6 Most Absurd Jobs in Sci-Fi That Actually Exist in Future Worlds
Alien Translator
You know what’s going to be worse than aliens visiting Earth? Not being able to communicate with aliens visiting Earth. Ted Chiang thought the same, and that’s why he decided that In his book Story of Your Life the main character would be someone capable of communicating with aliens. And this all within the span of what I can only assume is a few weeks after the aliens first arrive on the planet!
Mechador
If you were thinking this is like Jason Statham where he basically plays matador to a meg, you’re not too far off. The book Auto-da-Fé by Roger Zelazny is about a mechador, which is basically a matador that fights charging android-like cars instead of good ol’ bulls or prehistoric megasharks. The reason for his weird job is that the plot of the book clearly establishes that people can be revived, so the Mechador can die a brutal death over and over again as part of their job.
Void Ship Pilot
Science fiction has a tendency to come up with weird stuff by just putting “void”, “space”, “intergalactic” or what have you in front of it. In The Void Captain’s Tale by Norman Spinrad, the ship’s pilot controls the ship through the sheer power of her being turned on. Not because of something that happened by accident – that’s how the ships were made.
