Is finding aliens a good idea?

[Twad]

IMHO :

First of all, you have the fact that humans are destructive in nature, we are sure to spark an intergalactic war with them eventually, thats if they don't declare one on us first.

Depends on who finds who first, and their respective techs, politics, goals and if they are bored at the time.
Plus, if aliens are in space, they are likely (maybe)to be just as aggressive and destructive as we are; they had to control their world and everything on it to build up enough to go out into space and meet us (then declare war, because war IS a tried and true concept to them and they got the tools for it).. or not. Who knows.

Second, if they DO have much better technology I hardly doubt they'd want to associate with our primitive ways, some people treat animals on our own planet as though they are stupid, aliens will have us in test chambers and such studying our caveman like behaviour.

More advanced tech in one field doesnt mean they master everything better. Maybe they dont know of effective ways to handle water or oxygen. Maybe they arent very good with basic laser technology. Maybe they arent good with communication networking. Our art and culture might interest them as well.
Just use your imagination. Two completely different species that grew in completely different settings, you WANT to learn as much as possible, no matter if they are "primitive" or not.
There is always profit/benefit to be made from trade and learning from the other.

And as advanced they might be, we arent harmless (goes both ways). Again, depends on our tech level when they meet us, if they out-tech us by a massive margin they can kill us at their leisure .. or incorporate us into their "empire". After all we got quite an industrial base down there already, plenty of competent, intelligent people with fresh, new ideas. Within a few years/decade we could be a boon to their empire. (reverse is true)
So capturing enough people for "gruesome experiments" might not be the best choice.

Thirdly, we have resources they might want, they have resources we might want, how do we settle that trade civilised.

Trade. Its as simple as that.
Or just mine the pretty much unlimited ressources out there in space. Plenty of it to go around.

Fourth, we still have racism and sexism on this planet we haven't yet gotten rid of, how would we adapt to other new beings?

Yup. And first contact will be pretty much under maximum security and handled by the most skilled, competent and understanding people as possible. Going at it any other way would be stupid.
THey might have the same trouble on their end too.
Or have even bigger problem, like war with someone else, civil war.. or we smell like a tasty chicken to them.

 

[Voodoomancer]

We wouldn't start a war with an alien civilization because we know it's a bad idea. Also, I think any aliens would think of us more as being on the "teenager" level of civilization, not cavemen. We obviously aren't.

 

[TeeBs]

Honestly though, ever since we stopped seeing the world as black and white *or to make this statement seem less confusing White Christian Male and everyone else* and started to see it as people being people there has been a push for equality, I would assume that by the time we make it to another planet the world would have reached a social climate where even the slightest mistreatment of these aliens would be treated with huge political backfire.

The push for equality is extremely gradual. Assuming we do reach that point the aliens will still be, well, alien to us. Humans treating other humans equally seems more plausible than treating the unknown equally.

Of course, there would be opposition if the aliens were being mistreated but I imagine that for a majority of people fear of the unknown would over-ride their ethics.

What is truly unknown though, I would assume any space ship capable of space travel would also have a telescope capable of seeing farther then they can even travel, its not like they are going to jump into lightspeed without knowing there going to end up in a dark hole or an alien space fleet capable of blasting us to chunks.

I would assume we would observe for quite a long time before we attempt to make contact.

Ummm ... we've already sent out signals to contact alien races, the radio waves are still travelling out from our solar system. Your a bit late.

I already knew about this, though I am kinda confused on why scientist even think aliens would find our transmission relevant. I mean who the fuck still uses a AM radio.

 

[Colour Scientist]

Honestly though, ever since we stopped seeing the world as black and white *or to make this statement seem less confusing White Christian Male and everyone else* and started to see it as people being people there has been a push for equality, I would assume that by the time we make it to another planet the world would have reached a social climate where even the slightest mistreatment of these aliens would be treated with huge political backfire.

The push for equality is extremely gradual. Assuming we do reach that point the aliens will still be, well, alien to us. Humans treating other humans equally seems more plausible than treating the unknown equally.

Of course, there would be opposition if the aliens were being mistreated but I imagine that for a majority of people fear of the unknown would over-ride their ethics.

