Uplift and Unpredictability

What makes us human? Some would argue that being sapient, as in homo sapiens, is what distinguishes humans from animals. And how did this sapiency arise? Well, that’s the million-dollar question; one that eludes simple answers despite the many advances in evolutionary biology and neuroscience. Evolution might be one route, albeit a messy one. Religion might provide a different answer – that the awakening of sapiency is a gift (or mistake) of the gods. However, a third possibility is explored by David Brin in his famous sci-fi trilogy from the 1980s: Uplift.

What is uplift? It’s a combination of the first two possibilities. In the distant past, starfaring beings known as the Progenitors, as they found creatures at the “edge” of sapiency, provided the extra push so that conscious thinking intelligence might flourish. As to how they did so, the answers seem lost in the vast stretches of time. These newly uplifted species, as they gained knowledge, understanding, and developed advanced technology, would seek other almost-sapient creatures and uplift them. Thus, uplift provides the means whereby sapiency is achieved. Biological evolution sets the stage. Advanced technology and patronage completes the process.

The first book in the trilogy, Sundiver, set several hundred years in the future introduces the unique dilemma. Of all galactic species, Earthling humans present an enigma. No one seems to know who uplifted them. When First Contact was made with extraterrestrials, humans were a young sapient starfaring species, seemingly the only one of their kind that did not go through the formal process of uplift. Other galactic species can trace their ancestry millions of years through multiple uplifts. When addressing a colleague formally, the line of patronage is part of one’s galactic surname. Instead of son of so-and-so, one’s patrons are named in a line of succession.

Galactic politics is complicated. There are species friendly to Earthlings, but others are hostile and suspicious of the seeming lack of a patronage line. Some of the latter would like to enslave the Earthlings and provide them “proper instruction” through patronage. An uplifted species was contracted to serve their patron masters for thousands of years before being released and allowed to occupy new worlds, uplift others, and thus become patrons themselves. It’s part of galactic prestige; it’s part of galactic alliances; it’s part of having galactic clout. The second book in the series, Startide Rising, is the most interesting of the three in exploring these matters. Neo-chimps and neo-dolphins uplifted by humans, before First Contact, work alongside humans as colleagues rather than patronage slaves. Terran ways are viewed with suspicion by many other E.T.s, who have followed age-old traditions of uplift.

Earthlings are enigmatic because they have bootstrapped their way into sapiency and developed their own (still primitive) technology without the benefit of patronage. Every other known species relies heavily on the Galactic Library, a repository of knowledge and tradition, built up over eons and slowly added to as technologies progress. Earth is grudgingly provided a branch of the Library so they may learn more advanced technology, but humans, having innovated their way through trial-and-error, don’t conform to the traditions of “best practices” laid down by the Library and followed assiduously by other galactic species. Humans are unpredictable. And therein lies their greatest strength, as relative younglings in the starfaring business, still using rather primitive technologies. We Terrans have upended the galactic order. That unpredictability and innovation confounds Earth’s enemies while delighting and amusing its allies.

The trilogy is a paean to human ingenuity and independence, warts and all. The process of evolution might be trial-and-error-messy, but it provides benefits of “thinking outside the box”. As an educator, I found it interesting to consider the role of the Galactic Library in the “educational” process. Do you go with age-old best practices or fly by the seat-of-your-pants disruption? Can the two approaches be combined profitably? As someone who studies the origin-of-life, the balance of conservation and innovation in robustness is a key issue. And like other “hard” sci-fi, ever present is the question of what it means to be human in an intergalactic context. All this comes wrapped in exciting, clever, and engaging stories.

This sabbatical year I’ve read some great sci-fi, including the trilogies that began with the Three Body Problem and The Fifth Season. I’m enjoying my varied and refreshing reading diet thus far! But my sabbatical is coming to an end, and it will be back to the daily grind soon enough. That being said, the year has been both uplifting and unpredictable. Appropriate, I suppose.