>When mankind meets other races in the galaxy, they find that they are literally the only race capable of finding humor easily.
>Other races have it, it's just harder for them.
>In other words, humans have the advantage of laughter.
How can this advantage and disadvantage us?
>>46844867
we survive despite our startlingly high levels of retardation
>Advantage
We seek friendlier than other races.
>Disadvantage
Aliens constantly questioning our race's intelligence.
>>46844898
>Having a sense of humor is retardation.
>>46844867
>Wars against humans involve plastering humorous images and slogans on everything.
>If the pretty terrible jokes and the like don't make them laugh, the absurdity of the situation does
>Or, at least, it used to. Humans are desensitized by now.
>>46844867
We would create such a funny joke that we would kill everyone from laughter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I3zCQzZx68
>>46844867
>Look at how stupid these hoomens are.
>SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKER, WE'RE NOT ACTUALLY (that) STUPID!
>Oh no, they have lasers and explosions, ahhh -ded-
I could see a negative being sarcasm as a form of humour and the aliens misinterpreting it.
>>46844867
Is there any guarantee other alien races will also have a concept of Humor? I mean, what's the evolutionary upshot of it?
>>46845582
Emotional pick me up.
>>46844867
We can make sanity rolls more easily, being able to just laugh off the illogicality of the universe.
We don't give in to despair as easily, and can use it to bond with each other.
Other species get annoyed that we aren't taking anything seriously.
>>46845582
Efficiency of communication? Aliens don't have room in their language for jokes, idioms, innuendos, double meanings, etc. They say what they mean and they mean what they say.
>>46845582
It's a social skil and we are social creatures so it provides many benefits. Such benefits are things like attracting mates, socialising with others and improving relationships, easing tension and working away stress , disarming minor or social conflict.
>>46844867
Imagine holding a conversation in which you are simultaneously tricking an alien and being truthful with another human. We'd have the best damn secret agents and criminal masterminds this side of the Virgo Supercluster.
>>46846929
Humans being best diplomat and spies? Original.
>>46844867
Wait, so essentially the other species of the galaxy have aspergers syndrome? If earth is any indication of how things would go down we would probably try to teach them about humour while also bullying them for not understanding it. Actually come to think of it maybe we would have the best psychologists / psychiatrists in the galaxy. Only maybe because on the one hand it could be that we are aware of psychological maladies that the other races are not, but then again maybe a sense of humour would be seen as a malady by them. At the very least we can be reasonably sure that many debates would be had, and that our differing autism spectrums would result in the migration of individuals between races.
I like all these threads theorizing what role mankind would assume in the future.
>>46844867
Human politicians are referred to as memelords unironically.
Laughter is the opposite of horror.
Something unexpected happened, and everything's okay.
We'd probably be more effective and nuanced communicators.
>>46847068
>Humans being best diplomat and spies?
>>46847977
>We'd probably be more effective and nuanced communicators.
To understand the coded messages of the Human armada is a nigh impossible task. There are many reasons for this, first of which is their impossibly complex ciphers which require decoding (good luck) or capturing a decoding machine. Then once the message is decoded one must understand the archaic earth languages all messages are sent in, which in itself is a problem given the small population pools of these languages. Next a team made up of scholars dedicated to studying human history, culture, and media is required to figure out if the message is referencing anything with allusions. The final step is the hardest stage of all requires hundreds of hours of work on the part of trained intelligence officers, scholars, and even mental patients all to figure out both who is there and why the chicken crossed the road.
>>46844867
We make other species really happy, and we are really good at reassuring them. A big part of laughter is the ability to dismiss something that might seem threatening, but in reality isn't.
So, we're kind of galactic cheerleaders. Who are also probably surprisingly good at fighting for long periods of time. On earth, Endurance is one of our main strengths, so that combined with being funny is pretty cool.
I'm assuming that we are also funny *to* the aliens right? Not just that we laugh more than them, but that our minds work in such a way that its easier for us to make them laugh.
So, we're not a great power, galactically speaking. Human colonies are likely sparse. On the other hand, humans are always present in the entourages of powerful aliens, and we find ourselves in a role as mercenaries, entertainers, and advisors (of a sort).
Downside, we're not taken particularly seriously, and aliens probably think of us as too emotional or a little bit crazy.
I like this thread. It is a good thread.
>>46848555
> Friend human. I have a quandary that has troubled my mind since I first learned of it. It has left me distracted through countless work hours and awake through sleep cycles unending. Please you must tell me, why did the chicken cross the road?
>>46844867
Advantage: We laugh off what other races would have seen as slights. Prevalence of "I didn't like that human at first but he grew on me" situations because we bounce back from situatioms other species would have taken personallyand become standoffish over
Disadvantage: we are seen like that laughing pet in Jabba's palace
>>46849572
Why, to get to the other side of course, my scholarly xenoid.
>>46844867
Seeking to derive pleasure from tragedy, we are less susceptible to PSTD than most alien species, not only from war and tragedy, but also from acidents and assaults. This also makes us more risk-prone which paid off in some fields of science and exploration.