What is truly unknown though, I would assume any space ship capable of space travel would also have a telescope capable of seeing farther then they can even travel, its not like they are going to jump into lightspeed without knowing there going to end up in a dark hole or an alien space fleet capable of blasting us to chunks.

I would assume we would observe for quite a long time before we attempt to make contact.

Observation wouldn't necessarily mean understanding though.
Even if they appeared to be passive beings people would still probably fear a potential threat, however small.

 

[Antari]

Honestly though, ever since we stopped seeing the world as black and white *or to make this statement seem less confusing White Christian Male and everyone else* and started to see it as people being people there has been a push for equality, I would assume that by the time we make it to another planet the world would have reached a social climate where even the slightest mistreatment of these aliens would be treated with huge political backfire.

The push for equality is extremely gradual. Assuming we do reach that point the aliens will still be, well, alien to us. Humans treating other humans equally seems more plausible than treating the unknown equally.

Of course, there would be opposition if the aliens were being mistreated but I imagine that for a majority of people fear of the unknown would over-ride their ethics.

What is truly unknown though, I would assume any space ship capable of space travel would also have a telescope capable of seeing farther then they can even travel, its not like they are going to jump into lightspeed without knowing there going to end up in a dark hole or an alien space fleet capable of blasting us to chunks.

I would assume we would observe for quite a long time before we attempt to make contact.

Ummm ... we've already sent out signals to contact alien races, the radio waves are still travelling out from our solar system. Your a bit late.

I already knew about this, though I am kinda confused on why scientist even think aliens would find our transmission relevant. I mean who the fuck still uses a AM radio.

They specifically used frequencies that are not naturally generated. Or atleast that we know of yet.

 

[pulse2]

which will inevitable happen. It'll probably be sparked by us

Your comparing apples and... undiscovered elements. Yes we seem violent and manipulative, compared to dumb founded animals who don't know any better, but we have no proof that aliens are more peaceful then us.

BTW this is aimed at OP as well.

Lol, that's why I said this: "First of all, you have the fact that humans are destructive in nature, we are sure to spark an intergalactic war with them eventually, thats if they don't declare one on us first."

As destructive as we are, at least we know the extent to which we are capable of, we have no idea what hides in space, giants 10 times our size, or planets so advanced they could vapourise us in a blink of an eye, is that really what we are so determined to find?

And when we do find them, what then? Make contact? How? They don't speak English, I'll be damn well shocked if they did, lol. Our attempts at asking for peace might infact be a global insult to them.

Well if Sci-fi is any what correct we would spend years studying them from space, seeing if they have some form of media and then we would try to translate using that the same way a baby learns to speak without knowing any form of language or context at birth. Which seems like the logical choice.

And assuming they are a space faring race before we discover them chances are they already know of us, and if they don't they have probably already found other alien races and has a certain way of dealing with it.

Also I never really got what makes Earth resources so valuable, other then life what resource do we have that is worth raping our civilization from a moral point of view, and if a alien race has reached a point of space travel they must have some moral system.

Good points.

Though, the learning of thier culture and ways would take a sufficient amount of time, language on our planet takes years to learn and get used to and it is partially helped with reading material, learning devices, people repeating words clear and simple so that basic commands are understood and other means to learn languages besides translators. Learning a language on Earth couldn't be easier nowadays with determination.

Learning a whole new planet's language and commands though is different, the same way in which we still to this day fail to understand animal tongue because their actions and thoughts are different to our own, is the same way we could fail to understand aliens. If you can't explain to a wild lion that you come in peace, how would we intend to do that to aliens?

And yeah, there's no guarantee they will care for our resources, but they may care for our technology, or maybe there IS a resource on our planet that they can't get on thier own, we humans are prone to taking things by force, so it wouldn't seem so impossible for them to do the same.

 

[KiLl_RoY]

I think we shoud if we are able to do it.
Not for any specific reason really, just because we can, i mean if you could talk with an alien would you not do it?

 

[nothinghere]

I think I would rather have it so we find them, then having the situation reversed.

