Lets say we find an alien probe, what happens? How do we react?

[DudeistBelieve]

Humans have done this with like Voyager. Little time capsules that have information about who we are (or were, depending on when they're found)

Lets say inverse happens. We get a time capsule. Filled with simaler information to whats on the golden discs.

No spaceship. No invasion. In fact whomever it is is beyond our ability to visit at present.

What do we do with that knowledge were not alone? Is there even a point?

 

[Keoul]

We plan towards meeting that other sentient race.

Better have a plan and a buttload of contingencies then running around like headless chickens when they pop up all of a sudden.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

Human sacrifices! Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!

But seriously, assuming the probe is 100% the genuine article, at the very least the knowledge that we are not alone would spark quite a bit of heated debate over the veracity and significance of such an event. A lot of established notions and beliefs would be challenged. The repercussions for the scientific and religious communities alone could go on for years, not to mention politically. There will most likely be denial, violence, crazies doing stupid shit and a whole lot of other unpleasantness from all sides before humanity finds peace with the concept.

 

[Kyrian007]

Well, I know what we should do with it. We should try and study it. Learn everything we can about the culture and species that created it. Focus our efforts upon its path and try and communicate with our "space neighbors." Basically as a species we need to grow up and step into the larger universe and do away with the more childish portions of our "infancy" as a species such as our delusions of importance within the universe.

That's what we should do.

What will probably happen...

The government represented by the space agency that discovers it (or just the country where it lands) will sequester all information within and learn just enough about the people that created the probe to determine whether or not they are a threat. And then an arms race would begin with an enemy we have never even communicated with.

 

[FalloutJack]

First, I would tell Enrico Fermi to go fuck himself, even though he's dead.

THEN, after a bit of a laugh, I would regroup and get this thing examined, see if there was any possible way of figuring out what tiny distant speck in the universe it hailed from, how long it took, and just...well...everything. It's an amazing message in a bottle. That's what our probes are. It's finding a noe in a bottle on the beach. Where did it come from? What does it say? And since we ARE just talking about a probe like our own, but alien, it's safe enough, not horrible. We don't have to worry about the aliens being dangerous, per se. However, it WOULD have to be made certain that its normal operations or anything it might have picked up out there was safe. Things can happen. It would be, in a word, fantastic.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

And then an arms race would begin with an enemy we have never even communicated with.

I'm no expert by any means, but knowing how really fucking huge interstellar distances are, we may never communicate with them, let alone ever meet them.

Chances are that probe had been floating around space for millenia. They would probably not even be aware of our existance yet, since the signal (assuming its still intelligeble to them at all) informing them would not have reached them yet. They may actually have gone extinct in the interval, and if they didn't and decided to travel to us, we may bite the dust before they get here.

Sadly, from what I know, chances of us meeting any alien civilization are pretty damn slim. Finding a probe by sheer luck or maybe, maybe, some ruins/fossils are most likely the best we'll ever get.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Eh, keep it hidden, because it'd cause massive unrest if it were to become general knowledge.

 

[Kyrian007]

And then an arms race would begin with an enemy we have never even communicated with.

I'm no expert by any means, but knowing how really fucking huge interstellar distances are, we may never communicate with them, let alone ever meet them.

Chances are that probe had been floating around space for millenia. They would probably not even be aware of our existance yet, since the signal (assuming its still intelligeble to them at all) informing them would not have reached them yet. They may actually have gone extinct in the interval, and if they didn't and decided to travel to us, we may bite the dust before they get here.

Sadly, from what I know, chances of us meeting any alien civilization are pretty damn slim. Finding a probe by sheer luck or maybe, maybe, some ruins/fossils are most likely the best we'll ever get.

Yeah, that's why its such a stupid response to finding such a probe. And why I believe its what would probably happen, because we're pretty primitive, stupid, and reactionary as a species.

 

[Asclepion]

Well, I know what we should do with it. We should try and study it. Learn everything we can about the culture and species that created it. Focus our efforts upon its path and try and communicate with our "space neighbors." Basically as a species we need to grow up and step into the larger universe and do away with the more childish portions of our "infancy" as a species such as our delusions of importance within the universe.

That's what we should do.

What will probably happen...

