# What does an alien civilisation need in order to be functional?



## takadote26 (Jan 27, 2022)

So in my draft, I outlined an entire alien civilisation from scratch. I mentioned the food from the marketplace, the local government currently in power, the ancient royalty there and the planet's wildlife, but I'm not sure if I covered everything there is to know? Is there anything I am missing?


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## PiP (Jan 27, 2022)

Check out Maslow's 'Hierarchy of Needs'.








						How Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Explains Human Motivation
					


Maslow's hierarchy of needs describes five levels of needs that motivate human nature. Learn more about the pyramid of needs and why it matters.





					www.verywellmind.com
				



It's really for motivation but will probably give you a few extra ideas


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## bdcharles (Jan 27, 2022)

An economy, public services, law, defense, commerce, etc, etc. pretty much all the same stuff our own does. But is all this necessary for your story?


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## takadote26 (Jan 27, 2022)

bdcharles said:


> An economy, public services, law, defense, commerce, etc, etc. pretty much all the same stuff our own does. But is all this necessary for your story?


Pretty much because the aliens need to have a sense of a bustling society/strong economy in order for the whole world to feel semi-realistic, for example the restaurant needs vendors and waiters to supply food, the restaurant also needs to get their supplies from the local marketplace, the farmers supply the marketplace with locally-produced food etc. Tourists come from all over the galaxy to visit the planet, which fuel alien overpopulation... You get the general idea.


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## PiP (Jan 27, 2022)

Basically it sounds like you are replacing humans with aliens on planet Earth as opposed to creating a new civilisation. Do aliens go to restaurants and bars? What is their ode of transpor?


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## Olly Buckle (Jan 27, 2022)

That all sounds very human, there are species that are more alien on Earth. For example, there are plenty that feed on a simple, mono filament, water plant species, that would cut out all the farmers, markets and restaurants, they could just down a couple of dried tabs, have a drink of water every few hours, then get on with the action. Aliens who are pseudo humans always bug me a bit, there are millions of other species here on Earth. Only a few great apes resemble us in any way, and most are not even mammals, how about intelligent plants that have developed a locomotion system? Or a culture that does not rely on manipulative technology, but grows appendages in whatever form it wants? I know you have put a lot of hard work in, but if the aliens are so like humans why not simply make them humans that have been separated from the other worlds for a while? To me that would be a lot more realistic. The chance of humanity duplicating itself when it is the only species anything like it on this world, and has existed for such a short part of evolution, seems fractional.


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## takadote26 (Jan 27, 2022)

PiP said:


> Basically it sounds like you are replacing humans with aliens on planet Earth as opposed to creating a new civilisation. Do aliens go to restaurants and bars? What is their ode of transpor?


It still is in the drafting stages, but I am getting there! It's more of a serpentine society, so the aliens have no concept of transport (cars, automobiles, trains), aliens on that planet _still_ need to eat food though, so food is treated more of a luxury item (for the upper classes) than anything else. Plus the queen has been on the throne for 182 years and has 5+ children of royalty


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## Non Serviam (Jan 27, 2022)

I think that the only thing an alien civilization needs is alien creatures that can communicate with one another.  (At least, if the aliens don't communicate with each other then I can't see how they constitute a civilization.)  I could certainly devise an alien civilization that lacks an economy, commerce, law, public services, and/or a defence force.


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## takadote26 (Jan 27, 2022)

Luckily, all of the aliens in my alien civilisation can already communicate with each other quite well (except for the non-verbal ones)


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## PrairieHostage (Jan 27, 2022)

takadote26 said:


> So in my draft, I outlined an entire alien civilisation from scratch. I mentioned the food from the marketplace, the local government currently in power, the ancient royalty there and the planet's wildlife, but I'm not sure if I covered everything there is to know? Is there anything I am missing?


Government
Food source
Flora and fauna
How (and if) they reproduce
How they communicate (e.g. hive mind)
What they look like
Special abilities (e.g. bilocation)
What they struggle with (specieism, class, other)

You can get really creative with their struggle.
Sounds fun


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## takadote26 (Jan 30, 2022)

Does an alien civilisation need to have an energy source (power source) in order to progress the society in general?


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## indianroads (Jan 30, 2022)

A technical society would require beings that are able to manipulate objects to create tools, and exist within an environment where metallurgy is possible. Further, their planet must have a low enough gravity and a energy source to progress into outer space.