 

[TeeBs]

Honestly though, ever since we stopped seeing the world as black and white *or to make this statement seem less confusing White Christian Male and everyone else* and started to see it as people being people there has been a push for equality, I would assume that by the time we make it to another planet the world would have reached a social climate where even the slightest mistreatment of these aliens would be treated with huge political backfire.

The push for equality is extremely gradual. Assuming we do reach that point the aliens will still be, well, alien to us. Humans treating other humans equally seems more plausible than treating the unknown equally.

Of course, there would be opposition if the aliens were being mistreated but I imagine that for a majority of people fear of the unknown would over-ride their ethics.

What is truly unknown though, I would assume any space ship capable of space travel would also have a telescope capable of seeing farther then they can even travel, its not like they are going to jump into lightspeed without knowing there going to end up in a dark hole or an alien space fleet capable of blasting us to chunks.

I would assume we would observe for quite a long time before we attempt to make contact.

Ummm ... we've already sent out signals to contact alien races, the radio waves are still travelling out from our solar system. Your a bit late.

I already knew about this, though I am kinda confused on why scientist even think aliens would find our transmission relevant. I mean who the fuck still uses a AM radio.

They specifically used frequencies that are not naturally generated. Or atleast that we know of yet.

Its still seems like a 1 in a Million chance. Maybe they aren't specifically worried about expanding there ability to read signals, sure they may be a social race but maybe the idea of the telephone *or something that would receive a signal* seems irrelevant, the same reason why we breath air but we don't all wear machines that make it easier to breath *although such a machine exists*.

 

[pulse2]

I think we shoud if we are able to do it.
Not for any specific reason really, just because we can, i mean if you could talk with an alien would you not do it?

Depends on what conversation consists of, how do you reply to: "Zhak Jit....hias aha hiikk9 &ginta * sha" And that's in our text, let alone thiers, lol.

IMHO :

Depends on who finds who first, and their respective techs, politics, goals and if they are bored at the time.
Plus, if aliens are in space, they are likely (maybe)to be just as aggressive and destructive as we are; they had to control their world and everything on it to build up enough to go out into space and meet us (then declare war, because war IS a tried and true concept to them and they got the tools for it).. or not. Who knows.

More advanced tech in one field doesnt mean they master everything better. Maybe they dont know of effective ways to handle water or oxygen. Maybe they arent very good with basic laser technology. Maybe they arent good with communication networking. Our art and culture might interest them as well.
Just use your imagination. Two completely different species that grew in completely different settings, you WANT to learn as much as possible, no matter if they are "primitive" or not.
There is always profit/benefit to be made from trade and learning from the other.

And as advanced they might be, we arent harmless (goes both ways). Again, depends on our tech level when they meet us, if they out-tech us by a massive margin they can kill us at their leisure .. or incorporate us into their "empire". After all we got quite an industrial base down there already, plenty of competent, intelligent people with fresh, new ideas. Within a few years/decade we could be a boon to their empire. (reverse is true)
So capturing enough people for "gruesome experiments" might not be the best choice.

Trade. Its as simple as that.
Or just mine the pretty much unlimited ressources out there in space. Plenty of it to go around.

Yup. And first contact will be pretty much under maximum security and handled by the most skilled, competent and understanding people as possible. Going at it any other way would be stupid.
THey might have the same trouble on their end too.
Or have even bigger problem, like war with someone else, civil war.. or we smell like a tasty chicken to them.

Here's hoping we find them first, because at least we'd have time to study them before making communication, which would makes things easier. Saying that, for all we know, we could be in that exact boat now, we're talking about observing them, how do we know we aren't being observed at this very moment, aliens using advanced tech to watch our daily lives, see our tv stations, learn our language through powerful radio signal interceptors and such. They could be observing how we treat other countries, our politics, everything, all while we idly mind our business, unaware of it all. Its kind of a scary thought.

Either way, whatever interests they may have, they already know what it is exactly they want, so upon revealing themselves to us eventually, what a shock it would be for them to go directly for what they came for without further need to study our ways, maybe capture a few humans as they do, in the same way we capture animals and stick them in cages.