The government represented by the space agency that discovers it (or just the country where it lands) will sequester all information within and learn just enough about the people that created the probe to determine whether or not they are a threat. And then an arms race would begin with an enemy we have never even communicated with.

You seem to have an idealistic view of interstellar life, that it would be a forward progression of humanity, even a utopian one.

For all we know, our "space neighbors" could be a nanobot cloud that simply eats the Earth when it homes in on our signals. They could be a religious empire that forcibly converts any world they come across, or a mercantile society that subjugates other races. We can't automatically assume everything we encounter will be friendly. If we're lucky they will be, but that's a big gamble.

Seeking peaceful relations while analyzing the possibility of the aliens being violently hostile is absolutely the right course. One hopes that the enlightened, free-love Federation are our first contact, but remember that the Borg existed in their same universe.

 

[Asclepion]

It would be, in a word, fantastic.

Also this.

 

[Kyrian007]

Well, I know what we should do with it. We should try and study it. Learn everything we can about the culture and species that created it. Focus our efforts upon its path and try and communicate with our "space neighbors." Basically as a species we need to grow up and step into the larger universe and do away with the more childish portions of our "infancy" as a species such as our delusions of importance within the universe.

That's what we should do.

What will probably happen...

The government represented by the space agency that discovers it (or just the country where it lands) will sequester all information within and learn just enough about the people that created the probe to determine whether or not they are a threat. And then an arms race would begin with an enemy we have never even communicated with.

You seem to have an idealistic view of interstellar life, that it would be a forward progression of humanity, even a utopian one.

For all we know, our "space neighbors" could be a nanobot cloud that simply eats the Earth when it homes in on our signals. They could be a religious empire that forcibly converts any world they come across, or a mercantile society that subjugates other races. We can't automatically assume everything we encounter will be friendly. If we're lucky they will be, but that's a big gamble.

Seeking peaceful relations while analyzing the possibility of the aliens being violently hostile is absolutely the right course. One hopes that the enlightened, free-love Federation are our first contact, but remember that the Borg existed in their same universe.

I just find us low enough on the scale, odds are on them being better. Plus if a probe of theirs got to us... and they were still around and were able to communicate with us by the time any query of ours got to them... again odds on they are more highly advanced (more time passed since they were able to send a probe.) And highly advanced... yes it could be Borg, but it does mean they at least didn't wipe themselves out somehow. Which (as close as we have come) means better than us.

 

[Recusant]

Well, I know what we should do with it. We should try and study it. Learn everything we can about the culture and species that created it. Focus our efforts upon its path and try and communicate with our "space neighbors." Basically as a species we need to grow up and step into the larger universe and do away with the more childish portions of our "infancy" as a species such as our delusions of importance within the universe.

That's what we should do.

What will probably happen...

The government represented by the space agency that discovers it (or just the country where it lands) will sequester all information within and learn just enough about the people that created the probe to determine whether or not they are a threat. And then an arms race would begin with an enemy we have never even communicated with.

You seem to have an idealistic view of interstellar life, that it would be a forward progression of humanity, even a utopian one.

For all we know, our "space neighbors" could be a nanobot cloud that simply eats the Earth when it homes in on our signals. They could be a religious empire that forcibly converts any world they come across, or a mercantile society that subjugates other races. We can't automatically assume everything we encounter will be friendly. If we're lucky they will be, but that's a big gamble.

Seeking peaceful relations while analyzing the possibility of the aliens being violently hostile is absolutely the right course. One hopes that the enlightened, free-love Federation are our first contact, but remember that the Borg existed in their same universe.

I just find us low enough on the scale, odds are on them being better. Plus if a probe of theirs got to us... and they were still around and were able to communicate with us by the time any query of ours got to them... again odds on they are more highly advanced (more time passed since they were able to send a probe.) And highly advanced... yes it could be Borg, but it does mean they at least didn't wipe themselves out somehow. Which (as close as we have come) means better than us.

I would point out that we're the very top of the scale, at the moment- a rather obvious consequence of the scale consisting of just us. But with no standard of comparison, the only other thing you have to go by is how much better we could be; assuming another species, operating under the same laws of natural selection, would somehow fit into that mold is just silly.