However, being able to have such a unreal perspective is categorized as a form of mental disorder on these same species. The fact that we do it willingly makes it worse. In some jurisdictions, humans aren't considered capable of having autonomy, needing some sort of caretaker and housing at their equivalent of an asylum. A more extreme precaution treats us as memetic agents in need of AI-based censorship.
>>46849599
>we are seen like the laughing pet in Jabba's palace
suicide sounds like a preferable alternative.
Enemy Xenos would literally launch meme propaganda if we ever got into a war
"HUMAN AMBASSADOR! I MUST INSIST YOU REFRAIN FROM MAKING THIS RACKET! Now as I was saying the Organic material you choose to cover these seats in is causing sever rashes in the posteriors of the Du.... WHY ARE YOU MAKING THAT NOISE AGAIN"
>>46850299
This rattles my bones.
>>46850097
And then everyone would laugh because of how bad the alien's humor is.
>>46850010
>A more extreme precaution treats us as memetic agents
All hail Top Kek
>>46852409
Ayyyy lmao.
>>46852422
>be advanced space faring race
>attempt to trade with backwater world simians for their precious minerals
>the keep making that "ayy lmao" noise and then coughing or gagging
I say hoo-mens should be exterminated.
>>46852447
One of these days, we'll really end up making another race.
And then mankind will quickly try to erase all these discussion and Humanity, Fuck Yeah threads out of fear it'll be considered as some kind of chuuni fantasy.
>>46852447
I like this idea better
>first contact
>humanity and the aliens have just met after two explorer vessels come into contact
>alien greets you
>ayy lmao
>>46850097
There's only one way to counter meme warfare.
Ensure they encounter no meme-using websites except Facebook and 9gag. This will dramatically reduce the chances of their attacks actually being funny.
>>46852519
>alien find Earth
>they decide to learn our language first
>pick up communication channels
>the first thing they see from mankind is a XCOM2 stream
>"They play THAT? And they find it fun?!?"
>alien sweating intensifies
>>46852571
>alien spend more and more time monitoring communication
>they end up thinking that fighting aliens is mankind's fetish
>become really scared that, upon discovering, mankind's first reaction will be "Aliens are real! Get your guns!"
>>46852635
>aliens find Mass Effect and Star Trek
>get really confused
>>46852646
>report to their superiors that mankind will fuck them if they look like female, but murder them if they're anything else
>>46852656
No too far from our usual modus operandi, honestly.
>>46853139
Survival of the fittest.
That's how we survived.
>>46844867
>disadvantages: humans are attributed to having so many distinct advantages that they are considered special snowflakes and everyone will laugh at you if you try to play one in a ttrpg.
>advantages: all humans are dudebros with poor senses of humor (despite being the only beings naturally inclined to humor) and only play the most plebian of games, so they don't know or care about their infamous reputation.
Is there any setting where the humans are super speshul snowflakes and the rest of the galaxy/universe fucking hate us for it?
>>46850010
My favorite alium
>>46853257
Yeah, it's called every sci fi setting ever.
>>46853257
Anyone tagged as "HFY".
Through I remember a pasta decribing mankind as being the descendant of a galactic equivalent of a penal world, and the others aliens fearing them because humans are totally immune to psychic stuff.
>>46853310
>humans as space Australia
>>46850097
>>46852539
Ayy lamo, you find this fun human?
>>46853257
Every HFY-Thread ever. I'm sure you can make something out of it.
>>46853325
Basically, but even worse, since people were left with literally nothing and had to relearn everything, while Australia still had the Great Britain supporting them.
>>46848555
>>46849572
>>46849829
>The war against humanity was mostly a one sided battle
>Humanity tried it's best to stand against the alien menace, but practically every weapon in the sector was far too weak to even scratch the alien's war ships
>However, one vessel was able to break through the alien blockade, due to a complex coded order "Why did the chicken cross the road" confusing the aliens long enough to create a gap
>The human colonies seemed to be on the brink of destruction, as the full force of the alien armadas broke through their last line of defense
>However, a warp hole suddenly cracked open at the rear of the alien's fleets, and a massive wave of human ships came racing out, far more advanced than anything the colonies had, the aliens were caught completely off guard and their forces quickly broke against the onslaught
>The last image transmitted back to the command ship of the alien armada was of a massive behemoth of a cruiser lurching out of the warp rift, emblazoned on it's side was a bright blue orb splotched with green, and written next to it in big, bold letters was "OTHERSIDE"
What if it turned out the only advantage and special thing humanity has is our ability to eat really spicy foods for enjoyment?
>>46853603
It would suck big time.
>we are the terraken
>we have two brains
>we are the kasvagorians
>we are strong and extremely resilient
>we the salt hog
>we never complain and don't feel pain or boredom
>we the humans
>we...
>umm
>we can eat really spicy food!
>>46844955
We'd be the mad jesters of the universe.
"They laugh at everything! EVERYTHING!"
"You know they actually frequently kill one-another en masse?"
"Oh god it's smiling WHY THE FUCK IS IT SMILING..."
![holocaust-jokes_o_1882435[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/Yxcd4Hx.jpg "holocaust-jokes_o_1882435[1].jpg")
>>46853644
"THEY LAUGH AT THE THOUGHT OF INTRA-SPECIES MASS MURDER!"
>>46853644
And then there's that thing called dark humour.
