against 21st century weaponry. Magnify the technological gap by thousands or even millions of years of additional development which may have occurred in an extraterrestrial species, and it becomes clear that the differences could potentially be so large as to make warfare absurd. The 1953 film War of the Worlds has a retreating general famously remarking: "It never was a war, any more than there's war between man and ants."
With such a gap, even basic understanding between cultures may be impossible. Pure statistical chance suggests that it is unlikely that two civilizations would be at the same state of technological development. In the third of his three laws, Clarke stated, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
[edit] Non-fiction
The theme of first contact is not limited to science fiction. For example, many stories about the old American West featured a first contact between European colonists and Native Americans. In Papua New Guinea, first contacts with hitherto unknown tribes were made as late as the 1930's.
[edit] Further reading
- Mike Resnick (1991). Second Contact. Legend. ISBN 0-09-974150-4. — Resnick explores the theme of humans recovering from a disastrous first contact.
- "Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters" by Ronald Story (2001) ISBN 0-451-20424-7 (It was the result of a collaborative Extraterrestrial Encyclopedia Project (ETEP); excerpts online)
- [1] has a good list of science fiction stories about first contact.
