Farplanet

by Dylan
(Illinois, Wisconsin)

This moon ain't big enough for the two of us...

Koar, OSS! I find the idea of COMOLD interesting. While I can see where Zendexor is coming from, it doesn't bother me like it does him. (Although the fossil record ties us pretty closely to Earth.)

I wonder what people think of the idea of panspermia to explain the similarities of life throughout the solar system. I think it avoids the disappointment expressed in COMOLD while still providing some semblance of an explanation for why men-like beings may exist on multiple worlds.

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Feb 01, 2016
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Deliberate panspermia
by: Aristides

Zendexor might have mentioned that the Last Men (see the Olaf Stapledon page) attempted to seed the universe with life-units deliberately, though it is doubtful whether the attempt succeeded...

Feb 01, 2016
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Appropriateness
by: Zendexor

That's it - that's getting to grips with the key identity-theme: the point that silicon life-forms would seem less appropriate on Venus than on Mars. (Because OSS Mars is drier, rockier, than swampy OSS Venus, presumably.)

To me it is exciting to reflect how these OSS worlds have acquired such a life of their own, that we can discuss their "true" natures as though they were real. And so that suggests that they might actually be real, in some lurking, Jungian sense...

Jan 31, 2016
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Barsoom, not Barstow
by: Dylan

Darn autocorrect, I meant to say "Barsoom novels".

I agree with Zendexor that destiny outweighs origins (my copy of "Uranian Gleams" and "Valeddom" are in the mail), I think COMOLD strikes hardest for me when humans are supposed to have been deposited on Earth in their present form.

This may seem a bit of an unrelated statement, but it seems to me that the different worlds are allowed different levels of "alieness" in their lifeforms, depending on their character. For example, I would be unsurprised to encounter silicon-based tentacle monsters on Mars, but would feel they were out of place on Venus.

Jan 31, 2016
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Supporting teleology
by: Zendexor

Dylan's apposite use of the terms "sculpted" and "naturalised" effectively justifies the teleological (result-centred rather than cause-centred) view of planetary identity, which we also find in "Uranian Gleams", whose introduction makes plain the author's attitude, that destinations weigh more than origins.

I share this view, and therefore my opposition to COMOLD is irrational.

We see in the history of our own world, national identities being sculpted before our eyes: a great example is the USA, where we can follow the story of a new nation's development, and the growth of its unique personality, in the full light of recorded history. Australia is another example, even more recent. These nations are no less vividly distinct for having a "common origin" as British colonies. Of course, their identities have been sculpted by many other factors, powerful factors which have nothing to do with Britain, so that much of their origins are not possessed "in common" at all. But even more relevantly one can say that they are countries drawn and sculpted by the future. Their centre of gravity, if you like, lies in the future.

Jan 30, 2016
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The Limits of COMOLD
by: Dylan

I'm afraid that I've got enough Stid in me to enjoy a story more if the author attempts some psuedo-scientific explanation for the many humans of the solar system. That's not to say I find such explanations necessary to enjoy a story (I've recently completed my collection of Barstow novels, which I cherish), but it is icing on the cake, so to speak.

I wonder if common origins must be a detriment to a story, or if they can almost cease to be a detriment if the life has been sculpted by its new home.

In S.M. Stirling's "Lords of Creation" Duology, aliens terraformed Venus and Mars in the days of the dinosaurs and seeded them with Earth life over the course of millions of years, finishing with humans. By the time of the story, the terraformed worlds resemble their OSS counterparts.

I read and loved those books, despite the explanation of life given as their premise. I found that the COMOLD did not bother me so much, partly because the Martian life in particular had evolved drastically to match it's harsh environment. (Venusian life is mostly primitive humans, neanderthals, and the descendants of dinosaurs and extinct mammals.)

So I put it to you: Can life from Earth be so throughly naturalized by its new home as to eliminate or almost eliminate COMOLD?

Jan 30, 2016
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Joining the chorus of agreement
by: Zendexor

I agree with Dylan about the panspermia idea: it indeed avoids COMOLD disappointment. I also find Robert's point about the "solar potency" theory attractively "pure", as he puts it. I wonder if there's a third, even better route: and that is, not to give an explanation at all! The ERB method is just to take the prevalence of extraterrestrial humans for granted, even to the extent of being able to mate with them!!

Jan 30, 2016
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Agreed, panspermia is one step up from COMOLD
by: Robert

The seeds of life, floating through space, seem close to an abstract life-principle, and as such are acceptable as an explanation that preserves the individuality of worlds' biota. However an even "purer" explanation is hinted at in that odd book "Dreadful Sanctuary" by Eric Frank Russell: a "solar potency" theory. I take it to mean that rays from the Sun induce some similarity of shape in the convergently evolved humans of the System's worlds. No need, then, for any genetic connection!

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