>"OH MY GOD THAT HUMAN ON THE SCREEN IS ON FIRE"
>"WHY ARE THEY LAUGHING?"
>>46853622
>I do not see how that is any talent, human
>Well, you see High Lord Glliblorp, this is a pepper, it is not just any pepper, it is a genetically modified pepper from our home planet, we specifically bred this pepper to be as hot as we could get it to be, and at this point, it is strong enough to peel paint, a single drop of it's juices causes such intense, blinding pain in anything capable of sensing it that they are reduced to a sobbing, sniffling, screaming ball of agony. We eat this for fun. And it's not even the hottest pepper we have created. Thats in my lunch.
>>46853667
>The humans have an entire industry of entertainment involving them hurting themselves in more and more idiotic and horrifying fashions
>Whats worse, the ones hurting themselves seem to be enjoying it almost as much as those watching!
>>46844867
>tfw when you will never grin illuminated by the fires of a giant graveyard of your enemies space cruisers
>tfw when your grin will never be illuminated by a cigar and laser burst as you burst into an alien foxhole
>tfw you will never laugh with maniacal rage as you rape and pillage your way through your enemies capital
why live?
>>46853696
I'm sure alien psychologists will decide we're all secretly craving for a good old fashioned slaughter.
>>46853682
Basically being walking biohazards, that keep walking well after everything else has stopped.
>>46853644
Every human ship would have the masks of comedy and tragedy as the figureheads
>>46853712
So, we turn into the harlequins? space clowns: the race.
>>46844867
> >Other races have it, it's just harder for them.
Fuck.4chan is overrun by aliens.
Well. At least this explains a lot.
>>46853710
Humans. Its not our willpower, it's not our charisma, it's not our sense of humor, and it's not our sex drive. What sets us apart from all other races is our ability to shovel nightmarish things into our mouths and ask for seconds.
>By the stars, these humans have a dish that consists of a fish marinated in POISON
>>46853719
>can't sleep, humans will eat me
>>46853712
That's actually a cool idea.
>>46853722
I wish I still had that screenshot of OP pretending to be an alien looking for a place to live and Anon answering "fuck off space nigger, we're full, you can crash on the moon if you want".
>>46853730
>Gbbilbrax Intergalactic Transport Station has been in biohazard lockdown for the last 13 standard hours, due to a human delicacy known as Surströmming.
>>46853734
>found out a video of a human committing ritualistic suicide by jumping from a building
>showed video to other video
>he laughed
>he was still laughing when we evacuated the building
>I can still hear him
>his laugh is stuck in my head
Add in our adrenaline and strange moods, and we're an entire race of Gamzees.
>>46853603
Consider that pepper burns because the burning chemical is a neurotoxin.
>>46853750
>>46853780
Now that I think about it, it's not unheard for people (even these that aren't bipolars) to swing moods pretty quickly.
Not to mention we sometimes get depressed over stupid shit.Like Han Solo's death.
>>46852646
>Aliens find Xeno threads on /aco/ and /tg/
>Get REALLY confused
>>46853806
>mfw aliens tried to contact mankind through 4chan
>got BTFO
>they're now infiltrating 4chan
Let me get my bayonet.
>>46845582
Weirdly, humour is a massive evolutionary boon and probably as central to the development of primitive societies as our tendency to religion was.
It's grooming a la our close ancestors, basically. It's grooming except you can 'groom' a group of people in a significantly shorter time than it would take to pick through their hair for lice. It's a shot of happy neurological signals that can be triggered at will but only in social situations.
There are books on this shit man.
>>46853794
I remember reading somewhere that carnivorous species have less taste than herbivores.
So the meat-eating ayyys wouldn't be able to taste our food and the grass-munching ayyys would find it bland.
>>46853830
> infiltrating
> moon alien owns 4chan
Slowpoke human.
All your base are belongs to us.
>>46853886
What you say!
>>46853622
>The great galactic Empire has ritualistised warfare down to an eating contest
>Humans have dominated the field of battle for centuries through their secret weapon
>Cheap balti house curries.
>>46853902
>new habitable planet found
>no dominant species
>each race wants it
>verge of civil war
>it's decided the planet will be handed out to the race winning the contest
>roll to see what kind of contest
>eating contest
>all other races just drops out
>humans are the only one competing
>>46844959
It's /tg/. Autism is a prerequisite.
I prefer stories where aliens just see things differently.
For example :
>aliens see research as a religious duty
>only a handful of people are allowed to
>then they meet the humans
>so curious about everything they're literally researching everything they can
>from ants to cosmos
>including the art of fighting with just their hands
>the aliens' face when they learn that humans have more than 50 ways to fight with just their bodies
>including several martial arts where you fight your opponent without hitting him
>>46853953
And I forget :
>despite having made insane progress in warfare
>we still keep old weapons and use them in sports
>fencing is still a thing even through we have automatic weaponry
>and are on the verge of creating automated turrets
plot idea:
Aliens find Earth long after it is destroyed do to negligence. They unearth a massive deposit of Human media such as Star Wars, Warhammer 40k, Dungeons and Dragons etc. and they believe it all to be true. They come to believe that Humans inhabit some farflung corner of the galaxy and are all powerful.