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## takadote26 (Feb 8, 2022)

indianroads said:


> A technical society would require beings that are able to manipulate objects to create tools, and exist within an environment where metallurgy is possible. Further, their planet must have a low enough gravity and a energy source to progress into outer space.


That sounds complicated, but doable!


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## lithiumflower (Feb 9, 2022)

To be completely factual? The energy of humans. Extraterrestrial beings thrive off of the energy of humans and without it, they can't survive, so if someone is writing a story about an alien civilization and what they would need to be factual and they want to be accurate, I'd add energy to it, the energy that they harvest from humans in order to thrive.


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## Olly Buckle (Feb 9, 2022)

lithiumflower said:


> To be completely factual? The energy of humans. Extraterrestrial beings thrive off of the energy of humans and without it, they can't survive, so if someone is writing a story about an alien civilization and what they would need to be factual and they want to be accurate, I'd add energy to it, the energy that they harvest from humans in order to thrive.


No no, that's cats, when they sit on your lap purring they are eating your energy, that's why you feel so tired and comfortable. 

Ever read 'The mind parasites' by Colin Wilson?


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## lithiumflower (Feb 9, 2022)

Olly Buckle said:


> No no, that's cats, when they sit on your lap purring they are eating your energy, that's why you feel so tired and comfortable.
> 
> Ever read 'The mind parasites' by Colin Wilson?



No, but you made me laugh today, lol!


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## Gofa (Feb 21, 2022)

lithiumflower said:


> To be completely factual? The energy of humans. Extraterrestrial beings thrive off of the energy of humans and without it, they can't survive, so if someone is writing a story about an alien civilization and what they would need to be factual and they want to be accurate, I'd add energy to it, the energy that they harvest from humans in order to thrive.


Oh Yes let them harvest our fear and so they control news and banking industries promoting us all living in fear and throw in the odd global financial crisis and a pandemic or two. Let's face it, this is not that believable, the reader will just get bored. Same old same old.
But then, Lithium Flower can I call you Lith for short ? Well Lith I think this is really happening and you are like a cow in a paddock saying I will write a novel where we are kept in paddocks feed grass and made to have babies so the farmer can come and steal our milk having abducted our babies. Careful Lith the farmer will be watching for unusual cow's behavior and soon we will be asking, Anyone heard from Lithiumflower ? She has not been posting.
Oh my Lith beware these words "To be completely factual?"


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## Ultraroel (Feb 21, 2022)

takadote26 said:


> Pretty much because the aliens need to have a sense of a bustling society/strong economy in order for the whole world to feel semi-realistic, for example the restaurant needs vendors and waiters to supply food, the restaurant also needs to get their supplies from the local marketplace, the farmers supply the marketplace with locally-produced food etc. Tourists come from all over the galaxy to visit the planet, which fuel alien overpopulation... You get the general idea.


You dont need all of this, in general. I would say this is going over the top and completely goes by the purpose. Unless you want to make it a wiki and just list everything that the world exists of.

What you need to think about in my opinion, are the parts of the world that are being exposed to the story. You don't need to flesh out things, just to flesh it out. You need to make it work, where it is important to work and make sure that this is based on something.
In most cases, an alien world should be so weird to ours, that anything should be able to fly.




lithiumflower said:


> To be completely factual? The energy of humans. Extraterrestrial beings thrive off of the energy of humans and without it, they can't survive, so if someone is writing a story about an alien civilization and what they would need to be factual and they want to be accurate, I'd add energy to it, the energy that they harvest from humans in order to thrive.



You realize that's weird? Working out an entire alien civilization and then have that alien race work on leeching of off humans. Can they survive in space in their own "alien" form? If not, then how did they ever leave their planet? How can the human connection work if they are aliens and didn't always have access to humans? How did they become so dependent that an alien race would chose to feed off another race, on another planet? Why would they choose for such an existence?


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## PiP (Feb 21, 2022)

*ADMIN NOTE: While we allow some leeway for off-topic, 'fun' discussions I remind members of the OP's original question. *


> So in my draft, I outlined an entire alien civilisation from scratch. I mentioned the food from the marketplace, the local government currently in power, the ancient royalty there and the planet's wildlife, but I'm not sure if I covered everything there is to know? Is there anything I am missing?



*If you don't agree with a comment made by a fellow member, fine, but do so in a respectful tone.*


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