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I think looking at things like Stargate SG-1 seasons 9/10 show why it's better to be left with such questions than answers. And I think that no author would be

I think looking at things like Stargate SG-1 seasons 9/10 show why it's better to be left with such questions than answers. And I think that no author would be able to satisfyingly describe concepts like that anyway, just the way that their "mortal" characters perceive such concepts.

goatlover 5y ago
Liu Cixin managed to provide some very interesting answers regarding the nature of the cosmic dark forest and higher dimensional space in Death's End, the third book in the Three Body Problem trilogy. The Expanse book nine, Leviathan Falls, will probably explain the advanced alien conflict and unknown aggressors that proceeded human discovery in the distant past. Given how the authors have handled mysterious alien stuff so far in the first eight books, looks like they can pull it off.
- jrootabega 5y ago
  I'll have to check it out! I've been delinquent on reading those.
  - garmaine 5y ago
    See the sibling comments... those books are SF thriller junk. Don't let me stop you from reading them if you enjoy that, but their reputation for "deep ideas" is not deserved.
- stormking 5y ago
  Oh come on, it's a nice book and I enjoyed reading it but his physics are pure bullshit and his game theory is based on pop psychology.
  - goatlover 5y ago
    It's fiction, not a science book. I'm responding to the claim that an author can't depict something akin to transcendence or very advanced technology. Both of which are fictional, at least as far as we know. Arthur C Clarke has also written stuff along those lines.
    - stormking 5y ago
      I was referring to "managed to provide some very interesting answers regarding the nature of the cosmic dark forest and higher dimensional space". No, he was not because his ideas about "the nature of the cosmic dark forest" - allthough having at least some internal consistency - lack any foundation in actual science and his ideas about "higher dimensional space" were pure nonsense. They were not "answers" but plot devices.
      - goatlover 5y ago
        Do you suppose ascended beings and advanced alien technology are scientific as opposed to plot devices? It's all fictional. Star Trek, Star Gate, Dune, Battlestar Galactica, even plenty of things in the Expanse (Epstein drive, protomolecule tech). Interesting answers means expanding on the rules and story in the fictional universe to provide explanations for mysteries the author(s) set up. It doesn't mean providing a hard scientific explanation for something that supposed to be beyond our scientific knowledge. Who took out the protomolecule builders and why? Leviathan Falls will likely provide some answers. Same with Death's End giving more details about the Dark Forest. It's an exploration of an idea, not a documentary. Imagine criticizing Dune because the spice and sand worms aren't based on actual biology.
        stormking 5y ago
        "Interesting answers means expanded on the rules and story in the fictional universe to provide explanations for mysteries the author(s) set up." That's the root cause of our disagreement. I simply call that a good story. On the other hand, to me a book gives "interesting answers" to something if it has something meaningful to say about reality, not just the fictional universe. In Dune, that would be true for politics and religion but not for sandworm biology.
        stormking 5y ago
        That's why the only books that have something meaningful to say about aliens are Solaris and Blindsight. In case of the fermi paradoxon, I'd add the first two books of Baxter's Manifold series where he offers two distinct explanations, the first one being "it's not a paradox at all, we're truly the first" and "some natural process is killing them off before they can colonize the galaxy".
  - Causality1 5y ago
    Yeah, even reading the synopsis gives you that "this author is really bad at math" feeling.
Causality1 5y ago
I quite enjoyed SG-1 seasons 9 and 10. Perhaps I would also enjoy having those answers.

goatlover 5y ago

Liu Cixin managed to provide some very interesting answers regarding the nature of the cosmic dark forest and higher dimensional space in Death's End, the third book in the Three Body Problem trilogy. The Expanse book nine, Leviathan Falls, will probably explain the advanced alien conflict and unknown aggressors that proceeded human discovery in the distant past. Given how the authors have handled mysterious alien stuff so far in the first eight books, looks like they can pull it off.

jrootabega 5y ago
I'll have to check it out! I've been delinquent on reading those.
- garmaine 5y ago
  See the sibling comments... those books are SF thriller junk. Don't let me stop you from reading them if you enjoy that, but their reputation for "deep ideas" is not deserved.
stormking 5y ago
Oh come on, it's a nice book and I enjoyed reading it but his physics are pure bullshit and his game theory is based on pop psychology.
- goatlover 5y ago
  It's fiction, not a science book. I'm responding to the claim that an author can't depict something akin to transcendence or very advanced technology. Both of which are fictional, at least as far as we know. Arthur C Clarke has also written stuff along those lines.
  - stormking 5y ago
    I was referring to "managed to provide some very interesting answers regarding the nature of the cosmic dark forest and higher dimensional space". No, he was not because his ideas about "the nature of the cosmic dark forest" - allthough having at least some internal consistency - lack any foundation in actual science and his ideas about "higher dimensional space" were pure nonsense. They were not "answers" but plot devices.
    - goatlover 5y ago
      Do you suppose ascended beings and advanced alien technology are scientific as opposed to plot devices? It's all fictional. Star Trek, Star Gate, Dune, Battlestar Galactica, even plenty of things in the Expanse (Epstein drive, protomolecule tech). Interesting answers means expanding on the rules and story in the fictional universe to provide explanations for mysteries the author(s) set up. It doesn't mean providing a hard scientific explanation for something that supposed to be beyond our scientific knowledge. Who took out the protomolecule builders and why? Leviathan Falls will likely provide some answers. Same with Death's End giving more details about the Dark Forest. It's an exploration of an idea, not a documentary. Imagine criticizing Dune because the spice and sand worms aren't based on actual biology.
      - stormking 5y ago
        "Interesting answers means expanded on the rules and story in the fictional universe to provide explanations for mysteries the author(s) set up." That's the root cause of our disagreement. I simply call that a good story. On the other hand, to me a book gives "interesting answers" to something if it has something meaningful to say about reality, not just the fictional universe. In Dune, that would be true for politics and religion but not for sandworm biology.
        stormking 5y ago
        That's why the only books that have something meaningful to say about aliens are Solaris and Blindsight. In case of the fermi paradoxon, I'd add the first two books of Baxter's Manifold series where he offers two distinct explanations, the first one being "it's not a paradox at all, we're truly the first" and "some natural process is killing them off before they can colonize the galaxy".
- Causality1 5y ago
  Yeah, even reading the synopsis gives you that "this author is really bad at math" feeling.

Causality1 5y ago

I quite enjoyed SG-1 seasons 9 and 10. Perhaps I would also enjoy having those answers.