Classics Without All the Class discussion
Jun 2013 - Solaris
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Anthropomorphism
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It's this topic that impressed me most about the book.How do we communicate with something that is so profoundly different from us that it may not even comprehend that anything other than itself exists?
Our perception of Solaris is that it is hostile or, at the very least, that it does what it does deliberately. That's our bias as human beings -- we assume aliens think like we do and have awareness similar to ours. But truly, we have no idea how it thinks or if it's aware and not even a way of finding out.
I've read several of Lem's books now and difficulties with communication, especially with alien civilizations, is a major recurring theme in his work.
Melanti wrote: "It's this topic that impressed me most about the book.How do we communicate with something that is so profoundly different from us that it may not even comprehend that anything other than itself ..."
Ha! As human beings we have difficulty communicating with our own species! We tend to think everyone thinks the way we do as individuals & that others should have the same priorities.
I found this article written in 2002 by Stanislaw Lem on a link from wikipedia: http://english.lem.pl/arround-lem/ada...It is in response to the making of the American movie. During the discussion, he clearly states his intentions which fits this thread nicely. I thought it was worth sharing.
On a side, the most interesting thing I learned by reading the article is that the woman with the big butt in the reed skirt was Gibarian's phantom. I thought it belonged to Snow.
Tome wrote: "I found this article written in 2002 by Stanislaw Lem on a link from wikipedia: http://english.lem.pl/arround-lem/ada...It is in response to the making of ..."
Thank you for that. That woman bothered me. I am glad the article clears that up a bit. Somehow I didn't catch that when reading the book.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Unfortunately, the comments to the review quickly degrade into a discussion about George Clooney's butt, but they do come back out of [ahem]. Btw, I'm surprised we haven't seen a thread about George Clooney's butt here. If this group decides their above Clooney's butt, I'm not sure I want to be a part of it because [insert toilet humor here].
sorry, couldn't resist.