They're Made Out of Meat

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Terry Bisson
1990
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“They’re made out of meat.”

“Meat?”

“Meat. They’re made out of meat.”

“Meat?”

“There’s no doubt about it. We picked up several from different parts of the planet, took them aboard our recon vessels, and probed them all the way through. They’re completely meat.”

“That’s impossible. What about the radio signals? The messages to the stars?”

“They use the radio waves to talk, but the signals don’t come from them. The signals come from machines.”

“So who made the machines? That’s who we want to contact.”

“They made the machines. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Meat made the machines.”

“That’s ridiculous. How can meat make a machine? You’re asking me to believe in sentient meat.”

“I’m not asking you, I’m telling you. These creatures are the only sentient race in that sector and they’re made out of meat.”

“Maybe they’re like the orfolei. You know, a carbon-based intelligence that goes through a meat stage.”

“Nope. They’re born meat and they die meat. We studied them for several of their life spans, which didn’t take long. Do you have any idea what’s the lifespan of meat?”

“Spare me. Okay, maybe they’re only part meat. You know, like the weddilei. A meat head with an electron plasma brain inside.”

“Nope. We thought of that, since they do have meat heads, like the weddilei. But I told you, we probed them. They’re meat all the way through.”

“No brain?”

“Oh, there’s a brain all right. It’s just that the brain is made out of meat! That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

“So... what does the thinking?”

“You’re not understanding, are you? You’re refusing to deal with what I’m telling you. The brain does the thinking. The meat.”

“Thinking meat! You’re asking me to believe in thinking meat!”

“Yes, thinking meat! Conscious meat! Loving meat. Dreaming meat. The meat is the whole deal! Are you beginning to get the picture or do I have to start all over?”

“Omigod. You’re serious then. They’re made out of meat.”

“Thank you. Finally. Yes. They are indeed made out of meat. And they’ve been trying to get in touch with us for almost a hundred of their years.”

“Omigod. So what does this meat have in mind?”

“First it wants to talk to us. Then I imagine it wants to explore the Universe, contact other sentiences, swap ideas and information. The usual.”

“We’re supposed to talk to meat.”

“That’s the idea. That’s the message they’re sending out by radio. ‘Hello. Anyone out there. Anybody home.’ That sort of thing.”

“They actually do talk, then. They use words, ideas, concepts?”

“Oh, yes. Except they do it with meat.”

“I thought you just told me they used radio.”

“They do, but what do you think is on the radio? Meat sounds. You know how when you slap or flap meat, it makes a noise? They talk by flapping their meat at each other. They can even sing by squirting air through their meat.”

“Omigod. Singing meat. This is altogether too much. So what do you advise?”

“Officially or unofficially?”

“Both.”

“Officially, we are required to contact, welcome and log in any and all sentient races or multibeings in this quadrant of the Universe, without prejudice, fear or favor. Unofficially, I advise that we erase the records and forget the whole thing.”

“I was hoping you would say that.”

“It seems harsh, but there is a limit. Do we really want to make contact with meat?”

“I agree 100 percent. What’s there to say? ‘Hello, meat. How’s it going?’ But will this work? How many planets are we dealing with here?”

“Just one. They can travel to other planets in special meat containers, but they can’t live on them. And being meat, they can only travel through C space. Which limits them to the speed of light and makes the possibility of their ever making contact pretty slim. Infinitesimal, in fact.”

“So we just pretend there’s no one home in the Universe.”

“That’s it.”

“Cruel. But you said it yourself, who wants to meet meat? And the ones who have been aboard our vessels, the ones you probed? You’re sure they won’t remember?”

“They’ll be considered crackpots if they do. We went into their heads and smoothed out their meat so that we’re just a dream to them.”

“A dream to meat! How strangely appropriate, that we should be meat’s dream.”

“And we marked the entire sector unoccupied.”

“Good. Agreed, officially and unofficially. Case closed. Any others? Anyone interesting on that side of the galaxy?”

“Yes, a rather shy but sweet hydrogen core cluster intelligence in a class nine star in G445 zone. Was in contact two galactic rotations ago, wants to be friendly again.”

“They always come around.”

“And why not? Imagine how unbearably, how unutterably cold the Universe would be if one were all alone...”

"They're Made out of Meat" from OMNI by Terry Bisson. Copyright © 1990. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

Notes
AllDefinitionsFootnotes
Recon is an abbreviation for reconnaissance, which is a military term for inspecting or exploring an area.
Sentient (adjective) : conscious
Infinitesimal (adjective) : extremely small

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Assessment: What is the "meat" in this story, and how do you know? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

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do this on a 8th grader level

Answer 1

In Terry Bisson's story "They're Made Out of Meat," the "meat" refers to a race of beings that are completely made of biological material, or flesh, which is their entire existence. The story features two characters discussing the nature of these beings, who are sentient (meaning they can think and feel) but are made entirely out of meat.

We can understand this concept through several pieces of evidence from the text:

1. The first lines of the story establish clearly that the beings are “made out of meat.” The characters repeat this multiple times, emphasizing that there is no doubt about it. For example, one character repeatedly states, “They’re made out of meat” to make sure the other character understands this point.

2. The conversation explains how these meat beings communicate. One character explains that they use radio waves but points out that the signals come from machines, implying that these meat beings are not high-tech or advanced like other sentient species. Instead, they rely on simple sounds made by their physical bodies, as indicated when one character says that they “talk by flapping their meat at each other.”

3. The discussion about their lifestyle adds to our understanding of what "meat" means in this context. The characters explain that these beings are born, live, and die as meat, with no parts that are non-meat. For instance, they clarify, “They’re born meat and they die meat,” showing there's nothing else to them. They look at this from many angles, including how their brains are also made of meat: “The brain does the thinking. The meat.”

4. Finally, the reaction of the characters indicates the absurdity and humor in the situation. When one character realizes that they truly need to talk to “meat,” their response is to conclude that it seems excessive and outrageous, stating, “I agree 100 percent. What’s there to say? ‘Hello, meat. How’s it going?’”

Overall, "meat" in this story symbolizes a different kind of existence that challenges our ideas of what a sentient being is. The humor in the story comes from the characters' disbelief and the absurdity of the situation, as they grapple with the idea of intelligent beings being made entirely of flesh.