That wouldn't give us enough time to learn about them because it would be quite the suprise. Besides, if we really do have something that interests them, it would be more effective to capture us as we'd have the skills to produce more of it, alternativly, they could be peaceful about it and ask us for information in return for some of thier own. Its 50/50 really.

 

[TeeBs]

which will inevitable happen. It'll probably be sparked by us

Your comparing apples and... undiscovered elements. Yes we seem violent and manipulative, compared to dumb founded animals who don't know any better, but we have no proof that aliens are more peaceful then us.

BTW this is aimed at OP as well.

Lol, that's why I said this: "First of all, you have the fact that humans are destructive in nature, we are sure to spark an intergalactic war with them eventually, thats if they don't declare one on us first."

As destructive as we are, at least we know the extent to which we are capable of, we have no idea what hides in space, giants 10 times our size, or planets so advanced they could vapourise us in a blink of an eye, is that really what we are so determined to find?

And when we do find them, what then? Make contact? How? They don't speak English, I'll be damn well shocked if they did, lol. Our attempts at asking for peace might infact be a global insult to them.

Well if Sci-fi is any what correct we would spend years studying them from space, seeing if they have some form of media and then we would try to translate using that the same way a baby learns to speak without knowing any form of language or context at birth. Which seems like the logical choice.

And assuming they are a space faring race before we discover them chances are they already know of us, and if they don't they have probably already found other alien races and has a certain way of dealing with it.

Also I never really got what makes Earth resources so valuable, other then life what resource do we have that is worth raping our civilization from a moral point of view, and if a alien race has reached a point of space travel they must have some moral system.

Good points.

Though, the learning of thier culture and ways would take a sufficient amount of time, language on our planet takes years to learn and get used to and it is partially helped with reading material, learning devices, people repeating words clear and simple so that basic commands are understood and other means to learn languages besides translators. Learning a language on Earth couldn't be easier nowadays with determination.

Learning a whole new planet's language and commands though is different, the same way in which we still to this day fail to understand animal tongue because their actions and thoughts are different to our own, is the same way we could fail to understand aliens. If you can't explain to a wild lion that you come in peace, how would we intend to do that to aliens?

And yeah, there's no guarantee they will care for our resources, but they may care for our technology, or maybe there IS a resource on our planet that they can't get on thier own, we humans are prone to taking things by force, so it wouldn't seem so impossible for them to do the same.

The only real difference then us and a Ape is the fact that we have the ability to use a language, and it has been proven that an Ape can understand, just not utilize our language. Considering that we are defiantly smarter if not just as smart as an ape we have the ability to understand a language and we will most likely have the technology to recreate the way they talk. Even if our human bodies can't reach a certain pitch or make a certain noise.

A lion can be tamed, and is only hostile when it needs to be. I'm sure we would have enough of a understanding of the race too come off as non-hostile.

And the only resource I can think of is Oil and Gasoline *seeing as how life needs to exist on a planet for these to be created.* But I would assume most alien ships would be solar powered, seeing as how its a renewable resource readily available in space.

 

[pulse2]

which will inevitable happen. It'll probably be sparked by us

Your comparing apples and... undiscovered elements. Yes we seem violent and manipulative, compared to dumb founded animals who don't know any better, but we have no proof that aliens are more peaceful then us.

BTW this is aimed at OP as well.

Lol, that's why I said this: "First of all, you have the fact that humans are destructive in nature, we are sure to spark an intergalactic war with them eventually, thats if they don't declare one on us first."

As destructive as we are, at least we know the extent to which we are capable of, we have no idea what hides in space, giants 10 times our size, or planets so advanced they could vapourise us in a blink of an eye, is that really what we are so determined to find?

And when we do find them, what then? Make contact? How? They don't speak English, I'll be damn well shocked if they did, lol. Our attempts at asking for peace might infact be a global insult to them.

Well if Sci-fi is any what correct we would spend years studying them from space, seeing if they have some form of media and then we would try to translate using that the same way a baby learns to speak without knowing any form of language or context at birth. Which seems like the logical choice.

And assuming they are a space faring race before we discover them chances are they already know of us, and if they don't they have probably already found other alien races and has a certain way of dealing with it.

