The Great Silence
Arecibo is a great bowl cut out of the earth in Puerto Rico, a huge radio telescope that has been used to probe for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence elsewhere in the universe. Living nearby is a different kind of intelligence -- Puerto Rican Parrots, which are threatened with extinction. The two are tied together brilliantly by science fiction writer Ted Chiang, who wrote the original story that became the movie Arrival, in his haunting, poignant and thought-provoking short story The Great Silence. It has an interesting origin. It started as bridging text Chiang was asked to write for a video installation about Arecibo and the parrots. But it took on a life of its own on the internet and was eventually selected for inclusion in Best American Short Stories 2016. Give it a try. It's short but unforgettable and you can read it at this link: supercommunity.e-flux.com/texts/the-great-silence/
The Great Silence
Arecibo is a great bowl cut out of the earth in Puerto Rico, a huge radio telescope that has been used to probe for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence elsewhere in the universe. Living nearby is a different kind of intelligence -- Puerto Rican Parrots, which are threatened with extinction. The two are tied together brilliantly by science fiction writer Ted Chiang, who wrote the original story that became the movie Arrival, in his haunting, poignant and thought-provoking short story The Great Silence. It has an interesting origin. It started as bridging text Chiang was asked to write for a video installation about Arecibo and the parrots. But it took on a life of its own on the internet and was eventually selected for inclusion in Best American Short Stories 2016. Give it a try. It's short but unforgettable and you can read it at this link: supercommunity.e-flux.com/texts/the-great-silence/