>>46854072
Intergalactic society grinds to a fucking halt as they gear up to fight the human menace that is surely approaching.
>>46854072
Wasn't that already done with the Cthulhu Mythos?
>>46854144
This leads to the aliens own demise as resource hoarding impending the oncoming perceived onslaught is believed to happen. Galactic war breaks out amongst the Holy Ayy emprire causing great ruin and destruction on an unprecedented scale.
>>46854300
I honestly have no idea.
>>46853978
Automated turrets already exist, deployed on the korean border
>>46844867
>All other alien races are the same but Humanity's special
I hope you HFYfags had even one original idea
>>46854693
Woah, so edgy.
>>46854706
It's always one of these two things with Human circlejerkers:
>a seemingly innocent trait Humanity has that eventually turns out to be super awesome that makes us the best in the galaxy
or
>Humanity is cursed but we're so crazy and/or badass we overcome any impossible challenge the universe throws at us
Meanwhile, all the various cookie cutter alien races serve no purpose than to stand in awe of our greatness.
>>46854811
Woah, so edgy.
>>46853780
Man, Gamzee was so much more enjoyable as a character as a dumb alien stoner.
>they start looking at a subset of human media which contains several variations of laughter that can be used to gauge character traitshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbfaF5otJv0
>>46855076
Oh boy, that takes me back. I feel so old.
>>46855076
>7 minutes of this retarded high-pitched laugh
Please no. It's only barely tolerable in small doses.It wouldn't sound so shit if she had a deeper voice.
>>46853703
I think human psychologist have already come to this conclusion.
>>46853810
I was more depressedabout how fucking awful that movie was, seriously; the prequels were more enjoyable; at least they did not kill my interest in Star Wars as a franchise
>>46856600
Fuck. Kill. Eat. Rinse and repeat, that's the way the world goes.
>>46854857
He's not wrong tho.
>>46856654
>the prequels were more enjoyable
Your posting privilege have been revoked.
Reason : shit taste.
>>46856654
I agree with your statement (I'm a different Anon), but sadly Star Wars is dead to me. God dam shitty movie and shitty director.
>>46856719
No, seriously, TFA was basically a worse New Hope.
With the prequels at least I didn't know exactly what was going to happen in the next scene. Sure, most of it was cringeworthy, but at least it was not pretending to be the better classic.
Basically the entire movie was Kylo Ren: some ugly punk kid that wanted people to think he's the cool old legend.
Also with Thief the First they're doing away with Kyle Katarn for certain. Fuck this.
>>46856769
>TFA was basically a worse New Hope
Stopped reading there.
Your posting privilege have been revoked.
Reason : shit taste.
>>46844867
The only benefit of humor is that is a relatively cheap way of reducing stress and creating fast bonds. Something that apparently all the other species don't have problem with. So basically, to them, Humans are a bunch of fools, and probably weak-minded. We would be exploited and every species would be biased towards ours.
>>46856804
But it's not even a matter of taste, it's an objective fact.
Same scenes, same plot, even similar superweapon.
Except with more hamfisted plot points, like Han's death, that Darth Lmao sith master or Luke at the end.
The only good parts of TFA were the shenanigans on the desert planet (that was actually cool and I liked Rey) and TR-8R.
>>46856909
Your posting privilege have been revoked.
An extermination squad has been sent to your place.
Reason : shit taste.
>>46856906
Read
>>46845673
>>46853865
>>46845620
There are allot of benefits to humor.
>>46856926
If shit taste would be a reason to be exterminated, you'd be dead the moment you bought the ticket for this awful movie.
As a Star Wars fan I wept.
>>46857000
Cool blogging. What's your Tumblr so I can like and subscribe?
>>46856978
Yes there are. And any society van get by without it. It can have a similar response, or none at all. And still function, and probably function better.
Op said the other races have it, it's just hard for them. Which means, they don't need it altogether. So a funny human move along telling jokes and laughing about nonsese, and the other races just look at him with spite, thinking "just lookat this simpleton".
yeah. We would be a great joke for them. They would laugh. Of us.
The first/only intelligent species humanity comes into contact with is dominated by an empire/federation that has religious prohibitions against members of the majority religion engaging in animal training or husbandry. Previously relying on sectarian minorities of their species, humanity provides an huge new labor pool for animal handling jobs. Humans in relevant fields jump at the chance to learn more about the wildlife of an alien world.
>>46857060
Yet at the same time, we would suffer less from depression and PTSD because we can laugh off a threat.
>>46857121
What are the benefits of being able to laugh? How would an alien race who cannot laugh fare?
>>46857145
Comedy and humor is a method of dealing with stress, even if it is harder for you it can be bad because it would be easier to succumb to depression. Humor is the opposite of horror, the harder it is the grasp the easier it is to have certain problems.
>>46857145
>How would an alien race who cannot laugh fare?
Sourly.
>>46857121
Yes we can. but not always. That's why we invented all those "happy and funny pills" and drugs. Aliens would probably have them too. And probably more efficient.
Even humans with no sense of humor at all (like the Imperium of Man in the Warhammer universe) can get by without humor.
It's bleak. It's dark. It's unhappy in all fronts, but it still go strong.
