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May 16, 2014

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Prompt Bucket

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Daily Prompt: Just one?

Oh man… Oh man oh man! I LOVE today’s Daily Prompt!

The friendly, English-speaking extraterrestrial you run into outside your house is asking you to recommend the one book, movie, or song that explains what humans are all about. What do you pick?

 

I’m not going to let myself over-think it, because I wouldn’t get the chance to do it if said alien were actually on my lawn. I would run back inside and grab my well-worn copy of Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein. Funny that a story about an alien human is how I show what humans are all about. But the bit that sticks with me is the quote about laughter.

“I’ve found out why people laugh. They laugh because it hurts so much . . . because it’s the only thing that’ll make it stop hurting.” 
― Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

And quite frankly, the end really does show what humanity is all about, in my opinion. We tend to kill things we’re not ready to understand. Look at Ender’s Game, which would probably have been my second choice ….I’m going to leave this guy terrified that all humanity is out to kill him… which I guess is about right.

Whelp, I’m thoroughly depressed for the day now. 😦

9 thoughts on “Daily Prompt: Just one?”

  1. Pingback: Daily prompt: E.T | The Wandering Poet

  2. I’m not planning on putting up another post today but Stranger in a Strange Land is exactly what came into my mind when I read the prompt. And the next thought was that I should read that book again. I remember it was VERY important book for me when I was in high school.

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  3. Pingback: Worldly Encounters | My Atheist Blog

  4. I can’t think of a specific title, but one book is Anne Frank. Only because it shows the courage humans show under adversity. While a Stranger in a Strange Land is a good one, I would want to show the Alien that we can be “good” too.

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