Playing with human emotions and fictional aliens

[Spacescifi]

Having seen Babylon 5, I tend to like it more than Star Trek.

Probably the only thing that bothers me is how human all the aliens act.

Star Trek on the other hand tends to make nearly all of a race act the same, which while unrealistic, at least it makes races more distinct in behavior.

There actually are a limited amount of ways to make a fictional race not act human. But the one I find most interesting involves emotions.

They say we have joy, fear, anger, sadness, and disgust, but we really have more.

This is what humans truly are emotionally:

Love: Remarkably it is unique in that it will spur one to be unselfish and self sacrificing. Not so sure the other emotions have that effect.

Fear.

Joy.

Anger

Sadness

Surprise

Disgust

So a total of eight basic emotions sums up what it means to be human well enough.

What's it mean to be a fictional alien who does not act human?

Mess with their emotions!

For example, when Deleen is interrogated/tortured and acts simply like a noble human, imagine if she had LESS emotions than humans do.

 

Love. Fear. Surprise.

That's it. In that case all attempts the human interrogator made to anger her would prove frustrating and likely bore her to death. She may even  grin at how silly the interrogator is for not realizing that as an alien, she does not even posess the same emotions humans have, which woukd surely annoy the interrogator even more. Yet she would still show fear when threatened, and would still be willing to die nobly for her cause.

 

Conclusion: I think retaining love for an alien character is smart, asofar even the Ferengi have it. Since without it, it is human nature to view a character as a villain by default.

 

Mainly for the human audience.

 

Thoughts?

Edited September 4, 2019 by Spacescifi

[kerbiloid]

(Where is Existential Frustration, where is Pleasant Agression? )

45 minutes ago, Spacescifi said:

For example, when Deleen is interrogated/tortured and acts simply like a noble human, imagine if she had LESS emotions than humans do.

If Delenn was a little bit smarter, she would start listing what she isn't, a deduction. (By the 20th hour of interrogation the inquisitor should fall asleep).
The inductive way chosen by her was not so much productive.

Edited September 4, 2019 by kerbiloid

[Spacescifi]

13 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:

(Where is Existential Frustration, where is Pleasant Agression? )

If Delenn was a little bit smarter, she would start listing what she isn't, a deduction. (By the 20th hour of interrogation the inquisitor should fall asleep).
The inductive way chosen by her was not so much productive.

Are you referring to my modded example of Deleen?

Meaning she could attempt to end the inquistion quickly by pointing out that the guy was wasting his time?

I dunno... he kind of implied that she needed to stick it through to earn her master's trust (Kosh).

[kerbiloid]

The inqusitor Jack:
"Who R U?"
She could start tediously whining like:
"Maybe I'm Delenn? But no, it's just a word they call me.
Maybe I'm Minbari? But no, that's just people I belong to.
Maybe I'm an embassador? But no, this is just my social role at the moment.
..."
Vorlons are fond of intellectual chewing gum, so their minion would keep listening with attention.

The conversation between people is very important.
Also it's very important to keep the visual contact with the interlocator, see his eyes.
Because like it's said, "the eyes are a mirror of soul".

The eyes show the interlocator's emotional state, his perception, his reaction on your words, his ability and readiness to cooperate with you or accept your ideas.

And when the interlocator's eyes start rolling, quickly knock him out with something heavy and do the things your way.

[Spacescifi]

19 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

The inqusitor Jack:
"Who R U?"
She could start tediously whining like:
"Maybe I'm Delenn? But no, it's just a word they call me.
Maybe I'm Minbari? But no, that's just people I belong to.
Maybe I'm an embassador? But no, this is just my social role at the moment.
..."
Vorlons are fond of intellectual chewing gum, so their minion would keep listening with attention.

The conversation between people is very important.
Also it's very important to keep the visual contact with the interlocator, see his eyes.
Because like it's said, "the eyes are a mirror of soul".

The eyes show the interlocator's emotional state, his perception, his reaction on your words, his ability and readiness to cooperate with you or accept your ideas.

And when the interlocator's eyes start rolling, quickly knock him out with something heavy and do the things your way.

Totally unrelated, but now I wanna see how the conversation would go if instead of Deleen it was... this guy.

Jules Winfield.

He may not speak like a Vorlon, but he DOES like to speak at length.

It would be entertaining to watch to say the least.

 

[kerbiloid]

I guess, as the inquisitor was Jack the _DVD Ripper, who was living in London in XIX cent, he had a rather great experience of communication with such persons, so unlikely he would be surprised.
As he had wide investigative powers from Vorlons (he tortured the Minbarian ambassador), probably he would soon stop asking and investigate Jules' internal world in his usual London manner.

[Spacescifi]

On 9/4/2019 at 9:38 PM, kerbiloid said:

I guess, as the inquisitor was Jack the _DVD Ripper, who was living in London in XIX cent, he had a rather great experience of communication with such persons, so unlikely he would be surprised.
As he had wide investigative powers from Vorlons (he tortured the Minbarian ambassador), probably he would soon stop asking and investigate Jules' internal world in his usual London manner.

It probably depends on Jules state of mind.

Post 'miracle' him and Jack may become friends, as they both wish to make amends for being career killers.

But at this point? Jules is likely a goner. Jack simply has wayy too much Vorlon tech for Jules to stand a chance.

Back to the OP, I have found that making aliens not act human effects their way of life, making it fundamentally somewhat different than the normal human experience.

For example, take love, joy, fear, and surprise only. What happens?

Pros: Less war if it even exists between each other. Main emotional drivers are fear and love, and would likely occur with beligerent alien races.

Cons; Hedonism may be popular, and those that were not would likely fear it, causing conflict based on both war and fear. So war could happen with each other, but it almost certainly would be about idealogy... not unlike the Vorlon vs Shadow war. And they would act dispassionate in battle, unless given reason to be fearful.

They would never feel nor show anger, yet that won't mean they won't attack.

Edited September 6, 2019 by Spacescifi