This is a well known concept in sci-fi where civilizations massing in the tens of billions will have all kind of weird outliers. But at such a scale, even the really weird ones can form groups of tens of thousands or even larger. In sci-fi storytelling this is often used to explain weird behavior that probably wouldn’t make a lot of sense otherwise.
It also comes up in the fermi paradox a lot. For example aliens always want to stay at home and not be noticed or interact with anyone. But at a certain scale of civilization that doesn’t hold water. Even if 99.99% of a given alien species think that way, there would stil be at least a million of them that think otherwise and would be willing and able to act on it.
So it makes perfect sense for all the Predator people to be really normal and the hunting cult is a hobby that got out of hand.
Check out the works of Alastair Reynolds, he loves to apply this principle in his books. Great on world building and describing the weirdest parts of large civilizations.
For more a meta/review/fermi paradox talk point of view check out the content from Isaac Arthur, he also likes to point out this when discussing things like the fermi paradox and sci-fi in general.
Thanks for the suggestion, his stuff looks interesting. I realised I already have (but haven’t yet read) “Pushing Ice”, which looks like a standalone novel - but looks like there’s also a whole set of works in the “Revelation Space” universe. Any recommendations of specific books of his?
Most of his books are standalone, but set in the same universe yes. They kind of follow each other, but can also be read as standalone books.
Pushing Ice is one of the better ones imho, I love that book. The first book I ever read from him was Revelation Space and it blew my mind. One of the absolute best books I’ve ever read. He has a way of creating a universe that feels absolutely real and logical, yet be completely different from the world we know.
Another good one is Redemption Ark.
And if you like stuff like this I can also recommend Fred Saberhagen, his books are excellent. They are old but hold up pretty well.
Brilliant, thanks. I’ll see how I get on with Pushing Ice, but popped the others on the wishlist. I imagine I will very much like stuff like this, so added Fred Saberhagen too (The Berserker ones I’ve heard of before).
This is a well known concept in sci-fi where civilizations massing in the tens of billions will have all kind of weird outliers. But at such a scale, even the really weird ones can form groups of tens of thousands or even larger. In sci-fi storytelling this is often used to explain weird behavior that probably wouldn’t make a lot of sense otherwise.
It also comes up in the fermi paradox a lot. For example aliens always want to stay at home and not be noticed or interact with anyone. But at a certain scale of civilization that doesn’t hold water. Even if 99.99% of a given alien species think that way, there would stil be at least a million of them that think otherwise and would be willing and able to act on it.
So it makes perfect sense for all the Predator people to be really normal and the hunting cult is a hobby that got out of hand.
Yeah I’m gonna need examples. I read a shit ton of science fiction and can’t recall having encountered this.
Check out the works of Alastair Reynolds, he loves to apply this principle in his books. Great on world building and describing the weirdest parts of large civilizations.
For more a meta/review/fermi paradox talk point of view check out the content from Isaac Arthur, he also likes to point out this when discussing things like the fermi paradox and sci-fi in general.
Thanks for the suggestion, his stuff looks interesting. I realised I already have (but haven’t yet read) “Pushing Ice”, which looks like a standalone novel - but looks like there’s also a whole set of works in the “Revelation Space” universe. Any recommendations of specific books of his?
Most of his books are standalone, but set in the same universe yes. They kind of follow each other, but can also be read as standalone books.
Pushing Ice is one of the better ones imho, I love that book. The first book I ever read from him was Revelation Space and it blew my mind. One of the absolute best books I’ve ever read. He has a way of creating a universe that feels absolutely real and logical, yet be completely different from the world we know.
Another good one is Redemption Ark.
And if you like stuff like this I can also recommend Fred Saberhagen, his books are excellent. They are old but hold up pretty well.
Brilliant, thanks. I’ll see how I get on with Pushing Ice, but popped the others on the wishlist. I imagine I will very much like stuff like this, so added Fred Saberhagen too (The Berserker ones I’ve heard of before).
The redemption ark trilogy and anything connected to the conjoiners.
If you like Reynolds, Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon trilogy is top notch, the TV series was disappointing.
I’ve read most of Asimov’s sci-fi but I’ve only read one Reynolds. It was great, I’ll definitely read some more. Thanks for the response!
The Dark Templar in Starcraft are outliers.
…and they are not even the edgy dark ones any more.
The bobiverse has some extreme factions of the same entity.
I also listen to Isaac Arthur.
I’ve read a lot of sci fi but I’m not familiar with that concept, but it makes more sense than thinking of a whole culture as weirdly sadistic etc.