What if the science fiction novels are wrong about invaders from space?
Here’s the plot of most of them: Flying saucers land in New Jersey or Area 51 and fan out across America to either kill the earthlings or teach us the errors of our ways.
The fictional visitors come in two basic varieties. The really sneaky ones look just like earth dwellers but have mystical superpowers. The most oft-seen are odd looking creatures that look like land based octopi or viperfish with legs or little green men.
Stand this idea on its head and what do you have? You have earth’s humankind as the space invaders in their early stages of development.
We have gone to the moon. Pretty spectacular accomplishment. But also not a long journey by space travel standards.
We’ve put mechanical gizmos on Mars. And everyone knows that’s a test run for an eventual manned landing. We’ve circled other planets with spacecraft. Ever so slowly, we are reaching out to the rest of the solar system, first optically, then electronically and in recent decades mechanically.
Do you remember the newspaper comic strip, “Pogo” who once said “we have met the enemy and he is us?” Well, maybe we have met the invaders from outer space and they is us.
Younger planet Alpha 481 has been chugging right along at about a million years behind earth. Homo erectus has been established as dominant species. Fire and the wheel have been invented.
So in another million years or so it will be 1928 and Alpha 481-ers will be speculating about life on other worlds. Meantime, present presidential and congressional elections notwithstanding, we have continued to evolve as well. Because we started so much earlier, we are that much more advanced.
Here’s a truly scary thought: We are the advanced civilization planning to bring our wisdom and earthly imperialism to Saturn or Pluto, not the other way around.
Shrapnel (NY Times takes the same path that turned the Trib into road kill edition):
--According to its competitors the New York Times is sharply reducing its coverage of some aspects of the arts and the workings of nonprofit organizations. Earlier it announced that it was cutting back its coverage of local news like crimes and fires. And they’re billing this as a realignment, not a reduction even though a fair number of people are being transferred from the newsroom to the unemployment line.
--Adjustment to the digital age, they say. More readers in Beijing than in New York Metro -- or something like that. Striving to remain the newspaper of record… click… of record… click… of record.
Words that Scare:
-Sorry for the inconvenience.
-There will be a slight delay.
-Close cover before striking.
-I’m going to cook something simple.
-Slow Children.
-Any phrase with the word “byproduct” in it.
-(Husband asks wife what’s wrong, she answers): Nothing.
-(Husband asks wife for advice, she answers): do what you want.
I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®
Please address comments to wesrichards@gmail.com
© WJR 2016
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