All responses must be A) sincere, B) polite, and C) strictly watsonian in nature. If “watsonian” or “doylist” is new to you, please review the full rules here.
No edition wars or gripings about creators/owners of works. Doylist griping about Star Wars in particular is subject to permanent ban on first offense.
We are not here to discuss or complain about the real world.
Questions about who would prevail in a conflict/competition (not just combat) fit better on r/whowouldwin. Questions about very open-ended hypotheticals fit better on r/whatiffiction.
How do you know about x rays if you have no x ray detectors? How do you know about ultrasonic sound if your ears are incapable of detecting it?
Rocky’s species is at least as technologically advanced as future humanity. They have science, research, logic, and critical thinking.
A more direct answer, perhaps a long time ago a scientist detected a temperature change when close to a very hot object. They could have determined that the heat transmission couldn’t be explained by convection or conduction. This would lead to the discovery of what we call infrared radiation. They would have developed sensors to detect and measure this radiation. Then they would have developed sensors capable of detecting larger and larger ranges of electromagnetic radiation. Eventually including the parts of the spectrum we call light.
I’ve got a few theories, butI haven’t read it, so let me know if I’m off-base here. Since they’re aliens, I’m assuming they’re space faring and are either using some kind of translator or a common language.
Scientific Discovery: Even if they can’t see, if they’re traveling the stars they must be pretty advanced. Their scientists could have discovered electromagnetic radiation (like visible light, radio waves, etc.) through instruments. They might not “see” light, but they could detect and measure it with technology, just like how humans detect radio waves, gamma rays, or neutrinos without being able to “see” them.
Interaction with Other Species or Probes: Rocky’s people were spacefaring and technologically sophisticated. It’s possible they encountered or intercepted signals from other species (like humans or hypothetical alien tech) that referenced light or visual perception. They may have reverse-engineered concepts from visuals or communications they couldn’t initially comprehend.
Translation Quirk: Regardless of it being translated or sharing a common language, it would be impossible for something not to get lost in translation. He might not conceptually get it, like he understands humans detect light and is trying to grasp how. Or he’s trying to map his sensory experience (echolocation) to our sensory experience (sight), and the question reflects his confusion.
While visible light is primarily useful to us for sight, it’s just a specific frequency of electromagnetic radiation and has a number of physical properties beyond just letting us see. Any species, blind or not, advanced enough for space travel would know what electromagnetic radiation is and would have likely developed certain habits similar to humans due to how light and energy works. A black shirt is going to get hotter in the light of a white star than a white shirt regardless of whether someone is blind or not and if a human is translating an alien’s words, they’re going to translate whatever word or words the aliens use for electromagnetic radiation between ~400 to 800 nm as “light” regardless of if the aliens actually associate that wavelength with the concept of sight.
Rocky’s species was aware of the dimming of their star. This implies that they had at some point developed the ability to detect the electromagnetic spectrum. I’m with their science they would be able to detect light much in the same way that we detect radio waves and other things that we can’t physically see. Imagine you suddenly meant a species and they were able to perceive radio waves.
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All responses must be A) sincere, B) polite, and C) strictly watsonian in nature. If “watsonian” or “doylist” is new to you, please review the full rules here.
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We are not here to discuss or complain about the real world.
Questions about who would prevail in a conflict/competition (not just combat) fit better on r/whowouldwin. Questions about very open-ended hypotheticals fit better on r/whatiffiction.
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The alien seemed to really construct a “texture” camera, so at least has a laboratory understanding of light
How do you know about x rays if you have no x ray detectors? How do you know about ultrasonic sound if your ears are incapable of detecting it?
Rocky’s species is at least as technologically advanced as future humanity. They have science, research, logic, and critical thinking.
A more direct answer, perhaps a long time ago a scientist detected a temperature change when close to a very hot object. They could have determined that the heat transmission couldn’t be explained by convection or conduction. This would lead to the discovery of what we call infrared radiation. They would have developed sensors to detect and measure this radiation. Then they would have developed sensors capable of detecting larger and larger ranges of electromagnetic radiation. Eventually including the parts of the spectrum we call light.
I’ve got a few theories, butI haven’t read it, so let me know if I’m off-base here. Since they’re aliens, I’m assuming they’re space faring and are either using some kind of translator or a common language.
Scientific Discovery: Even if they can’t see, if they’re traveling the stars they must be pretty advanced. Their scientists could have discovered electromagnetic radiation (like visible light, radio waves, etc.) through instruments. They might not “see” light, but they could detect and measure it with technology, just like how humans detect radio waves, gamma rays, or neutrinos without being able to “see” them.
Interaction with Other Species or Probes: Rocky’s people were spacefaring and technologically sophisticated. It’s possible they encountered or intercepted signals from other species (like humans or hypothetical alien tech) that referenced light or visual perception. They may have reverse-engineered concepts from visuals or communications they couldn’t initially comprehend.
Translation Quirk: Regardless of it being translated or sharing a common language, it would be impossible for something not to get lost in translation. He might not conceptually get it, like he understands humans detect light and is trying to grasp how. Or he’s trying to map his sensory experience (echolocation) to our sensory experience (sight), and the question reflects his confusion.
While visible light is primarily useful to us for sight, it’s just a specific frequency of electromagnetic radiation and has a number of physical properties beyond just letting us see. Any species, blind or not, advanced enough for space travel would know what electromagnetic radiation is and would have likely developed certain habits similar to humans due to how light and energy works. A black shirt is going to get hotter in the light of a white star than a white shirt regardless of whether someone is blind or not and if a human is translating an alien’s words, they’re going to translate whatever word or words the aliens use for electromagnetic radiation between ~400 to 800 nm as “light” regardless of if the aliens actually associate that wavelength with the concept of sight.
Rocky’s species was aware of the dimming of their star. This implies that they had at some point developed the ability to detect the electromagnetic spectrum. I’m with their science they would be able to detect light much in the same way that we detect radio waves and other things that we can’t physically see. Imagine you suddenly meant a species and they were able to perceive radio waves.