Extraterrestrial Life Forms In They Re By Terry Bisson

“By considering worlds that are logically possible, science fiction can be used to explore our place in the universe and consider fundamental philosophical questions about the nature of reality and the mind.” Science fiction can not only show humanity where their place is in the universe, but also help them take a glimpse into different versions of the future. By taking current issues that our world is facing today, science fiction authors are able to consider both outcomes of an issue and determine what mankind would do to adapt to the new changes. A few authors believe that the future may be bright and some may also think that our future has nothing but darkness and sadness; nonetheless, one of these futures is ours. In the short story, They’re
Since other life forms of the universe are speaking with each other, Bisson is able to evaluate humans in a better way. Bisson analyzes what it really means to be human; and he also shares the numerous unique abilities that we have in a simple way. Bisson writes, “You know how when you slap or flap meat, it makes a noise? They talk by flapping their meat at each other. They can even sing by squirting air through their meat" (Bisson, 2), he is examining how a human speaks or sings. The aliens speaking in this work do not refer “flapping their meat” as speaking with their mouths because then, the author would become biased towards the humans. Bisson writes about the movement of moving our mouths in a simple way, and to the aliens we seem to be made out of nothing but meat. The author makes this movement ability seem rather unusual and extraordinary to the other life forms because no other species in the world have a set language. Bisson also writes about the way that humans are able to process information with language, “they [humans] actually do talk, then they use words, ideas, concepts” (Bisson, 2). It is one thing to speak words, but it is another thing to be able to share ideas and concepts with various people regarding different
Science fiction can be used to express the problems that the world is facing today, and it can have an influence on how we see and interact with the world. It has taught us to imagine different versions of the future so that we as mankind can be prepared for anything. Terry Bisson’s work may not show his readers a glimpse into the future, but he uses science fiction to explore the deeper meaning of what it truly means to be human. Bisson and how we would be judged based on other beings in the universe. Bisson does not mean to tell his readers that the human race would be overlooked, but rather that we are a special form of species that may have achieved great things but we still have to accomplish greater