I like watching the History and Science channels. Although it is rather sad. Almost all their content is devoted to UFO conspiracy theories. I think most scientists would classify those theories as pseudoscience. There is one question I find interesting though (classify it under Fermi’s Paradox).
Could there be advanced ET’s out there and aware of us? But could we just not be ready for first contact?
Being aware of us is no problem. We’re barely out of the Bronze Age and we’re already aware of exoplanets. The only remaining question then is why they’re avoiding us.
I do know Neil Degrasse Tyson (who I ironically saw on the History or Science) proposes a similar thing. That we’re not ready for first contact. But is that true? And if so, when will we be ready for first contact?
Since we’re dealing with complete conjecture, I’ll offer a few. Maybe they’re aware of us, but:
Aren’t capable of direct contact with us
Don’t want to contact us
Would like to contact us but communicate in such an entirely different way that we and they are talking past each other
Are so far superior to us that all we are to them is an intergallactic Uncle Milton’s Ant Farm
Are waiting for the right time to launch a surprise attack, kill us all and mine the Earth for raw materials
Are quietly evacuating more worthy species (“so long, and thanks for the fish”) because they’ve charted that rogue asteroid which will collide with Earth in about 700 years.
These kind of questions keep promoting the idea that we are an emerging intelligent race in a universe full of older intelligences. And we wonder where they are and why we haven’t made contact. They must be soo intelligent and soo advanced that they are hiding from us. Almost all of our speculative fiction on this issue promotes the same idea. Where are they?
When the opposite is equally possible. That we are early to the party, that we don’t find other intelligent, technological races because their aren’t any yet. And that technologic ability may be quite rare. In my opinion there is undoubtedly life almost everywhere that conditions allow. It may be a fundamental property of the chemistry of the universe.
Until there is actual, scientific evidence, for either idea, you can do all the speculative math that you want and it proves nothing. Suggestions of probability are not evidence.
We have a confirmed evidence of 1 technological, intelligent, life form. And an evidence of others that is zero. Do all the math speculation that you want with 1 and 0.
I think first contact will occur in hundreds of years at the earliest and will, rather than alien species, involve humans from disparate interstellar colonies coming into “re-contact” with Earth with the aim of destroying it, just as soon as the first colony realizes that the biggest threat to its survival is all those other colonies (and Earth). Because, honestly, if you manage to set up camp even fifty light years away, and it takes a hundred years at the earliest to send a message and receive a reply, how long do you expect things to keep together before a simple misunderstanding turns into a “him or me” sort of calculus on one or both party’s sides? It’s not like you can expect to negotiate a peace settlement once the war starts, so you might as well go for the knock-out punch up front and keep your fingers crossed that it lands. Otherwise, you better start looking for somewhere to run to.
To respond to the title of this thread, if not the OP, my answer is hell no.
If there are aliens out there with interstellar travel capability, they would be aware of what happens to the inferior culture when it meets with a superior culture. So perhaps they would wait until we get interstellar travel capability, and unify the planet, have a sustainable environment, and get rid of nuclear weapons. Then contact could be seen as a reward, which should help.
At the moment we don’t deserve to be bailed out.
NO. I think it would be extremely stupid for us to contact any alien species. I am so pissed at that fucking hippie Carl Sagan for putting our business out there and I hope that no aliens ever find the Voyager disc with our location on it.
Look at what happened to the Native Americans when Europeans showed up. I think it is far more likely that if we ever meet aliens, it will end with genocide or something else horrible happening than just hanging out together as friends. Even if the aliens didn’t intend any harm, the aliens might have some kind of alien virus or something that would wipe out humanity. Our best chance is to just try to keep a low profile in the universe and NOT encourage aliens to find us.
If people are going to insist on looking for aliens, I would prefer if they wait until humans have colonized multiple planets. At least then maybe the entire species won’t be destroyed even if the aliens wipe out one of our planets.
On an individual level, sure. My message back is: “Welcome! Your activities are bound to generate some interest, please try not to interrupt any Steelers games”. On a planetwide level: no. We must be the Sentinalese of the neighborhood. On a realistic level: moot point. The odds of a civilization with a technology level advancced enough to contact us, extant at this very point in time, and close enough to matter, are effectively zero. Multiply by the near zero odds of such a bunch of guys having any interest in us, and we have more time than the species will exist to get ready for this.
I once saw a series of three “fake” documentaries, about incidents that have not occurred, and about their aftermath.
One was about humanity recieving confirmation that there was other intelligent life out there. The effects on world politics and on religions were detailed. Oddly enough one religion was less effected than others, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They already do believe there are other worlds with life on them.
The other two shows were also interesting. One was supposedly filmed ten years after “The Big One” hits southern California. And the other had Martin Luther King becoming POTUS. For that last one RFK survived the attempt on his life at the hotel, and asked MLK to be his VP candidate. RFK got elected, then was successfully assasinated, with MLK then becoming POTUS. BTW, he got killed too.
I can’t remember which channel did these shows, I remember liking them and finding their histories believably presented. Nichelle Nichols had a small speaking part in the one on MLK but I don’t recognize it in her credits on IMDB.
Saw a funny facebook meme. A alien came down and went up to a US citizen and said the classic line ‘take me to your leader’ . The US citizen said ‘you chose a really bad time to visit’.
Punning aside It would be a really bad thing for advanced technology to get into the hands of the US right now, ad it would be a race to obtain them just like the fall of the Third Reich. No I don’t think we are ready for it yet.
Discussions like the OP put me in mind of the human foible of thinking we are at the center of the universe (however one chooses to define that notion).
This sounds suspiciously like a religions discussion, replace “intelligent aliens” with “the second coming”. “Why hasn’t Jesus returned? Are we ready?”
On a micro level, it sounds like it comes from the same emotional place as the poor sap who asks, “why won’t she return my texts / go out with me? Aren’t I good enough?” Meaning we imagine a superior entity (hot girl) who is choosing to ignore us.
