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From: bsa@ncoast.UUCP (Brandon Allbery)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Stories where H. sap. gets its come-uppance
Message-ID: <846@ncoast.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 14-Sep-85 10:50:04 EDT
Article-I.D.: ncoast.846
Posted: Sat Sep 14 10:50:04 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 17-Sep-85 04:43:28 EDT
References: <3597@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU>
Reply-To: bsa@ncoast.UUCP (Brandon Allbery)
Followup-To: net.sf-lovers
Organization: North Coast Xenix, Cleveland, OH
Lines: 30

Expires:

Quoted from <3597@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU> ["Re: Alien Lowlife in Star Wars"], by Miller.pasa@Xerox.ARPA...
+---------------
| Now all this makes for interesting reading, and it's bound to be good
| for our racial self-image, and it may well be (as I would like to
| believe in my more rational moments) that EVERY sentient species is
| distinctive enough to warrant having novels written about it, but just
| once (deep breath,) I'd like to see a story written where man gets his
| come-uppance-- where an alien race finds us and is bored because we're
| just like everybody else.  How would THAT affect our collective psyches,
| I ask you??!!??  
| 
| Anybody seen an interesting story about a boring race (i.e. us) ?
+---------------

Not exactly one, but I remember reading one of Niven's ``bar'' stories wherein
a chirpsithra reminisces about having come to Earth millions of years ago to
find that the intelligent life was poisoning itself with its output of those
deadly chemicals, oxygen and free water.  At the end, the bartender is left
wondring what the chirpsithra will think of whatever race replaces the humans...

I don't remember the story's title or where I read it (or a lot of other things,
as I'm sure the Niven fans out there will have noticed by now).

--bsa
-- 
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* Brandon S Allbery, 6504 Chestnut, Independence, OH 44131  +01 216 524 1416 *
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