As a follow on from my previous Avatar post I have been paying attention to how science fiction writers and script writers refer to aliens.

It would seem that the majority refer to alien races. Check out Startrek for instance the term ‘human or alien race’ is common and widely used.

So… are they wrong? I think so. Race to me means an infinitesimal genetic difference. No more than the difference between blue or brown eyes, black or blonde hair. The convention seems to be us as humans consist of different races where the only difference is skin colour or facial features. We are all genetically compatible the same family or species.

Aliens would not be genetically compatible with us. They would have evolved on a different planet and environment therefore an alien would surly be a different species?

If we follow what seems to be the generally held SciFi writers convention then Whales or Goldfinches are a race when they are in fact a separate species. Therefore there is no such thing as an Alien race the two terms are mutually exclusive.

The majority of  Science Fiction writers are therefore wrong!

As a member of the Human species what do you think?