Any contact with a society without humor would not fail right away, but clearly we will not like them for being "too damn serious all the time", and they will think that "we don't take things as serious as we should".
Alliances would be convoluted. It would be glorious.
>>46857173
>>46857189
So how about all these aliens who don't have emotions, like the Vulcans and the Grey? How do they usually deal with stress?
Is it even possible to not have emotions?
>>46857212
No emotions at all would make something narcissistic and capricious.
>>46857198
>Even humans with no sense of humor at all (like the Imperium of Man in the Warhammer universe) can get by without humor.
Meet Commissar Yarrick. He heard Orks told stories of how he can kill with a look, so he had a laser gun installed in his eye to make it true.
>>46857307
So unable to build a civilization?
>>46857212
Sorry to use a heavily outdated meme, but this sums it up.Besides, I'm not going to try as hard when the answer is already in the thread just a few post above.
>>46857348
And that's suppose to be funny? And that's funny topping seriousness? What are you trying to say?
That's sound like an angry guy with an angry gun that he built because he heard stories about how good he was at killing. He ain't lauging. They guy that made it for him wasn't laughing, the orks are not laughing, and if they were, they are not laughing anymore.
>>46857363
Well, yeah. They would be able to create one, in order to avoid confrontation all the time or even to try to appeal to something they don't have, which is true desire. An entire race like this would probably fail spetacularly.
You could have a race with less emotions, or that after a time tried really hard to repress their emotions, but no emotions at all would hardly make anything able to create a civilization. It simply can't be done. There are simply no wants, only needs. Once you cover those needs, there's no need for anything anymore. You just become stale, and with no emotions you cannot even realize that.
>>46857425
>And that's suppose to be funny?
If you don't find humour in this there is something seriously wrong with you.
Sure, 40k may have shed most of it's parody roots, but stuff like Yarrick or ELEVEN BARRELS OF HELL is still absurdly funny.
You probably need a bit of a British mindset of laughing at misery to find the humour in the Imperial Guard though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwOG-64Zeao
>>46857528
It's funny for me. It's funny for you. It's nof funny for the character or the setting if it wasn't a game. In Warhammer we have fun by pretending to be soldiers that don't have fun at all.
>>46857589
Okay, I give you that. Still, you need some warped mindset to make yourself "orky". That or a lack of self-awareness.
>>46857492
Funny, because you seem to imply emotions (and a certain degree of empathy) are necessary.
>>46845582
At its root, humor is an all clear response. When you notice something wrong, you go into overdrive to determine if it's a threat. When you determine its not a threat, you laugh at it, because it was skins flapping in the wind, and not wolfs padding around your tent.
As we grew more advanced, it was tied into our social behaviors. Now we surprise people intellectually and they laugh because they expected something else:
An apex predatory species would likely have a highly atrophied sense of humor, as if you did not develop threatened, you would not need an "all clear" response like humor or laughter.
Interestingly, that means humans would only be the funniest race if they are the most "prey-like" species to develop into a society. This is rather likely considering we evolved to have only one defense, namely our immense intelligence.
This also means we're likely the smartest race excluding unforseen circumstances.
It means we'd likely be slaughtered in ground combat. Our endocrine response would make us surprisingly dangerous when ambushed however.
We'd be the durable ones who take care of and repair our kin. Not the wisest, but surprisingly fast to adapt, and with a top notch mental capacity. Finally, we'd be the universe's least imposing berserkers... At least until you lose a pair of eyes because an unarmed human decided the most reasoned course of action was to gouge your face with his thumbs until something broke.
Typically the human, but just because you were born with 6 eyes doesn't mean you spend the rest of your life watching their hands warily with the remaining 4.
>>46857671
I like that, but I have trouble imagining what would be a typical human behavior and what would be an universal behavior.
For example, you never put yourself between a mother and her kids, and you never corner an animal.
Would an alien share that common sense?
>>46853622
>humanity renders planets uninhabitable to other species by contaminating the water supply with cayenne
>>46857772
It depends if they determine humans have prey responses and to what extent.
The fact we fight or flight may be unique, where in other biospheres, creatures have expected reactions to threats.
Mother and kids would be expected; even predators do it... But going full ham when cornered?
Like I said, the first alien to assume we'd capitulate will be the first alien to discover our favorite word in conflict: Spite.
I am dead, while you are blind/cracked/burned. I honestly think we'd be one of the few creatures in the universe to actually engage in suicide attacks at this "level" of civilization.
>>46857960
That's not what I meant.
There is a common sense among all creatures on Earth, and obvious messages that everyone can understand.
For example, when a dog growls at you, you don't get closer, because you instinctively know he'll attack.
Would an alien be able to understand that kind of thing?
>>46858022
I'm not sure. It would be rather odd for a civilized race to act like animals.
Especially since we've gotten to the point that our "Growl" is linguistic; Determining between an human getting angry or a human getting violent is already difficult for our own species.
>>46858058
Do I just suck at explaining or is it you?
>>46858183
Probably me, I'm doped up on benadryl.
>>46858224
What I meant is that there are common body language to all animals on Earth (baring the teeth, yelling, etc...), and I was wondering if an alien would be able to understand that.
>>46858279
I think I get it.
Looking at our precursors to figure out how humans would work? Evolutionary Biology applied to diplomacy?
