Ornamentation on Alien ship?

Well if these beings are creators of planets and species, they'll probably assume they're "better" then any other species that may exist in the galaxy. I mean ya can't blame them, I'd not wanna mess with a society who are able to do that!

-"Well if these beings are creators of planets and species, they'll probably assume they're "better" then any other species that may exist in the galaxy. I mean ya can't blame them, I'd not wanna mess with a society who are able to do that!" Interesting. But, at least from our point of view, that only shows they must fear something and need protection. It's like our own animals (us included), making themselves look bigger or different to ward off any potential predators (Ok, I don't mean literally the animals are planning this of course). Why would such an advanced race "paint their faces" sort of speak for fear of any other race? They must be vulnerable, big time. Then again, we we are not them, so it may mean something completely different to them. It would be interesting if we actually were to make contact with an Alien race and see what they come up with: Do they have art? Literature? How have they solved problems of long distance travel? Are they carbon based life?...

It's probably like you said about our ships having an industrial look, an appearance which is based on our technology, theirs is likely to be functional as well, based upon an entirely different technolgy which may even combine the use of runic symbols. Don't forget these Aliens are alien and as Arthur C Clarke said, any sufficiently advanced civilisation's technology would appear like magic to us.

"...and as Arthur C Clarke said, any sufficiently advanced civilisation's technology would appear like magic to us." I'm hoping the ship, its operation, and its inner workings *mostly* remain a mystery. Take a skilled programmer, for instance, and ask them to unravel spaghetti code that's written in Japanese kanji. It'd require intimate knowledge of the Japanese language to do it, and if the programmer lacks that knowledge, they would fail utterly. So I'm hoping that nobody on the crew, even David, is able to magically decipher the ship's full functionality due merely to their human intelligence (even androids are limited by the intelligence of their human creators).

@Jones - Technically androids are computers/machines, and it's been proven how quicker they can calculate things then humans so they should actually have more knowledge then us I'd have thought. . . Also, I think that SJ as a race are so advanced that they look upon species like us humans as mere insect like in significance. Till the events in this movie. . . When humans prove to be more dangerous then previously thought, which I think could lean to the SJ somehow forming/creating the xenomorph to rid them of us. But this backfires on them. . .

@ Lyle - personally I hate the possibility of the Alien/Xenomorph being created in Prometheus. The creature has always had lovecraftian undertones to it that, to me, suggests its a very ancient being, maybe as ancient as the Space Jockeys Regards the topic, I like to think of this as an Aesthetic issue. Our technology is probably best described as post-industrial. Everything has function, and that function is labelled and catergorized. We do this with signs and markers. The Space Jockeys design seems to be from a different viewpoint. Although highly advanced the technology is hidden behind corridors and ornaments and details that are more classically designed. Rather than advertise their technology, it is hidden behind a facade of ancient grandeur, adding to the "magical" view of their technology we would have.

@Lyle, True about androids to a point. They can perform functions they were specifically programmed to do much faster than humans (see Kasparoff-Deep Blue chess matches, some of which Kasparoff won). What I'm getting at is that if we as humans were to encounter something truly alien, it would be so incomprehensible that not even our most intelligent computer would likely be able to make sense of it.

I don't think the visual aesthetics are of any importance to the SJs, to us they seem ornate but I think the 'look' of the interiors are just a result of their biomechanical tech (vains, tubes and skeletal structure) which is 'grown'... Where we would hide the electrical cables/wires/circuits behind trunking for safety in space/neatness due to them being fragile, the SJs tech is living/soft and can withstand impacts so don't need protecting.

I agree with keYserSOze. Their ship, suits, equipment, etc. is not ornate. It is simply biomechanical. The ship is not manufactured, its is genetically engineered and grown. And therefore it has what appears to be ornate tubes, veins, and texture much like anything that grows/is alive. The same can be said of the Alien in "ALIEN". (Its bio mechanical). It looks partly mechanical because it was designed/genetically engineered as a working system for a specific purpose/function. But its grows like an organism. These are just my opinions based on what we've seen so far.

I think it has a lot to do with how the ship is created/built. Our ships look the way they do as a function of the materials used, process used to assemble the components, and the task required of the crew members. Also, the size and shape of our ships is largely based on the ships purpose. The SJ ships are created totally differently. I can't see a group of SJ workers welding pieces of the ship together. The ship to me looks like it was grown or extruded in some alien process. My guess is that what we view as "ornamental" and "artsy" is mostly a byproduct of the ships creation. Also, if the ship is biomechanical, then by default it has biological systems. I'm guessing this would factor into the look of the ship.

I've always thought that the ship is a gigantic living organism lying dormant until a prey comes into its trap. Kinda like those carnivorous plants which prey on insects. Have you seen the inside of a sea shells? Those pattern based on Golden Ratio is beautiful, "artsy." Nature is not only a mad scientist, she is a fantastic artist.

arthur c clark is a completely ludacris ass...he claims we will b e ruled by A.I...sorry but pc's are objectsthey arent conscious

really, all pcs are tempermential, makes them conscious, and female IMO

what decoration? it's just their structure and architecture. also 20thcenturybuick, you reveal your stupidity(if your lame theory threads haven't already) by that comment. think of the subtext. he was really saying that humanity will be dominated by technology, which is completely true. we're typing on computers, we have phones and pdas that are all highly interconnected through technology. what happens when this technology fails or works against us? that was his message in regards to hal.

-"what decoration? it's just their structure and architecture." Architecture involves art, mr. rude. We could survive in very sturdy and safe square blocks, or caves or holes in the ground designed by engineers (which happens all the time) till the end of times. Those interiors could have been left bare, unless, as pointed out, their shape is the form of their function (as the old design paradigm goes). But since we are dealing with a fantasy story, anything can go I guess....