Human View of Kzin: Our Affinity for Predators

(alternate title: WTF!? Do We Have a Death Wish?) I just finished Man-Kzin Wars XI, and enjoyed it so much I am now working my way backwards through the series. I read a few of the books in the past but I was a bit too young for them; some of it went over my head. The Nature of the Kzin There are many ways of treating alien characters in science fiction, but there are two main divisions: anthropomorphic, and inhuman. The Xenomorphs of the Alien series were a fantastic example of the latter which I love to analyze. You can't get much more alien than Alien. For examples of anthropomorphic aliens, look to just about any alien character in Star Trek. Not as much fun to dissect (in writing) because humans are a known quantity. However, a neat trick in sci fi is to reveal an alien character as less or more human than it originally appears. Whiplash the reader/characters back and forth, as in the Foreigner series and you have Hugo winner, not to mention a great thought experiement in coping with culture shock. Humans in science fiction must deal with two competing instincts: empathy and xenophobia. Both are survival traits. Both can lead to dangerous misapprehensions. In "Teacher's Pet" the Protector Peace Corben chides human Corky for the human tendency to "Identify with Everything," reminding the reader that though Corky and Manexpert shared a moment of disclosure, the kzin did not view it with the emotional importance felt by the humans (including the reader). This might seem hypocritical: she describes the kzin Manexpert’s predatory lunge as “adorable.” She likes him, both for his ability to reason past his hunter’s instincts, and because “he was fluffy, and smelled like ginger.” But one must remember that Peace is nearly invulnerable to attack. This gives her the dominant position from the kzin's point of view, and allows her to view kzin as she pleases because...well, what can he do about it? Feeling affection for a sapient murderous alien feline-analog does not seem like a survival instinct, yet both human characters and human readers will find that despite their determined enmity, they like the damn kzin. Well, this is fiction. Faced with a carnivore that was physically superior to us in every way, we would probably not react with feeling of love and affection. Would we? The Wolf The pack predator’s great white fangs and yellow eyes still haunt our nursery rhymes. . .while his descendants sprawl at our feet before fires, herd our cattle, guard our property, protect our children, or hitch rides in designer purses. Anyone who is familiar with working or hunting dogs has seen the wolf is not far from the surface. War dogs were bred to be even tougher than their progenitors. Fighting breeds like rottweilers and pitbulls are so deadly as to be considered occasionally unsafe around children. Yet these breeds are immensely popular. Big Cats The appeal of big-cat kittens is obvious. They are fluffy. They make cute noises. They fit in ones lap. A full-grown tiger is quite a bit more than a lap full—but still many feel the romance of having a large, dangerous animal as a pet. Animal experts exhaust themselves trying to warn love-struck humans of the danger of adopting large predators as pets. A wolf (even a pup) has not had centuries of selective breeding to reinforce its bond with humans. A feral cat will not be at your beck and call. They may come to your hand for the hell of it; or they might eat your face. On the other hand, those same cautionary experts spend their lives in the company and study of such creatures. Clearly, they too see the appeal or they would not have chosen that profession. Affection as a Weapon The first thing a child does when charming an animal is to offer it food. This is the most effective and universal way to distract an animal from fight or flight, and this is instinctive human behavior. We feel the desire to bond with immature predators because that is when the animal is most psychologically flexible, and may imprint on us as kin. Our affection may be our defense mechanism. We neutralize our greatest threats by making them our closest allies, and this is an instinct so deeply ingrained into our psyche that we are not even aware of it as a motivator. We find the truth at last: humans love big, scary, murderous things…on our side. Here Kitty-kitty. . . Kitty?