Very likely, and we should work to exploit that ASAP as well. The "pre-alien" should give insane amounts of data on the evolved species just like the "pre-human" should basically give them everything about us.
>>46857620
They're incredibly helpful biological tools that help us equate our needs and form goals, and evaluate our environment.
Emotions are the net result of being able to understand our environment, and gives us an edge. Emotions like fear, anxiety, happiness, and love (addiction, really) are critical to most animals with a centralized nervous system.
It increases rate of survival to such an extent that you have to reduce an animal to a simple state, such as an insect, to start to really start doubting the importance of emotion in their survival. And even then, they still have pleasure and fear responses, which non-CNS animals can lack.
Emotional intelligence is also a thing, and is the quality that one can analyse your phenomenological field. The more intelligent something is, the more control over and sophisticated the emotional response to stimuli is.
Lacking emotions isn't an issue with being able to form a civilization, it's an issue with being able to survive. You'd have to possess a completely alien (in every sense of the word) psyche to be able to survive without emotions.
This is why concepts like the Vulkans are shit, assuming they evolved to have limited emotions. If they're so similar to us, they'd be far less intelligent.
>>46858279
I'm just going to point out that smiling is often interpreted by animals as baring teeth despite having the exact opposite meaning.
>>46857620
I'm a different fellow than the one you're replying to.
They're incredibly helpful biological tools that help us equate our needs and form goals, and evaluate our environment.
Emotions are the net result of being able to understand our environment, and gives us an edge. Emotions like fear, anxiety, happiness, and love (addiction, really) are critical to most animals with a centralized nervous system.
It increases rate of survival to such an extent that you have to reduce an animal to a simple state, such as an insect, to start to really start doubting the importance of emotion in their survival. And even then, they still have pleasure and fear responses, which non-CNS animals can lack.
Emotional intelligence is also a thing, and is the quality that one can analyse your phenomenological field. The more intelligent something is, the more control over and sophisticated the emotional response to stimuli is.
Lacking emotions isn't an issue with being able to form a civilization, it's an issue with being able to survive. You'd have to possess a completely alien (in every sense of the word) psyche to be able to survive without emotions.
This is why concepts like the Vulkans are shit, assuming they evolved to have limited emotions. If they're so similar to us, they'd be far less intelligent.
So, yes, emotions appear to be necessary under current psychological knowledge. Take a look at prefrontal leucotomy patients, who accidentally throw away their lives because they have reduced ability to evaluate their actions.
>>46858363
More like trying to determine if there is an universal common sense.
>>46858382
Yeah, I know about that. Monkeys are dangerous.
>>46858404
>>46858377
I don't think you understand how races or civilization building works
>>46858437
That reminds me of a SF book I read once. Humans are arguing about alien signs in a building, saying they don't make sense since the arrows are pointing at walls.
And then someone says that it's not logical from a human point of view but that it's logical from an alien's point of view.
>>46844867
Without dumb humour, you lose a shitload of complexity from your language. Homonyms, homophones, puns, slang and wordplay would all be removed from the language. I suppose it would also influence body language.
One advantage I could see is every form of communication being very easily encoded or obfuscated by even the most dim-witted human. Not to mention the incredible difficulty of another species learning the language in the first place. It's even further complicated by every language evolving constantly. Spanish or English learned by Gleep Glorp 10 years ago is suddenly useless because of a series of in-jokes that mutated into expansive memes which can express 18 different levels of happiness, sadness, disgust and anger in simple combinations of dots and lines.
Shit, Loss.jpg is a fantastic example of how ridiculously complex and nuanced we can get, to the point where a picture of windows or fucking empty pudding cups can express an idea.
>>46858665
Well, the OP does say that they have humor, but it doesn't come easily to them. So they would need jokes explained to them clinically most of the time. They could understand puns once they're explicitly pointed out. The history of an in-joke would need to be explained piece by piece, but they'd understand it.
>>46858665
This, don't even get me started on what trouble our natural sarcasm can cause. If they can't understand certain jokes then something like sarcasm would be hard for them as well, which would lead to more hilarity. Which may escalate to more hilarity.
>>46858665
>Peace negotiations
>Being monitored constantly by advanced alien race
>Aliens holding entire human race hostage as a battle rages and scientists work on a last-ditch effort
>Single message sent to diplomat from unknown source
>ishig.jpg
>It's just a picture of a pink balloon with sunglasses, tied to a baseball bat
>Every single human that receives the message instantly withdraws to defensible positions
>With no prior exposure to the image or knowledge of it, all instinctively know what to do
>Fusion weapon rips through alien fleet
>Humans secure victory and force them into a peace treaty
>Incident is studied by thousands of alien scientists
>Prevailing theory is embedded subliminal messaging only perceptible by humans
>>46844959
>not knowing what word means
>>46858864
Sarcasm is okay. Irony will get us into trouble, since it's about saying the ooposite of what you mean.
>>46854811
>pic related
That makes me think. If humans are the race most likely to understand and appreciate humor, would there be a race that behaves in a fashion we find hilarious, but is taken completely seriously by the rest of the galactic community? How would this affect the setting?
>>46853603
This alien wants to melt your anus with space chilies.
