- Title: Fiasco
- Author: Stanislaw Lem
- Published: 1986
- Translated: by Michael Kandel
- Publisher: Penguin Random House UK
- ISBN: 978-0-241-33435-5
Fiasco: (noun) a complete failure, especially in a ludicrous or humiliating way.
from the Oxford Dictionary
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is a collective term for scientific searches for intelligent extraterrestrial life, for example, monitoring electromagnetic radiation for signs of transmissions from civilizations on other planets.
Communication with extraterrestrial intelligence or CETI, is a branch of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) that focuses on composing and deciphering interstellar messages that theoretically could be understood by another technological civilization.
from Wikipedia
Lem’s SF novels are not about action or adventure in the universe in the future. Instead, his stories question our prejudices, naïve optimism, and the conceptual frameworks deeply rooted in us as human beings.
Fiasco is a story about CETI (Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence). In the story, we — humans with advanced technology — visit another world, ‘Quinta‘, and try to establish first contact with unknown intelligent life forms. However, it is more natural to think of the opposite scenario: what if 20th-century Earth were visited by another highly advanced extraterrestrial civilization? How would we react, and what would we need to do? How would we know if they wanted peace or war?
The keyword here is anthropocentrism. It might be natural for us to regard humankind as the central element of existence. The almighty computer DEUS (literally “God” in Latin) does not provide any advice when the crew tries to contact Quinta because it does not know enough. DEUS only provides short-term suggestions based on the crew’s requests or crude ideas driven by emotion. The result is simply a fiasco — a total failure. Even though they know they are making mistakes, the captain and crews can only think from an anthropocentric point of view. They recognize that being emotional is counterproductive, yet they still make decisions emotionally.
It is interesting to reconsider how language works. Communication between two parties is based on the common ground of mutual understanding. As human beings, we share certain traits that serve as the starting point for communication. What about CETI? What can we assume? We have our limitations, yet perhaps there is a hope — or a wish — to assume that all intelligent beings can share some common ground.
