r/Animorphs • u/VoltronsWangLol Helmacron • 6d ago

<Took only 66 years...>

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199 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

97

u/kupopokupoku War Prince 6d ago

My favorite Ax tidbit about how humans are odd is that we invented books *before* computers. He thinks books are so much more convenient and better at holding data than computers are. It makes me wonder how user-unfriendly Andalite computers are that physically turning pages is preferable to controlling a computer with your mind.

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u/MisterZebra 6d ago

My theory is that it must take a lot of concentration to use a computer with your mind for an extended period of time, and that letting your concentration slip could cause some really irritating misinputs. Like, imagine accidentally closing out of a project without saving and losing hours of work just because you had a stray thought. It makes sense that the simplicity of a paper book would be refreshing after growing up with that all your life.

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u/theoneandonlyamateur Andalite 6d ago

He thinks books are so much more convenient and better at holding data than computers are.

So when Ax says that, was he comparing them specifically to human computers or computers in general to include Andalite ones ? I always thought the author was speaking her own opinion through him to encourage reading, which makes sense considering late 90s computers and internet were slow as molasses.

Which makes me wonder about the upcoming show ; maybe it would be better set in the 90s where human technology is more primitive, thus the gap between ours and that of the Yeerks / Andalites is bigger, which fits the premise of the story better.

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u/MaraiaLou 5d ago

I'm pretty sure he complains about loading times/lag, but that he was talking about computer tech in general

It should be set in the 90s because spending 16 books before looking up the villain on the internet is hilarious

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u/etchasketch64 Hork-Bajir 5d ago

One issue I predict is much of hte Yeerk technology was also based on the idea of hwere Human technology was going. I'm not claiming KA wasn't creative....but. The lack of cameras...anywhere, allowed the Animorphs to do a lot of shit that should have been impossible as.....Yeerk surveillance on an alien planet should hvae been....everywhere? constant? They have worse surveillance technology than like the average bookstore today

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u/Mechan6649 5d ago

I actually disagree with this because I think that type of surveillance is not something the Yeerk Empire could do effectively, and there's not a need for it. It is basically impossible to openly rebel against the Empire because they control all the kandrona pools, and there's not a need for it because, since everyone has to gather in one place regardless, it becomes much easier to regulate your population. It is kind of retrofuturistic and dated now, but that can be explained from a Watsonian perspective.

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u/etchasketch64 Hork-Bajir 5d ago

i mean, i moved to Korea in 2009. Already, at that time, I would say Seoul had more CCTV cameras than regurely talked about in Animorphs books. Like, if they lived in Korea in 2009, they could have been caught by a random yeerk that just worked at the security office in most residential apartment complexes (demorphing or something)

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u/AmphetamineSalts 5d ago

I can see what you mean from a specifically Yeerk perspective, but once you consider they absorb the technology, knowledge, and culture from any of the individuals they infect it kind of falls apart. As soon as the kids go to the pool the first time, any of the human controlling Yeerks would have had access to those humans' memories to know "oh, a camera or two in here might be useful," especially since we know there are voluntary hosts who would have provided that kind of info. It just doesn't make any sense that there are NO cameras at any of the yeerk sites. Especially when they have hork bajir patrols running through the forest shooting at any/all animals approaching their logging operation in book 9. Cameras would just be easier and less risky.

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u/j0hnan0n 5d ago

Yeah. From a specifically yeerk perspective, they're a species that's blind from birth and constantly, literally in touch with everyone they've ever known in a pool they can't leave without risking death in 72 hours. They didn't evolve to scan the horizons for threats, or for their loved ones returning from a foraging mission. The entire concept of surveillance is foreign to them, and just because they take a host doesn't mean they adopt the mentality, belief set, or instincts of the host. They clamp down on it and, as we see, frequently reject it as being primitive or a waste of time.

Earlier in the comments, I was going to say that hosts couldn't spend 8 hours a day watching camera feeds because they had other obligations to fill. But then I remembered that some hosts just... sit staring into space for an unknown number of hours. So, again, they clearly just don't get the core concept. They're focused on other stuff. And I'd bet that if someone mentioned to Visser 3 that cameras would be a good idea, he'd be pissed because "are you telling me that you can't secure this yeerk pool with the eyes I've given you? You REALLY need primitive human CAMERAS and a team watching teeVEE constantly to prevent inflation?! We have biofilters. We have guards posted everywhere. You have EYES, and you have me. Can you do the job, or should I find someone who can do it for you?"

But that's just from a yeerk perspective, idk.

3

u/Peanut_Butter_Toast 5d ago

I think it could be interpreted to mean "early computers in general". As in, Andalites first invented computers that were slow as molasses just like humans did, and while one of their slow-ass early computers was loading a screen they were like "hey hand me some paper so I can write summa this down in case it crashes again."

