This isn’t robust scientific research. People may have lied. There was a pretty big assumption in the question as well. Geek Native didn’t ask “Do you think there are aliens out there?” we asked whether aliens would be hostile or friendly if we met them.
The question was asked in a competition to win the third novel in the new alien series. In Alien: River of Pain Ellen Ripley returns to Earth only to discover that a group of colonists, protected by Colonial Marines, have gone to planet LV-426 to try and terraform it.
To enter the competition readers had to answer a poll with two parts. They had to say;
- Whether the reader was a sci-fi fan or not
- Whether aliens we might meet would be hostile or friendly
The divisions between the two groups were very clear. Most people answering the poll (80%) were sci-fi fans. After all; the prize was a sci-fi book. Some 70% of sci-fi fans predicted hostile aliens whereas only 25% of non-sci fans did.
What does this mean? Are sci-fi fans more likely to be readers of sci-fi because they worry about the alien menace? Are non-fans disinterested in the genre because they’re confident the future is rosy?
What do you think? If we encounter aliens is it more likely that they’ll be friendly or that they’ll be hostile? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Image credit: The Hakurei Shrine.
