Today is the mostly hypothetical holiday Alien Culture Day. And when I say “alien” in this context I do mean different species from space. It's a question many a writer or daydreamer has pondered– what would culture look like on an alien planet? We usually just reflect on the cultures we know from Earth, usually with a gimmick. Think about the aliens in pop culture you know and think about how they fit into earth cultures, including stereotypes. A number of works of fiction over the years, including but not limited to Star Wars, Star Trek, and Avatar have been rightfully criticized for putting harmful stereotypes advocated with certain earth ethnicities into their fictional aliens.
On the lighter side of stuff, I find aliens resembling anthropomorphism in specimens of the Animal, Vegetable and Mineral to be the most interesting. How would cat aliens act? What sports would a fish alien play? What music would mushroom people listen to? Would eyeless mole aliens be really into radio? Would TV look different for spider aliens with multiple eyes? It's fun to think about.
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