Humankind in Science Fiction

I'm a nerd. No news there, I know, but I think sometimes it's important to demonstrate how much of a nerd I am. Hence, this post.

There are different views about humankind in science fiction. It depends in the hardness of the science fiction, how far away in the future the work is set or if its a Space Opera, cosmic horror story or anything in between. Usually, as long as there are also aliens in there, you find two types of humans:

1) Humans are average/Humans are diplomats: A staple of the far-future works, humanity is usually the baseline race for everything: smart, but not the smartest, strong, but not the strongest, etc. We are a kind of Jack-of-all-trades.

This is has a clear parallelism with fantasy stories, elves, dwarves and so on. Here you can find humanity as diplomats, creators of an empire or a republic that spans the galaxies. Most clearly seen in Star Wars and Star Trek.

2) Humans are helpless/Humans are survivors: Usually found in First Contact or Invasion stories, here humanity is clueless about everything, having gone to space just a few decades back or being set in the present day. We do not have the tech, the knowledge, hell, we have nothing. We are outmatched, outgunned and outnumbered.

We survive anyway through guile, inteligence or plain dumb luck. You can see it in War of the Worls, Independence Day, etc.

But, a few years back, a different proposal emerged. One I quite like, because it shows humanity the way I enjoy it the most: unrestrained, untamed, completely do-not-fuck-with-us:

3) Humas are monsters/Humans are warriors: Contrary to Humas are Diplomats, here humanity is badass. Humanity is a bunch of violent, warlike savages who revel in chaos and destruction.

This is not, however, a bad thing. And, most likely, it's the way it would end up. Think here for a second.

Humans breathe oxygen, one of the most poisonous materials in the universe. It's the same fucking thing that makes fire. It kills metals. We need it to BREATHE.

From a totally alien being's viewpoint that must be at least startling, if not outright scary. Also, check out the local fauna, which from a sci-fi viewpoint, was turned into wallets and clothes. Even our cows, which we eat, are fucking 500kg slab of muscle and fat, capable of crushing a man to death. We made an industry of killing , eating, and using their bodily remains.

We roll poison into little cylinders and smoke it to relax. We drink poison too, and derive enjoyment from the temporary malfunctioning it causes in our higher brain functions. The higher the toxin level the greater the beverage; diluting the toxin with water is severely frowned upon by society. Humans preferentially select foods that mimic their response to damage. For the flavor.

We expose ourselves to sunlight in order to damage our skin and make it assume a darker hue for the sake of perceived beauty. We expose ourselves to harsh environments with nothing but nylon for shelter for pleasure.

It took 50 years since the invention of a motorised vehicle for us to develop laws about where and how to drive them safely. We just didn't care til then.

Humans are constantly conditioned almost from birth to regard lethal violence as valid entertainment, Action movies, violent video games, even sports like martial arts or fencing are all derived from actions which, in the end, are intended to end the lives of sentient beings. and we enjoy them in our spare time. We even make our kids pay for them in order to play.

Rather than fight disease directly, humans deliberately inject themselves with crippled versions of deadly plagues, so that their bodies will shrug them off with minor effects. Our immune systems are so hardy that even the quickest-mutating pathogen barely affects us; we call it "just a cold" and treat our infection like a minor inconvenience. We put all sorts of chemichals in our body to cure ailments, and sometimes we don't even know how any of it works. We know it doesn't kill us, and that's enough.

A single inescapable fact is that humanity unites with infinitely greater purpose in pursuit of war, than we ever do in pursuit of peace. I mean, we're able to fly into space now and have been killing each other for thousands of years. What makes anyone think we would drop that habit once we can fly out a bit further?

We poison our air and water to weed out the weak.

We set off fission bombs in our only biosphere.

We nailed our god to a stick.

Don't fuck with the human race.