1. Alien Psychology
What do our aliens
say about us?
Lisa Brenan

3. But first, an introduction!
Why do we choose to use aliens in our fiction?
What can our representations of aliens help us to understand
about ourselves?
Could our stories of aliens help us to understand an
extraterrestrial species, should we ever meet one?
But first, an introduction!

8. Tales of the Lost Formicans

10. The abduction project

11. So, why write about aliens?
Using aliens allows us to tell a story offering social criticism
without sounding preachy.
Aliens can personify people and things we fear.
Aliens can help us to understand the human condition by
interacting with humans.
Aliens can help give us a better understanding of ourselves by
acting as mirrors or foils to the humans in the story.
In this time of political correctness, aliens are a universal enemy
that it’s okay to hate an fear.

12. Social Criticism
Harry Turtledove: The World War and Colonization Sagas
Begins in the midst of WWII
Whole planet is taken over by a race of reptilian aliens
All countries are forced to unite to overthrow the aliens
Everyone must work together for the people of
the planet to survive.

13. Personification of Fears
Dracula
Not subject to natural laws
Extremely powerful
Seduces women
Kills without rhyme or reason

14. Human Condition
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (and countless others)
Arthur Dent is out of place
Home destroyed; orphaned
New, sometimes frightening experiences
Learning from his friends
Trillian may actually be the one revealing Arthur’s humanity.

15. Define Ourselves
Star Trek
Vulcans give us greater identity as humans by showing
us what we would be without emotion.

16. Universal Enemy
Harry Turtledove Sagas
War of the Worlds
Independence Day

17. Could our stories of aliens help us to understand an extraterrestrial species, should we ever meet one?

18. Well, yes and no.
One school of thought is that anything conceived by the human
mind can never truly be alien, and therefore any creatures we
may meet in the future will probably be even stranger than
anything we can imagine.
But...

19. Just because we can’t predict what aliens might be like does
not mean that our stories couldn’t be applied. If they tell
us something about humans, and humans are the only example
of intelligent life that we have, then it is not so inconceivable
that intelligent extraterrestrial life might have something in
common with us. Our stories might give us a place to start.

20. watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/A P.html
cms.psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=PTO
skepdic.com/aliens.html
astro.wsu.edu/worthey/astro/html/lec-ufo.html
Cartmel, Deborah ed., Hunter, I.Q. ed., Kaye, Heidi ed., Whelehan, Imelda ed.,
Alien Identities: Exploring Differences in Film and Fiction. Pluto Press;
London 1999.