>>46859469
You're fucking retarded. Irony, deception, and lies are fundamentally required to have a functioning society.
>>46859174
>pink balloon with sunglasses, tied to a baseball bat
Am I actually secretly an alien if I don't get what this is supposed to mean?
Is it some dank meme of times long past, or something?
>>46860268
Deception and lies yes, not really irony in a humorous sense.
>>46844867
People in this thread really need to read the Uplift Series by David Brin. It pretty much covers, well, everything this thread has talked about.
Humans are typically seen as tricksters, and some of our biggest exports to our allied species are fantasy novels and Three Stooges videos.
>>46860461
>not recognizing shiggy
>>46860745
Oh, this one.
Yeah, should have latched onto the words "baseball bat", honestly. Didn't think of this one for some reason.
>>46860745
Oh, I thought that one meant offensive positions.
>>46860919
"I seriously hope you guys don't do that" sounds more like a defensive stance to me. Like "you will regret attacking me".
>>46860068
When Japanese speakers roll their Rs to sound intimidating I break down laughing. No matter what the situation is or how heated things are I always find it funny.
A friend of mine once said to me "Well what if some yakuza started rolling his Rs at you?". I thought about it for a second and then laughed at the scenario and the sound of Rs rolling in my head.
>>46845620
So reading A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe would cause SAN loss for non humans?
>>46859174
>It's just a picture of a pink balloon with sunglasses, tied to a baseball bat
>Every single human that receives the message instantly withdraws to defensible positions
This is where I lost it.
>>46865626
I still don't get it.
>>46844867
Humor could be a way to cope with the absurd, preventing mental breakdown and depression, leaving us hardened against and better at psychological warfare. It could also hint at perhaps not a GREATER intelligence, but a more lateral way of thinking.
Downside is that xenos REALLY hate our jokes about real world issues like terrorist attacks, xenophobia, rape, and the like. We're on the back foot socially, and we end up sticking to ourselves mostly because everyone else needs to lighten up
Well really it would just mean greater emotional stability. We'd have a capability to laugh at terrible things and we'd bounce back faster from trauma. We'd be a little more warped for it in comparison to other species, but we could carry on and maintain our composure through much more mental stress.
>>46869919
Maybe we understand some (to others) horrible truth about the universe because we can hold it in our heads without shitting ourselves or becoming suicidally depressed. Like the heatdeath of the universe.
>>46853730
lutafisk is disgusting
>>46868805
I didn't mean that the joke was lost on me, I meant that I lost control laughing.
Its meaning was pointed out by >>46860745 : a reference to a joke was used as a coded message because its ayys can't into humor. Thus it would be taken at face value or over analyzed to figure what possible symbolism the picture could have. The fact this needs to be explained really makes me think we are not alone in the universe.
Regardless of your species or planet of origin please enjoy this artist's rendition of ishig.jpg
>>46859174
If they don't have humor, do they have worldplay? Puns? Could you do just as effectively my showing a silhouette of a duck?
>>46845090
Mah nigga!
Underrated post my friend
>>46857198
>and they will think that "we don't take things as serious as we should".
>"HMS I Found the Gravitas Guys! It was Under the Couch!"
>>46845666
>hyoominz end up introducing the galactic community to lies
>>46870068
Ain't got nuthin on Casu marzu
>>46853682
This was one of my favorite tropes until someone pointed out to me that birds are unaffected by capsaicin. I then had to satisfy myself with the idea someone said, to the effect of "The greatest survival trait for any species on earth, is to be useful to humans"
>>46853310
There's a huge 110 part story about that called The Fourth Wave
>>46858592
So what, the opposite end of the arrow is what they're actually pointing to? A civilization not being able to understand the arrow makes sense, but I can't see how an advanced one could ever do it in reverse. The arrow originates from, well, literal arrows, and you can't invent the arrow unless you comprehend that pointiness = sharp.
>>46860745
So you mean ISHYGDDT, not "ishig." That still doesn't explain how we would instinctively know to duck and cover just from seeing it.
>>46844867
I'd imagine most aliens would find us abrasive. we'd probably step all over their culture's toes inadvertently.
>>46871855
Eh, just pretend they step over your culture just as much to get even.
Might even get a little bit unbalanced in your direction.
>>46871632
An over stylised pointing hand could look like an arrow, and would be indicating the opposite direction.
>>46871632
>>46871998
Its really simple. Something like a comet leaves a trail behind it, so its smaller where it has been and bigger where it is going. Similarly walking leaves a trail, a small remnant of you that if followed will lead to all of you. Also an arrow can represent a journey, meaning the individual in the unimportant place (the small end) will go to the important place that may have more people (the bigger end).
>>46850030
Chuckled
>>46872912
If a culture made their signs based off of that then they would make their signs in the shape of crescents not arrows. That still doesn't solve how a culture would make a reverse arrow sign.
>>46872912
>>46873840
Sorry I mean a half yin yang symbol, or a magatama. Whatever you call that shape, not a crescent. Excuse my drunken English.
>>46870136
???
Your attempt at humor confuses me, carbon-based lifeform.
