What do you think would happen if aliens landed?

by Abaddon 32 Replies latest jw friends

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  Utopian Reformist

  If a highly advanced, intellectual and technological society existed beyond our current investigation, why would they interact with our planet?

  They would probably have already examined us in detail, and have already compiled a multi-faceted historical analysis of us on many fronts and determined we are inferior, self-destructive, retrogressive and harmful to our own environment.

  I think, in my own opinion, that if such an elevated being existed, it would consider us in the same way we consider a colony of fleas. Perhaps, even less. A highly ordered society with advanced resources and materials might not be enticed by our "gold and platinum" and probably taken physics way beyond the nuclear age and maybe have even mastered time continuums.

  Duum denarii pro vobiscum
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  dmouse

  Unlikely. Don't get me wrong, I suspect that the universe is teeming with life, but getting here presents overwhelming difficulties no matter how advanced they are. The distance between stars are just too great, even the fastest ship theoretically possible (I think about 80% of the speed of light) would take decades to get between stars, and that's those which are close together. Trips between worlds which contain intelligent life will take at least hundreds but more likely thousands of years. The only way to do it would be to build a HUGE ship (hollowed out asteriod?) and make it self sufficient, then your decendents may make it somewhere one day but they may have forgotten who and what they are - what with all that radiation out in space.

  The most likely scenario is some sort of communication at light speed.
  Even this is incredibly difficult, like trying to hear a whisper in the middle of the most violent storm ever.
  I think the effects would be fairly muted, especially in the religious world. They would simply ignore it and refuse to accept it as truth. After all, that's what they do with evolution. Anything that contradicts what they believe becomes a trick of the devil.
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  Abaddon

  Oh, I do realise the unlikelihood! Unless FTL transport is possible, it's unlikely ever to happen.

  I was just wanting as an example something that could not be disputed, as in a 5km long starship dropping in on the UN, as a jump-of point for how deep cognotive dissonance can go!

  I don't think, if they came, they'd hand out weapons. In fact, I think any alien race that contacted us before we had socailly evolved another few centuries if that.

  I imagine there being more unrest in the religious communties that would find it hard to incorporate aliens into their worldview. Many traditional Christians and Muslims would be traumatised. Buddists and Hindus would find it far easier to accept; no clash. I do think there would be a lot of doctrinal changes though, with more explict understanding of the fact that god can't be proved, but that this doesn't matter provided you don't take things too literally and realise that in the absence of a single way, it must be the trying that is important.

  I suppose if SETI ever did find some thing, then there would be a great schism. The real fundies (of all religious ways) would just not believe it, ever, not even in, say, 2134 when full (slow, 66 ly each way) two way communication is established and a cultural and technological exchange programe starts. It would be weird if it were in the immediate neigbourhood though... it would be the biggest news story of all time, there would be a massive conflab about how to reply, and eventually someone would, even if it were unofficial, and then there would be two life-times wait for a reply, during which it would be a scientific curiosity and not much else.

  I think it's one of those things, like asteroid impacts, that have a probability of 1 over time, but in an individual lifetime is so astonishingly unlikely as to have a probability of zero.

  People living in glass paradigms shouldn't throw stones...
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  seven006

  What makes you think they haven't already visited earth but have choose to keep it concealed up to this point? A civilization that has the capacity to reach our planet in a reasonable amount of time would certainly be a far superior race technologically speaking than we are. It is the misconception of humans that we ourselves are the superior race of the universe. With the millions of other galaxies floating around in the vast darkness it is almost inconceivable to conclude that we are the only living planet. Mankind has a way of not being able to see beyond their own ego.

  If and when aliens decide to make their presents known on an international basis I'm sure it will be better orchestrated than a sudden knock at the door. A far superior race will have spent many decades studying this planet and it's inhabitancy to determine the proper way to reveal themselves. I have always chuckled at the inability for most humans to grasp a belief in the concept of alien visitors when they so readily accept a concept of angels with wings and evil demon forces floating around.

  There has been plain and obvious instances that can only be ignored by those who absolutely refuse to believe that we have and still are being visited. A hundred years ago we just beginning to develop effective modes of transportation based on fossil fuels. We are still in baby land in our efforts to reach out transportation wise when it comes to travel outside of our own gravity. Just because we have not captured the ability to control our planets gravity with our limited understanding of physics doesn't mean another race have not figured it all out thousands of years ago. We are too busy fighting over boundary lines in the dirt to look beyond our many limitations.

