Lies, Aliens, and Little Red Riding Hood
The truth about dishonesty
What if our penchant for lying is the very trait that puts aeons between us and a more enlightened existence? This unsettling question took root in my mind while watching 3 Body Problem on Netflix.
The series, with its depiction of an alien civilization confounded by human deceit, made me ponder the implications of our everyday falsehoods. How does our propensity to twist the truth shape our societies, our relationships, and, ultimately, our humanity?
The story goes like this. A secret military project sends a message to space, and a more advanced alien civilization located on a planet four light years away receives it. Their world, which has three suns, is largely inhospitable for long periods. A few of their ships set course to Earth and these will arrive in a few hundred years.
In the meantime, they are keen to learn our ways. One particular Earthling who has lost faith in humanity and thinks only outsiders can redeem it provides insight. In one of the teaching sessions, he reads a fairy tale to a representative of the alien race. This extraterrestrial correspondent has the voice of a woman, so I’ll refer to her as “she”. The story is Little Red Riding Hood.
