Ask Jeff VanderMeer

Started by Corporal Hicks, Dec 16, 2008, 09:02:44 AM

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Ask Jeff VanderMeer (Read 43,820 times)

JeffVanderMeer

JeffVanderMeer

#30
Holy crap. I'll be that's it. They're the equivalent of M-16s or AK-47s. The space jockey was bringing a weapons' shipment to some planet to quell a civil war. And then it all went wrong...

Xenomrph

Xenomrph

#31
Quote from: War Wager on Dec 20, 2008, 02:57:22 PM
You mean an Alien picking up a pulse rifle and firing away?
I mean, why are they always hitch-hiking onboard spaceships when they're allegedly intelligent enough to make starships of their own?
Why wouldn't they use guns, or vehicles, or body-armor, as opposed to running head-long into automatic gunfire?

(it's probably because they're not super-geniuses ;) )

Corporal Hicks

Corporal Hicks

#32
Aye. That's one of the mannnnnyyyy different theories. The internet is just filled with them. Never read it myself but Aliens Original Sin apparently puts the Jockey's as being in cohoots with the Company.

War Wager

War Wager

#33
The Alien is perfection at all the basics, and in numbers theres no need for technology. Infact, they're better than technology. Think of them as a deadly gas; they spread quickly and make their environment unsafe for anything else. That sounds like a perfect weapon to me.

Xenomrph

Xenomrph

#34
Quote from: War Wager on Dec 20, 2008, 04:50:53 PM
The Alien is perfection at all the basics, and in numbers theres no need for technology. Infact, they're better than technology. Think of them as a deadly gas; they spread quickly and make their environment unsafe for anything else. That sounds like a perfect weapon to me.
I'm not disputing that, I'm disputing the notion that they're more intelligent than humans. :)

War Wager

War Wager

#35
They can be. :) This is shown many times in the movies (minus 'Aliens' and 'AvPR I guess).

We had this 'discussion' with Steve Perry, and it was one with no end.

Xenomrph

Xenomrph

#36
Well I guess the point is that on a human-based scale of intelligence, they clearly aren't more intelligent. They don't use tools, they rarely implement technology (and even then it's debatable if they understand the ramifications of what they're doing).

Other kinds of "intelligence", though? Perhaps even "alien" intelligences that we can't comprehend, not being Aliens? Sure, I could agree with that.

I'm not saying Aliens are as dumb as rocks, it's just that they use a different kind of intelligence that we don't implement, or can't understand. Tigers are very good at tracking and capturing prey, but they'll never be able to build a fire, or construct a wheeled cart, or use tools. They're dumber than humans in some regards, but implement other forms of intelligence that humans don't.

But keep in mind, "intelligent" and "cunning" are different things. :)

War Wager

War Wager

#37
You could argue that Aliens 'know' what they're prey are going to do next. Eg Kane's Son hiding in the shuttle in 'Alien', Aliens setting an underwater trap in 'A:R'.

JeffVanderMeer

JeffVanderMeer

#38
I would say, in terms of a novel, I probably wouldn't be able to get away with making Aliens intelligent anyway--but I could probably get away with making the queen intelligent.

Bill Ectric

Bill Ectric

#39
I agree with Xenomrph that there could be "alien" intelligences that we can't comprehend, so it's almost impossible to compare alien IQ to human IQ. It's like, no matter how intelligent dolphins are, they don't have opposable thumbs, nor do they need them or want them. I know that's not exactly the same thing, just a rough analogy.   

Predboy

Predboy

#40
Quote from: War Wager on Dec 20, 2008, 04:50:53 PM
Infact, they're better than technology.

Mmhmm. ::)

War Wager

War Wager

#41
Take the Hive attack in 'Aliens', the Marines had all the technology yet the Aliens still kicked their asses. Same with the national gaurd scene in 'AvPR'. What I'm trying to say is that they don't need weapons etc to beat the enemy. In most situations at least.

Predboy

Predboy

#42
Quote from: War Wager on Dec 20, 2008, 07:03:30 PM
Take the Hive attack in 'Aliens', the Marines had all the technology yet the Aliens still kicked their asses. Same with the national gaurd scene in 'AvPR'. What I'm trying to say is that they don't need weapons etc to beat the enemy. In most situations at least.

But thats different. They were up against humans that have never seen or even heard of aliens before. Put a group of experianced predators packed to the fullest, the outcome would have been way different.

And to stay on topic here......um....how experianced is the predator? :)

JeffVanderMeer

JeffVanderMeer

#43
I really think if you wanted to even the odds, you'd have to have the Aliens and Predators settle it with thumb wrestling. Winner take all. Best two out of three. Queen against battle-scarred Predator Elder. Space Jockey can referee. Humans as snacks.

Bill Ectric

Bill Ectric

#44
Taking the "different kind of intelligence" a step further, I'm thinking about the evolution of brain function. Humans are soft on the outside, vulnerable to damage. Early man developed shields, then armor, and metallurgy became an important science, figuring out how to melt and smelt combinations of metals to make them stronger or more pliable. Theories of alchemy emerged and people dreamed of changing lead into gold, and finally scientists discovered that each metal has its own atomic number, that being the number of protons and electrons in an atom.

An alien with a diamond-hard exoskeleton might have the same IQ as a human, but they don't give a rat's behind about metallurgy, so they never pursued it, thus, their  brains evolved differently.

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