[GZG] Bovine Rebuttal

G'day,

> One element that almost never seems to be represented in any sort of

There is another possibility (though personally I put it down to (1) myself).
If the stories are from a human point of view we really do suffer from "they
all look the same". It takes the human brain a while
to 'acclimate' to a new set of characteristics to use to 'sign-post'
faces etc. People who are from an all white town and then suddenly transported
to China will find it hard initially to recall differences in people they have
met (though after even only a few meetings they will come to differentiate
them). You can see this when dealing with other species too, a cow herder can
tell his cattle apart, but the city cousin won't have a blind clue.

Cheers

Good points Beth. Having spent even just a few years of my life living in
rural American on a small hobby farm and hating every minute of it at the
time, I still learned enough to make most of my friends (still suburbanites at
the time) either blink clueless or shivers with fits of misplaced disgust.

There is much to be said for the familiarity that one has with a thing and how
it colors your perceptions as well as your understanding of that thing.
Initial prejudices and misconceptions can easily be reinforced or cast aside
by the results of your interactions as well. I imagine that many authors and
screen-writers may be trying to adopt this angle in their portrayals of
aliens, though I still figure most of it comes down to making stories
accessible to audiences or the constraints of time and budget.

-Eli