Also I never really got what makes Earth resources so valuable, other then life what resource do we have that is worth raping our civilization from a moral point of view, and if a alien race has reached a point of space travel they must have some moral system.

Good points.

Though, the learning of thier culture and ways would take a sufficient amount of time, language on our planet takes years to learn and get used to and it is partially helped with reading material, learning devices, people repeating words clear and simple so that basic commands are understood and other means to learn languages besides translators. Learning a language on Earth couldn't be easier nowadays with determination.

Learning a whole new planet's language and commands though is different, the same way in which we still to this day fail to understand animal tongue because their actions and thoughts are different to our own, is the same way we could fail to understand aliens. If you can't explain to a wild lion that you come in peace, how would we intend to do that to aliens?

And yeah, there's no guarantee they will care for our resources, but they may care for our technology, or maybe there IS a resource on our planet that they can't get on thier own, we humans are prone to taking things by force, so it wouldn't seem so impossible for them to do the same.

The only real difference then us and a Ape is the fact that we have the ability to use a language, and it has been proven that an Ape can understand, just not utilize our language. Considering that we are defiantly smarter if not just as smart as an ape we have the ability to understand a language and we will most likely have the technology to recreate the way they talk. Even if our human bodies can't reach a certain pitch or make a certain noise.

A lion can be tamed, and is only hostile when it needs to be. I'm sure we would have enough of a understanding of the race too come off as non-hostile.

And the only resource I can think of is Oil and Gasoline *seeing as how life needs to exist on a planet for these to be created.* But I would assume most alien ships would be solar powered, seeing as how its a renewable resource readily available in space.

I was using the lion as an example of the levels of communication difference, we are under the assumption that aliens will be on the same intellectual level as our own, lets say THEY were more primitive or in fact WE are primitive compared to them, our hand gestures and tongue and small brains would probably pale in comparison to thier extremely high levels of intelligence, what we see as technologically advanced may be the invention of the wheel to them.

Yeah we can tame a lion, but you need to use force to do so, you can't merely walk into a savanah and tame a wild lion just like that, a lion cares not for your communication, it wants to eat. So it proves that lions are relativly simple minded despite being intelligent enough to know how to survive on a daily basis. This is possibly the same way aliens may view us. I'm not saying that we will never understand aliens, surely there would be some way to do so, but that all depends on what means of which we have to learn thier language. Its all rather fascinating

As for the valuability of our resources, we humans fight over resources available in other countries, diamonds, oil, gold etc, if aliens don't have it, they may want it. Beats me why, the universe is difficult to question, lol

 

[Dwarfman]

which will inevitable happen. It'll probably be sparked by us

Your comparing apples and... undiscovered elements. Yes we seem violent and manipulative, compared to dumb founded animals who don't know any better, but we have no proof that aliens are more peaceful then us.

BTW this is aimed at OP as well.

I just realised I typed "inevitable happen", smooth.


Well, I'm going by the way we've treated other, previously undiscovered, humans in the past, who may as well have been aliens at the time. Like when Europeans first went to America, the natives who weren't killed by disease were worked to death.
We don't have the best track record.

Honestly though, ever since we stopped seeing the world as black and white *or to make this statement seem less confusing White Christian Male and everyone else* and started to see it as people being people there has been a push for equality, I would assume that by the time we make it to another planet the world would have reached a social climate where even the slightest mistreatment of these aliens would be treated with huge political backfire.

Hey! I'm a white christian male and I try my best to be nice to almost everybody. Really! Honest! =D>

But yes I too hope that by the time we do find something out there, whether it be intelligent or otherwise that we have learned from our sorid past and have the care and restraint to deal with the discovery responsibly.

Colour-Scientist makes an excellent allusion to the diseases that spread among indigenous peoples during the age of discovery, and this I think would be one of the hurdles to any interaction with any kind of alien. I'm sure we've all read H.G. Wells' classic The War of the Worlds and what happened to the martians and the common cold. The same fate could easily befall us!