I'd also point out that our insanely rapid technological progression is a direct result of our spending immeasurable effort in finding better ways to kill each other; a more "enlightened" society is likely to have slower technological progression; at any rate, just because their probes were launched earlier doesn't mean their tech is going to be more advanced. Likewise, it doesn't matter how close you come; if you don't get wiped out (by whatever cause), you don't get wiped out. We came close a few times (though that was never our doing; destroying civilization is a far cry from destroying the species), what makes you think they didn't?

 

[pookie101]

well assuming it became public knowledge.. it would be on the news for the space of a week at most until something else caught peoples attention

 

[Pyrian]

There will most likely be denial, violence, crazies doing stupid shit and a whole lot of other unpleasantness from all sides...

So pretty much the status quo, basically.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Probably the same way in that episode did when those alien found the capsule.

We utalise whatever technologies they gave up and we end up abusing and destroying each other with it.

 

[Catnip1024]

We figure out whether their planet is habitable, and then open fire. Let's be honest, that is the most logical course of action. They may or may not be hostile yet, but if they are using the same resources as us, it's all just a matter of time. And by the time we can travel there, hopefully the dust will have settled a bit.

I'm a terrible person...

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Check and scan for viruses/foreign bacteria and messages such as "Made you look" ...then build a huge wall around it and tell the public there's nothing to see there, just dirty Russian tricks.
Meanwhile i will form an authoritarian cult based around making sure we have our finest cutlery prepared for their imminent arrival. And by "cutlery" i really mean quite a few more worrying things. All hail the one and only translator and messenger, Xsjadoblayde, to deliver us the demands of this enigmatic, therefore superior species!! *Bom bombombombommm. Bomm bombombombomm. Bom bombombombomm. BOMMMMMMMMM!!!!*

Yahh!

 

[KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime]

We figure out whether their planet is habitable, and then open fire. Let's be honest, that is the most logical course of action. They may or may not be hostile yet, but if they are using the same resources as us, it's all just a matter of time. And by the time we can travel there, hopefully the dust will have settled a bit.

I'm a terrible person...

If they took the time to send out something like Voyager... Chances are they're more peacefully minded than war-like, like humans are.

So in the spirit of the thread: If we catch a probe like Voyager, but of extrastellar origin, chances are the specie that sent it out, sent it a very long time ago. Hundreds of thousands if not millions of years ago most likely. So that species is either going to be extinct, or will have setup interstellar colonization. Chances are they're extinct, because any distance that such an artifact could travel in such time would have been here already, even without FTL capability. So likely it'll just be a curiosity of a long dead civilization, it will absolutely cause people to question the concepts of faith we already have though. Depending on who captures it, it'll likely be used as a tourist attraction and a scientific project to generate income for who ever grabs it off.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

There will most likely be denial, violence, crazies doing stupid shit and a whole lot of other unpleasantness from all sides...

So pretty much the status quo, basically.

Yes, but with one big difference. An entirely new reason to do all that shit!

 

[DudeistBelieve]

We figure out whether their planet is habitable, and then open fire. Let's be honest, that is the most logical course of action. They may or may not be hostile yet, but if they are using the same resources as us, it's all just a matter of time. And by the time we can travel there, hopefully the dust will have settled a bit.

I'm a terrible person...

If they took the time to send out something like Voyager... Chances are they're more peacefully minded than war-like, like humans are.

So in the spirit of the thread: If we catch a probe like Voyager, but of extrastellar origin, chances are the specie that sent it out, sent it a very long time ago. Hundreds of thousands if not millions of years ago most likely. So that species is either going to be extinct, or will have setup interstellar colonization. Chances are they're extinct, because any distance that such an artifact could travel in such time would have been here already, even without FTL capability. So likely it'll just be a curiosity of a long dead civilization, it will absolutely cause people to question the concepts of faith we already have though. Depending on who captures it, it'll likely be used as a tourist attraction and a scientific project to generate income for who ever grabs it off.

This.

From what I've learned, unless we have neighbors close by enough that they can get the current TV radio waves weve broadcasted, we probably ain't ever meeting anybody... Nobody like us anyway, who knows what creatures could survive out there in the abyss.

it would purely just be... what do we do with the knowledge we are not alone.

Are we comforted by the idea that theres a another race out there being like "Hey, we were here man. This whole life thing is kinda weird right?"