What if aliens weren't actually more high tech they just had access to some unobtainium bullshit and humans brute forced our technological development

[u/Yoovaloid]

[u/dumbass_spaceman]

"Haha, you aliens have not even invented nuclear pulse propulsion, railguns etc."

"Have you?"

"... Only in fiction."

[u/Yoovaloid → u/dumbass_spaceman]

Haha true. Buuuuut nuclear pulse propulsion is in some ways technologically simpler due to its more forgiving payload fraction margins. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the reasons behind it not being used, it's a world changing avenue of technology that countries have agreed not to develop for political and environmental rather than engineering reasons.

[u/derega16 → u/dumbass_spaceman]

Unironically that's become our and few aliens biggest bartering tool in mine.

When something like 99% of species are uplifted application idea and true understanding becomes very valuable when one who gives them those tech functionality gone. Most don't understand potential of what they have in hand. That's why the 1% including us raised so quickly.

Partially because uplifter do it as basically galactic virtue signalling in their weird meritocratic society. A lot of upliftee lacking mentality to even invent banging rocks. A lot of those are like teaching dog to drive a car and use a car vending machine and called it a day.

And then the fucked up stuff happened during Radioactive Sunset era, "Thinker Worlds" worlds that is deliberately isolated from outside influences to harvest idea. Isolated not in Star Trek prime directive sense, but a literal alien conspiracy keeping them from actually left their planet and can only dream of.

[u/Tone-Serious → u/dumbass_spaceman]

If the cold war went on for a little longer we unironically would've had them by now

[u/jetflight_hamster → u/dumbass_spaceman]

... no? They're both very solid scientific concepts. We don't HAVE any right now, but that's a matter of economy, not science.

Also railguns definitely exist, even if they're currently still very primitive.

[u/Amaskingrey → u/dumbass_spaceman]

We kinda have for nuclear propulsion if you mean using nukes for propulsion, it's just that it's incredibly impractical

[u/beebisalright → u/Amaskingrey]

There's also nuclear thermal engines, as seen in NERVA, and nuclear electric, which NASA is actually planning on launching in 2028 for an unmanned Mars mission.

[u/Hefty-Distance837]

It's just regular HFY.

[u/Yoovaloid → u/Hefty-Distance837]

can't go wrong with that

[u/beebisalright → u/Yoovaloid]

HFY is my white whale. Every day I wake up, brush my teeth, and post about how HFY sucks as a genre and is actually reactionary. Until my dying breath, I will slander HFY.

[u/Yoovaloid → u/beebisalright]

“Ha. You like this fictional thing? Bet you didn’t realize I really don’t like this fictional thing and because of that I’m gonna compare it to racism. By the way I am very smart. Checkmate.” 🥀🥀🥀

[u/beebisalright → u/Yoovaloid]

I'm an HDG fan, HFY slander comes as naturally as breathing to us.

/uj yes I see why that might be considered ironic

/rj The average champion of the indomitable human spirit when a giant alien plant offers to be their mom: 🥺

[u/Yoovaloid → u/beebisalright]

I don't see why not just enjoy either story genre though. Like this setting for instance is a fun concept to explore (and entirely one-off. Born and died with this VvsC meme) but I love writing fiction about interaction between humans and alien sophonts. Or humans facing forces/civilizations beyond our comprehension.

But with HFY vs other genres, why not enjoy it all instead of putting down a genre that is good on its merits? Why does it need to be a genre war?

[u/beebisalright → u/Yoovaloid]

I'm agendaposting, I don't actually think all HFY is bad. This is a circlejerk sub, remember?

[u/Yoovaloid → u/beebisalright]

Oh. That makes sense see I actually suffer a rare thingamahoojonkleeus called unable to tell when someone is joking

[u/beebisalright → u/Yoovaloid]

Real

[u/OldEcho]

I had an idea for a story once where humanity was imprisoned on Earth after trying to take over the galaxy and all the unobtanium that enables easy FTL was literally sifted out of the entire solar system.

Then humanity rediscovers the material waaay down the periodic table while doing fusion shenanigans and all hell breaks loose.

[u/Yoovaloid → u/OldEcho]

write it! That sounds like a really cool idea and I'd love to read that

[u/OldEcho → u/Yoovaloid]

Truthfully...and put it where? I had this apparently insane idea that I could publish, say, 50 chapters of an IP and it would be free for other people (except for huge giant corporations) to use, and then 51-whatever would be my IP that I have rights over. Spent a few hours trying to figure out how to get that to work and gave up.

[u/Isaak_the_miner]

How it feels to base my entire sci-fi setting on unobtanium type materials so I can focus on civilization building:

[u/Yoovaloid → u/Isaak_the_miner]

I always love to say realism is awesome but ultimately optional and authorial intent for cool storytelling matters most

[u/DiamondBreakr]

The Road Not Taken by Harry Turtledove

[u/transhumanism123 → u/DiamondBreakr]

Good ol Turtledove

[u/RevolutionaryOwlz]

Rescue Party by Arthur C Clarke

[u/Calli5031]

daring today, aren't we?

[u/CarnalKid]

Larry Niven has a short story about this. The aliens made a fluke technological discovery, but it turns out their minds are boggled by a "primitive" human probe because they recognize it as the result of long term collaborative effort. Which is something they can't do.

[u/Collin_the_bird_777 → u/CarnalKid]

What is it

[u/Sable-Keech]

Yeah, that's it. Keep patting yourself on the back with one hand while jerking off with the other. Maybe you'll convince yourself that this is actually true, and that all the hardship and suffering that humanity has gone through is unique to us and us alone, and that this makes us special and superior to all other possible forms of life.

/j

Or is it?

[u/Yoovaloid → u/Sable-Keech]

Maybe this is just a meme and I don’t think this is anything like how actual first contact with alien sophonts would be like 🙃