  Most humans subscribe to the concept that until aliens land on the White House lawn and have lunch with the first lady they refuse to believe in their existence. More and more people are beginning to come out of the cosmic closet and admit they might be open to such a concept of an alien superior race but it is not a popular belief to admit to. This particular concept is a lot easier for me to accept than the one of a naked lady being persuade to eat a piece of fruit by a talking snake.

  Your mention of a federation of planets leads me to conclude that you have been doing some reading. That terminology is a little too Star Trek for most to deal with but in reality it is not a hard concept to understand if you can get past the thought that we are not alone in the universe. It's all in our current perspective of time and space that keeps most in the dark. A few more decades and a hand full of technological breakthroughs might open a lot of minds in this regard. After all, if you dropped a F16 Tomcat into the middle of Napoleons march into eastern Europe they would have though it to come from an alien race. If you look at it as only advancements in understanding beyond what they had in that present day, each and every one of us would be an alien to the people of that time period. It all has to do with proper timing and an open mind. That's not too hard of a concept to grasp by an intelligent human.

  Dave
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  JanH

  even if we were visited by an advanced civilization (which would be tehnologically very superiour to us, most likely) why should we assume we could communicate with it?

  men find it almost impossible to communicate with women (and vice versa), and we've shared this planet with them for millions of years!

  How could we even contemplate communicating with ET, or how could ET understand us? That would be a massive challenge for both, and I shudder at the thought of interplanetary misunderstandings. Look at the examples of colonialism on our own planet, and be happy if there are no advanced visitors from outer space, now or ever.

  - Jan
  --
  "Doctor how can you diagnose someone with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and then act like I had some choice about barging in here right now?" -- As Good As It Gets
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  ianao

  Well said seven006.

  It's a distinct possibility that the entire theistic point of view could have stemmed from a superior race taking advantage of primitive earthlings.

  Then again, it's also a distinct possibility that monkeys make up good stories.

  *shrug*
• 

  Abaddon

  ianao; nice one!!!

  seven006; my basic premise is; if they have FTL technology, they could be here already, and we'd only know if they wanted us to, so I agree. My Treky terminology is just for convenience, and based upon a premise that a star-faring race would of had to control their aggresive instincts or of perished before breaking away from their cradle. This is complete suppostion. If they're agressive, we are in for it.

  JanH; well, I think we could, and they'd hopefully be smarter and do the running. We could speak to dolphins or chimps tomorrow if we were clever enough to speak to their language (not that they'd be great conversationalists), but we have to try to make them learn one of our devising, which is obviously tit-over-ass.

  People living in glass paradigms shouldn't throw stones...
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  Mozzer4Life

  This is a very good question. Great responses, but one thing I noticed was that most of the responses refer to aliens as being from another planet. A common idea propagated by Hollywood in the early to mid 1900's. I tend to favor the belief that aliens are really humans, like us, but from the future, thousands of years ahead. Simply put, I believe that aliens, i.e. humans, come back to study our ways and experiment on our bodies because something has happened to "us" in the future. Maybe biological warfare, a strange disease that renders us incapable of reproduction, I don't know. This idea was propossed by Stanton Friedman, a nuclear physicist who has been studying UFO's since before many of us were born. The idea of a parallel universe isn't too far from appealing either.

  As for people freaking out and religious nuts running around proclaiming the end is near, I say definitely. But the idea that religion would crumble, especially among Christians is quite unfounded. In the Bible, Christ does talk about those who are not of his flock. Take that how you will, I'm not exactly sure what He was referring to, but it leaves the door open in my mind. Rememeber that the Bible is not exuastive in it's scope. It was written for the people on Earth, not those from another planet, so that might be the reason so little is said on the subject. I have regularly attended a...hold your breathe...Baptist church all of my life, and not once told or taught that we are the only intelligent life in this world, the possibility of that being false was always left open.

  Of course, aliens might be coming down because they finally recieved the transmission of Earth Girls are Easy. Safe4kids, there is always hope.

  "I smoke 'cause I'm hoping for an early death and I need to cling to something..." - Morrissey, What She Said
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  rhett

  Mr. Ovious says........
  I think we'd not be alone in the world.

  What's actually kind of cool about aliens is I may have some in my house. I'm being serious here. You've heard how some scientists may have found fossilized Martian bacterie in a few Mars meteorites, right? Well, there are 3 meteorites actually, Shergotty, Nakhla, and ALH84001. Of those three I own pieces of Shergotty and Nakhla. How cool is that?

  I don't need to fight
  To prove I'm right
  I don't need to be forgiven.
• 

  ballistic

  It seems clear to me...

  The Jehovah's Witnesss would try to capitalise by offering free bible studies.