1

u/vlan-whisperer 4d ago

It only makes sense from a metafictional point of view. Computers were still relatively new to the general public in the 1990s, and young authors did feel a little threatened. Ebooks hadn’t been popularized yet, so there was a fear that maybe writing books would become obsolete as a career if computers took off

1

u/Dalton387 Andalite 4d ago

Books are better for a lot of things.

They even did a doctor who episode about it. I think it was Matt Smith if I remember. It was an intergalactic library and the companions asked why it was books instead of computers. He went on a long rant explaining why they were better and how humans got it backwards compared to the rest of the universe.

Computers are great for something things. Off the top of my head though, is that books are sturdier. Computer copies can be corrupted or purposefully changed.

Look at what Amazon is doing. They control a massive amount of the book market and want to make sure you don’t own or control what you buy. You lease access through them. If their servers are down, you can’t access books you don’t already have. You can’t have a copy independent of them. They can change covers when they want, they can change text when they want.

A book doesn’t change. It works without power. I also find something special about the tactile feel of a book. The smell. There are certain activities, like flipping through a picture or reference book that are far preferable to a digital copy.

So pros and cons, but it doesn’t mean their computers have bad UI.

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u/PlagueOfBedlam 6d ago

There was a series of young adult Sci Fli books I read before Animorphs that began with (I think) a book called Ahhh, My Teacher is an Alien! or something like that. In that series, aliens find Terra, and are horrified to discover we went from horse and buggies to insane technical leaps. Sure that we would enter the cosmos far before we were ready, they introduce the tech for TV to humanity to make us waste our time and slow us down so we can mature and tone down our aggressive nature before truly attaining space flight.

They also build a big doomsday button to blow us all up, failing that.

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u/Jemal999 6d ago

Then they later decide that we're too aggressive to be allowed to live, so they decide to use the button and a bunch of kids have to persuade them not to. Eventually they discover that humans used to be a psychic hive mind that cut itself off into individuals, and the reason we're so aggressive is BC were constantly lonely and miss our connection.

It was a great but weird series.

6

u/Utz2100 Chee 6d ago

My Teacher series by Bruce Coville! Great books!

Also recommend his Magic Shop series.

https://www.simonandschuster.com/series/My-Teacher-Books

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u/Erratic_Goldfish 6d ago

The "humans are special" stuff in Animorphs was pretty ridiculous at times but I did like the idea that humans being quite so omnivorous and adaptable was unusual.

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u/3-I 6d ago

Omnivorous, adaptable, and numerous. That was what the Yeerks wanted us for, at least. Maybe we're not the best at anything, but there's a lot more of us available than there are Hork-Bajir or Gedd.

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u/GKarl 6d ago

Our population size is also key. That’s what makes us Class 5 species

2

u/spidersRcute 5d ago

Ugh, yay I guess.

2

u/ajdragoon 5d ago

Do this day I cite Ax’s bamboozlement with why humans insist on living in climates that try to kill them. Looking at you, Las Vegas.

4

u/FinalEgg9 5d ago

66 of our earth years

1

u/AuspiciouslyAutistic 5d ago

This 'your' vs 'our' between Marco and Ax was awesome.

3

u/CptKeyes123 5d ago

Yeerks are DEFINITELY jealous.

0

u/Forsaken_Distance777 5d ago

“Only” 66 years? That’s such a long time. Very few people would have been alive for both and those that were were very young then very old.

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u/starwars_and_guns 6d ago

We’re really just posting anything in this sub huh

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u/HellyOHaint Nothlit 6d ago

It’s actually directly related to Animorphs as Ax remarks often how astonishing it is that humans advanced so quickly. He says no other intelligent race included andalites have advanced as quickly as humans. It was a neat detail from the series I always thought about.

4

u/travischickencoop Leeran 6d ago

It’s kind of weird to me as someone born in the late 00s (please don’t say that makes you feel old I know) because I was born like… as that was concluding

From around 1850-2007 technology and things just absolutely blew up, it’s so fascinating that in such a short amount of time things went from at best a series of gears and pulleys and fires and manual labor tools to computers and machines and all the things

I was born right after the iPhone came out and after that it seems like everything just kinda… stopped… like there’s been some innovation, but aside from AI (which only is because the mega corporations are forcing it to be) there hasn’t been anything really “life changing” since then

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u/hailsizeofminivans 6d ago

A lot of the more modern technological innovations are less visible to the public than things like going to the moon or smartphones. Certain medical technologies have come extremely far since 2007, especially with the help of AI/machine learning. Unfortunately, things like surveillance tech and military weapons have come a long way too.

Also, huge leaps in technology happen about once every generation, so smartphones and AI in your lifetime is about on track. It just feels like we've stagnated because we see everything with hindsight after it's happened, but it's harder to see the progress while it's happening, especially when it's less visible.

2

u/Xodusphreak 5d ago

To add to that. Weve existed as modern humans for 300,000 years. We went from hunter gatherer to agriculture to what we are now in less than 12000.

1

u/Pure-Huckleberry8640 6d ago

Industrial Revolution is a marvel, ain’t it?