>>46873840
>>46873936
I don't see why would it have to be what you are describing. Drawing any kind of arrow or an approximation of an arrow always requires a triangle shape (->, ▶ , etc). And as I tried to say before the interpretation of the triangle can be different. Even when starting with the biggest point and ending in the smallest point a design at the point of the arrow doesn't disrupt its meaning such as a ⤞ (its a symbol of an arrow with a box in front of it). Likewise when starting with the smallest point and ending in the biggest a design like the shaft of an arrow doesn't disrupt the meaning such as a (its a regular arrow symbol).
>>46874908
>>46873840
>>46871632
The symbolism of what the arrow is depicting can alter the interpreted meaning of it. A technologically advanced species may incorporate a high level knowledge of physics as basic and incorporate that information into how they create visual metaphors to express information. Say, for example, we treat the point at the tip of an arrow as a source emitting light. From that source the ray leads out to the next subject indicated:
One <------- Two
>>46857960
There's really good reasons for having spite though, so I suspect it's not unique. Just like how being poisonous has evolved countless times among animals.
>>46858279
That's one of the jokes in Only You Can Save Mankind. Johnny's trying to show an alien he's friendly by smiling and raising his hands to the side. The alien sees him baring his fangs and preparing his claws to strike.
>>46876398
>>46858377
>>46858404
Vulcans evolved to have very strong emotions. Being "Logical" is a cultural thing, to keep them from killing each other.
>>46844867
>every day /tg/ posts how completely ignorant of science it is.
That's not how evolution works.
>>46876453
>OP asks a question
>"hahah /tg/ ur so clueless hahahahahahahahaha thats not how it worked"
Wew lad.
>>46876470
Why so defensive bro? Got a chip on your shoulder?
>>46876479
>"lolol U MAD???"
Yawn. Typical from kids who want to stir up shit but have no clue what the thread is about.
>>46876499
>lol kid
Isn't that ironic though?
>>46857212
It's hard to say, since emotion is so deeply embedded into our mindset, but an alien which somehow lacks emotions would either have possessed them previously and somehow collectively purged them or else be VERY alien to us.
If you think about it, and especially on an anthropological level, emotions basically allow us to learn, acting as internal operant conditioning. Things like pain, fear, embarassment, shame or guilt, for example, allow us to figure out what actions are damaging to ourselves, our social standing or our community and encourage us to avoid these behaviours, even if nobody bothers their ass to teach us what is or is not okay. Likewise, things such as food, sex, sleep and social connection (especially with family) encourage us to do things which are beneficial to ourselves or (at least in a minor sense) to humanity as a whole. Even the emotional state of modern man is based on these inherent connections, albeit heavily modified and updated to fit both modern society and conceptions of the mind. Even most animals display a few key emotional responses; doing shit that keeps them or their genome alive makes them feel good, they're scared of things that they think can hurt or kill them, etc. A natural being that completely lacks emotions and yet displays a reasonable degree of intelligence would be very hard to understand or imagine.
>>46869761
I knew tumblr was a xeno fifth column
>>46876625
It's very hard to imagine a successful species not having emotions of some sort.
They just wouldn't get anything done on a civilization level. It takes greed for that.
>>46876678
In fairness, it's very hard to imagine anything that does not resemble humanity (or at least something on earth) in terms of its mindset. It's the whole "describe colour to a blind man" problem.
>>46876747
>describe colour to a blind man
I only heard of "if triangles had a god, it would have three corners".
>>46876747
Not really. I mean, i don't have any difficulty imagining non human things. You just apply physics and chemistry and the same sort of shit as we have on earth pops out. Carbon bonds with everything so it's always most likely and easily the base, fewer appendages are better because you're more energy efficient, sensory organs as high as possible, free hands for tool use,, etc etc.
The universe is a very mundane and homogenous place. there are not very many options for planetary composition that also allow for life. All life at certain scales and niches will look similar.
>>46876747
Describing color to a blind man is a vocabulary issue and not a mental one. That's an old pitfall of pure philosophy. You might as well be asking "What's north of the north pole?" as that works in our ramshackle language too.
>>46844867
The more interesting question is what would it be like if we were actually the least comedic species in the galaxy?
>Q: what's north of the north pole
>A: South
>Q: Describe colour to a blind man
>A: A texture that isn't tangible with skin, but visible with eyes.
Langauge is easy.
I think you're just doing it wrong.
>>46878820
>Langauge is easy
How easy everything is to a simpleton. I envy you.
How could a race without humor be /tg/? Also anyone wants to continue this worldbuilding? like actualy giving it form and names.
>>46879994
I'm afraid this is going to go the usual route of madness and oblivion.
>>46879994
Ever play Toontown? Imagine the cogs but organic. Or better yet, imagine a KND episode where anyone who gets the fun and humor sucked out of them becomes a boring as dirt business man. Pretty much that.
>>46876747
>>46876771
>>46878820
Imagine you have the eyes that can see beyond the visible light spectrum.
Would objects whose colour we define in the visible light spectrum look the same?
Would the social connotations of visible light colours remain or would they be replaced?
How would you describe the colours beyond visible light to others?
>It looks like a colour beyond visible light!
>Its a lovely shade of jvgnreajgn.
>It the colour of you shirt... no not green your shirt is the furthest thing from green!
>Its the colour of your shirt and that console over there... what do you mean they are different colours?
