I’d like to address Yaniv’s substantive on the Martian Chronicles and add some additional commentary of my own. For one, because we have not experienced any other sentient beings, humanity’s conception of what other aliens could resemble is somewhat two dimensional. Our conception of aliens consists mainly of humanoids who fail to deviate far from human physiology. Antagonistic aliens are also often portrayed as insect-like and aesthetically unappealing. However, humans fail to realize that what is aesthetic is relative and subjective. An alien with red eyes and fangs is just as likely to be benevolent as an oversexed feminine humanoid. This form of thinking also applies to the natural processes of aliens. What may be unthinkable on Earth may be the norm on other planets. For example, on an alien planet water might be acidic to life forms that have evolved to survive in other liquids. I’d like to bring this logic to the Martian’s phantoms and telepathy. In one of the vignettes the Martians were able to take shapes to impersonate humans in order to kill one of the expeditions. Shapeshifting may simply be an evolved form of a chameleon’s ability to change colors. Who are we to say what millions of years of evolution could do? How the Martians could access these memories is another question. I would hypothesize that it was based in the Martians innate telepathic abilities. Telepathy is not a farfetched concept. The human body is controlled by electrical impulses from the brain and generates its’ own energy aura. Studies have shown that intense emotions, concentration or even meditation can greatly affect and augment the human body’s electrical composition. Just as different species have different organs to see various spectrums of light, why cannot an alien have an organ that enables it to manipulate different forms of energy? In addition to this, if energy can be used to control a body, could it not also be used to manipulate the mind? On a side note, if you wish to read about energy control of the body, you can google research on the creation of cybernetic animals with chips that release manipulating electrical impulses. Concerning the phantoms, if the body has an energy aura and the Martians have the ability to control forms of energy, is it not possible that even after the physical body has been destroyed that the Martians could exist in another form? Star Trek also uses the explanation of energy as the rationale behind telepathy. In the series telepathy is based on psionic fields, which are a different “spectrum of energy” that only certain species can control. On the subject of the lack of a Martian government, there is a reference in one vignette to the fact that some of the Martians weapons were left over from long ago wars. Perhaps the Martians had evolved socially to the point where a state was not necessary. On the subject of why the Martians attacked, the first attack was based on the fear of infidelity… thereby making it a crime of passion and perhaps not based in rationality. The second attack was based on misunderstanding. Concerning the third, I am not certain but I believe the Martians’ ability of precognition may have made them realize that death, from the plague, was coming and that they should fight back.
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