If and when we do discover an intelligent race out there - even before we consider interacting with them a good idea - we would have to consider the following issues:-

Communication.
Distance.
The affects of allergies, diseases, pathogens and viruses both upon them and us.
What do they eat?
What do they Breath?
How will the gravities of both our worlds affect us?
How scientifically and culturally advanced are we in comparrison to them?

 

[Vigormortis]

Okay, no matter what you may believe, yay or nay, in the interest of dicussion, do you think the determination to find others like ourselves is such a good idea? (No matter how long it takes)

I absolutely think it's one of the most important and crucial quests of humanity to seek out and make contact with other life (intelligent or otherwise) in this universe. We, as a species, hold a very self-centered, arrogant, and close-minded view of ourselves and our universe. We become aware, day by day, in the field of science that we are not the center of the universe. As was once believed. However, on a personal level, we still hold ourselves above any and everything else around us. The discovery of other life in this universe, especially life far more advanced then us, would both change our views and rock the very foundations of our beliefs.

This is something that NEEDS to happen. Our self destructiveness stems from our close-minded beliefs and ideals. If we come to realize that we aren't the only life in this universe (and hopefully not the only advanced life), then we will have no choice but to reassess our stance and position in this universe.

The other outcome, as depressing and unlikely as it would be, is to find that this planet really is the only haven of life. This too would lead to a drastic change in our ideals. You see, if this planet IS the only planet with life, then we must face the fact that life is far more precious then we had thought. And, we must accept that we are obligated to take up the task of preserving life. We must spread life to the rest of universe to make sure it has the highest probability of surviving.

Either way, OP, looking for life elsewhere in the universe is something we must...nay...need to do. Regardless of the outcome.

snip

Not to discount your theory, but a lot of your speculation smacks in the face of science and known discoveries.

For example, it is not believed that "all intelligent lifeforms" originate from bacteria. In fact, it's believed that all life on Earth didn't even come from bacteria. Singe-celled lifeforms, yes, but not bacteria. (there is a difference)

That so called "alien bacteria" they found in a meteorite wasn't found a few days ago but years ago. Also, that meteorite originated from Mars. (many millions or billions of years prior) However, the "bacteria" in question is one of the most hotly debated topics in current physics and exobiology. The general consensus is that it's just a crystalline formation and not fossilized bacterium.

You're correct on the current, most widely accepted theory on the origin of the moon. However, the collision occurred so early in the Earth developmental cycle (billions of years ago) that the surface of the planet had not yet even cooled. Coupled with the force and energy of the impact, even if the object (which was close to the size of Mars) had carried some kind of alien life, that life would never have survived. So it could not have been the origin of life on Earth.

Another thing to consider, if some alien life HAD seeded Earth with life, they would have done it over 2 billion years ago. Think about that for a second. Two billion years. That's a LONG time. No matter how far advanced a species is, planning to observe the progress of something for two billion years is not task that's doable. It's just not.

But again, I don't want to come off as brash or insulting. On the contrary, I actually love the idea of what you've postulated. I think it would make for one hell of a fantastic tale. One I would definitely read.

 

[Easton Dark]

No reason they couldn't find needed resources on planets that arn't currently inhabited.

And if they could be understood, hell yeah I'd talk to them. Learn what it's like in galactic civilization.

It'd be interesting as long as they arn't, yknow, threatened.

 

[Dark Knifer]

Sure. If there is other life out there, we should find it. Just make sure we send people who are reasonable and not war-mongers.

 

[Vykrel]

if they are equally or less intelligent as us, AND are not as advanced as we are... sure.

if they are smarter and more advanced, probably not. we all know our own history. advanced people find primitive people, kill them and steal their land, and possibly make them slaves. then those people have to work their asses off for a century or more just to gain near-equality.

 

[Astoria]

It's probably a very bad idea. You've all met this guy right?

If this is what our imagination is giving us I don't think I wanna know just what could be out there. If we did happen to find other life you can bet that they'll be much more advanced than us and could wipe us all out without any effort. Even if they are friendly, we aren't and due to our nature as said in the OP a war would probably break out anyway.

 

[Orcus The Ultimate]

The only way to answer that question is by finding them first, if they haven't already been established in underground bases across the globe for thousands of years.