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Another of Terry Bisson's short stories, "Bears Discover Fire", is an absolute gem, and free to read online: https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/bears-di

Another of Terry Bisson's short stories, "Bears Discover Fire", is an absolute gem, and free to read online: https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/bears-discover-fire/ https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/bears-discover-fi...

retrocryptid 4y ago
+1. Bears Discover Fire is awesome.
CobrastanJorji 4y ago
I love the mood of the whole thing, but I wonder if I am missing an obvious symbolism or statement or idea somewhere. Maybe it's just the memories of high school English, but I keep wondering stuff like "do the berries mean something?" or "are the bears supposed to be replacing us?" Are the bears there just to add a bit of surrealism or magical realism, or what?
- jakzurr 4y ago
  Maybe that's part of the story, heh. Some of the characters wonder if they are missing something.
- mcv 4y ago
  I sounds to me like a proposed solution to the Fermi Paradox.
- qbrass 4y ago
  Pretty sure the author is hinting that the berries are being cultivated by the bears, but doesn't want to say it. The bears are filling in the gap left behind as humanity advances towards the future. Living in the medians both literally and figuratively. They're not replacing us, but what we were.
  - nine_k 4y ago
    I remember there was an animation series about "Gummi bears" which definitely cultivated "gummi berries" (with magical properties that made the bears act gummi). I wonder if there's a connection / reference.
- Stratoscope 4y ago
  Be there with the bears eating berries. We have all wondered about hidden meanings. The bears wonder too! After all, they are just beginning to discover fire. What is this thing? We know how to make it happen, but we don't understand it. Nothing is as obvious as we might hope. Don't let this trouble you. Just bear with it.
jaqalopes 4y ago
Wonderful share, thank you. The voice of this is so pitch-perfectly 20th century American. Full of folksy little observations that are actually enormous in their scope without being remotely alienating, like this one: "It looked like only a few of the bears knew how to use fire and were carrying the others along. But isn’t that how it is with everything?"
- ncmncm 4y ago
  The very best of what we used to call "old-school". Respectful of experienced reality, not imposing anything on it, but incorporating it into life without fuss. It was the gesture of leaving cut firewood that stays with me. They are neighbors now, and that's how you are with neighbors, even if you have nothing much to say to one another.
pwdisswordfish0 4y ago
This was also made into a short film: http://www.bearsdiscoverfire.com/watchnow http://www.bearsdiscoverfire.com/watchnow It’s gorgeous, but I found the story much better.

retrocryptid 4y ago

+1. Bears Discover Fire is awesome.

CobrastanJorji 4y ago

I love the mood of the whole thing, but I wonder if I am missing an obvious symbolism or statement or idea somewhere. Maybe it's just the memories of high school English, but I keep wondering stuff like "do the berries mean something?" or "are the bears supposed to be replacing us?" Are the bears there just to add a bit of surrealism or magical realism, or what?

jakzurr 4y ago
Maybe that's part of the story, heh. Some of the characters wonder if they are missing something.
mcv 4y ago
I sounds to me like a proposed solution to the Fermi Paradox.
qbrass 4y ago
Pretty sure the author is hinting that the berries are being cultivated by the bears, but doesn't want to say it. The bears are filling in the gap left behind as humanity advances towards the future. Living in the medians both literally and figuratively. They're not replacing us, but what we were.
- nine_k 4y ago
  I remember there was an animation series about "Gummi bears" which definitely cultivated "gummi berries" (with magical properties that made the bears act gummi). I wonder if there's a connection / reference.
Stratoscope 4y ago
Be there with the bears eating berries. We have all wondered about hidden meanings. The bears wonder too! After all, they are just beginning to discover fire. What is this thing? We know how to make it happen, but we don't understand it. Nothing is as obvious as we might hope. Don't let this trouble you. Just bear with it.

jaqalopes 4y ago

Wonderful share, thank you. The voice of this is so pitch-perfectly 20th century American. Full of folksy little observations that are actually enormous in their scope without being remotely alienating, like this one: "It looked like only a few of the bears knew how to use fire and were carrying the others along. But isn’t that how it is with everything?"

ncmncm 4y ago
The very best of what we used to call "old-school". Respectful of experienced reality, not imposing anything on it, but incorporating it into life without fuss. It was the gesture of leaving cut firewood that stays with me. They are neighbors now, and that's how you are with neighbors, even if you have nothing much to say to one another.

pwdisswordfish0 4y ago

This was also made into a short film: http://www.bearsdiscoverfire.com/watchnow http://www.bearsdiscoverfire.com/watchnow It’s gorgeous, but I found the story much better.