Who Are the Most Influential Extraterrestrials?
Which extratrerrestrials have influenced our culture the most?*
Yoda? Mister Spock? Wells's nameless Martians? Superman?
Science has not established that extraterrestrial beings exist. Yet, existing only in our imaginations, they have nevertheless altered our literature, our drama, our art, and our philosophy.
I was just thinking about something my former teacher, Michael J. Crowe, wrote:Although the moon and Mars are as barren as giant bricks, moonlings and Martians long ago began to invade our culture and influence our thought, and they now occupy increasing roles in our cinematic and literary creations. Our extraterrestrials may no more exist than the gods of the Greeks, but their effects are no less indisputable. Just as paranoia destroys real lives, just as atheists admit the influence of belief in God, so should we see the invasion of the extraterrestrials as long since under way. [...]Even if no extraterrestrials exist, their influence on terrestrials has been immense.
So who among the ETs have had the greatest influence? And why?
Rules: Someone whose origins are beyond the planet Earth, but who is part of the natural universe (so supernatural entities such as the gods of the Greeks are ruled out).
*Examples of extraterrestrials with significant influence on other cultures are also welcome.
Yoda? Mister Spock? Wells's nameless Martians? Superman?
Science has not established that extraterrestrial beings exist. Yet, existing only in our imaginations, they have nevertheless altered our literature, our drama, our art, and our philosophy.
I was just thinking about something my former teacher, Michael J. Crowe, wrote:Although the moon and Mars are as barren as giant bricks, moonlings and Martians long ago began to invade our culture and influence our thought, and they now occupy increasing roles in our cinematic and literary creations. Our extraterrestrials may no more exist than the gods of the Greeks, but their effects are no less indisputable. Just as paranoia destroys real lives, just as atheists admit the influence of belief in God, so should we see the invasion of the extraterrestrials as long since under way. [...]Even if no extraterrestrials exist, their influence on terrestrials has been immense.
So who among the ETs have had the greatest influence? And why?
Rules: Someone whose origins are beyond the planet Earth, but who is part of the natural universe (so supernatural entities such as the gods of the Greeks are ruled out).
*Examples of extraterrestrials with significant influence on other cultures are also welcome.