# How would humanity react if there were suddenly another "intelligent" species? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 31, 2004, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-humanity-react-if-there-were-suddenly-another-intelligent-species/282467 "2004-12-31T19:37:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-humanity-react-if-there-were-suddenly-another-intelligent-species/282467/21 "2005-01-01T16:07:27Z")
In Robert Anton Wilson’s _Illuminatus!_ trilogy, it’s revealed that gorillas in Africa are as intelligent as humans and can speak. This is a closely-guarded secret of the gorillas. As one of them explains: “If the humans found out we could speak, the conservatives would kill half of us and make the other half pay rent to live on our own land; the liberals would put us to work in a factory running engine lathes. Who the fuck wants to run an engine lathe?” ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-humanity-react-if-there-were-suddenly-another-intelligent-species/282467/22 "2005-01-01T17:03:13Z")
> [@DarkPrince](#): > > My guess is that at best we’d simply go to war with them until they were rounded up into internment camps to be studied and gawked at. If they were strong or something of that sort we’d most likely end up using them as labor though we’d make up some pretty-sounding name and reasons since it would sound bad calling it slavery. > More likely, because of the fundamental change it’d be to almost every current notion we have of creation, we’d slaughter the entire species and then kill off any other species that are similar in looks/actions or showed signs of sentience. Or worse, they would do all of this to us. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-humanity-react-if-there-were-suddenly-another-intelligent-species/282467/23 "2005-01-01T17:14:44Z")
The more I think about it, the more I feel that we’d probably corral them all up, and study them and do whatever. I don’t believe they’d ever achieve the same status as us; we’d never let them develop that far. Sure, one on one, mano a mano, a gorilla could take the best of us down without a problem. But with our massive numbers, and our weapons, they wouldn’t stand a chance. An interesting (and even more far-reaching) corollary might be “What if we found out we weren’t THE most intelligent creatures on Earth?” Talk about a paradigm shift; moving from the controlling power to some higher-level being’s science experiment. Although, I guess that’s what Planet of the Apes was about, in a way. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-humanity-react-if-there-were-suddenly-another-intelligent-species/282467/24 "2005-01-01T17:19:28Z")
Great thread. It begs the corrolary question: What does the second most intelligent species on earth think of what we are doing to the planet, and how are they going to react to it eventually? Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-humanity-react-if-there-were-suddenly-another-intelligent-species/282467/25 "2005-01-01T18:11:35Z")
I believe that oor schedule would look something like this: [ol] [li]Kill[/li][li]kill[/li][li]KILL[/li][li]Kill? YES![/li][li]Kill-kill-kill.[/li][li]Kill _efficiently_, darnit![/li][li]Kill some more.[/li][li]More killing.[/li][li]Killing, et al.[/li][li]Make quick bucks off killing.[/li][li]Breat-beating & remorse.[/li][li]Inadequate laws to protect other sentients.[/li][li]Illegal killing, by people who are tradition-minded about killing.[/li][li]Extinction.[/li][li]Denial that they ever existed.[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![Ross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-humanity-react-if-there-were-suddenly-another-intelligent-species/282467/26 "2005-01-01T18:34:33Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > They’d demonize it, of course. Where’s the surprise in that? > > If homosexuals (who are of the same species and, ostensibly, part of God’s children) can’t get a break, what are the odds that a totally _different_ species will get better treatment? The notion that all humanity are God’s children is not one I have come across in conservative Christianity. If it were, there wouldn’t be a problem. I honestly think it’s cynical to propose that we’d wipe them out _en masse_ then deny their existence. Remember, Hitler had theories not unadjacent to the Jews being less than human. He didn’t manage it, and though I don’t doubt that plenty of people would try to wipe them out, I think we’d end up with a tense everlasting stand-off . Which is about as close as we ever get to learning to live with things. After forty or fifty years common sense would begin to infiltrate the subconscious of most leaders, assuming appropriate pressure from protest groups etc, and eventually everyone would forget things had been different before. By which time they’ll have proved no more trustworthy than we, anyway. That’s all assuming they don’t bring with them their own issues, perhaps even issues that mean we’d be better off wiping them out in the first place. Like a masterplan culminating in our all getting eaten. Anyway, if they’re so smart they’ll already have some idea that we’re less then stable neighbours, so they’ll probably take sensible measures to keep themselves safe. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-humanity-react-if-there-were-suddenly-another-intelligent-species/282467/27 "2005-01-01T18:46:06Z")
[The war with the newts](http://capek.misto.cz/english/newts.html) is another book that deals with this question. (When I read it I thought of it as an allegory about slavery.) It is pretty cynical but, from my persepective, accurate too. It ends with a big war. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-humanity-react-if-there-were-suddenly-another-intelligent-species/282467/28 "2005-01-01T20:13:33Z")
> [@mmmiiikkkeee](#): > > I bet that would take a few generations… how long did it take for women, blacks, etc…? That would depend on how well they speak language and can communicate with us. If they learn english and can dress themselves in a suit, they have one practical advantage that other creatures do not: they can appear in a court of law and I would doubt that judges would not at least allow them the facade of being humans at least for the purposes of the court. Which is halfway there already. We are in a different era. For instance, Romans at one point were fairly conservative and wouldn’t give citizenship to anyone. Then the emperors just gave citizenship to everyone. I would think that, given the current court system, the chance that they would not have legal rights due to who they _are_ is less than the chance that they would be denied legal rights due to who they are _not_: – No social security number or other registration with the government – No passport – they must be illegal aliens! Lack of identity would be a worse stumbling block IMO than otherness, at least if they are as human as my impression is. And don’t think I’m not cynical. These days, like I said, getting into the court system is half the battle: once you are in there there are _some_ judges who do not hand down rulings based on their own authoritarian version of judgment. However, this possibility would be denied other sentient forms of life, and artificial intelligence programs as well, I might add, because they would not be allowed in a courtroom in any meaningful context. Sure, they could get lawyers to represent them (and don’t think some wouldn’t jump at that chance, if only for the shot at fame,) but it’s not the same. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-humanity-react-if-there-were-suddenly-another-intelligent-species/282467/29 "2005-01-01T20:17:53Z")
Why is everyone treating this like some sort of hypothetical, academic question? Isn’t this exactly what happened when Europeans encountered sub-Saharan Africans? To most (if not all) Europeans, Africans were a separate species, sort of midway between apes and humans, and thus had about the same “rights” as a baboon. How else could they have justified the slave trade? Sadly, there are still white people who don’t consider blacks to be fully human. And oh yeah, let’s not leave out the missionaries. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-humanity-react-if-there-were-suddenly-another-intelligent-species/282467/30 "2005-01-01T20:19:16Z")
I was thinking some more: using reducto ad absurdum, if Neanderthals had no rights, one could easily just murder someone and claim that hey, they were Neanderthals so they have no rights! Even if they were not. Same thing with false imprisonment, slavery, etc. And since the two species would most likely be able to interbreed, you could enslave people OFF THE STREET AT RANDOM and claim they were half-neanderthal and thus have no rights. I really don’t think America would stand for that, at least until the first scandals of perfectly human-looking children trapped in horrible situations were exposed by national news magazines. Again, not out of compassion, but out of ratings. Come to think of it, images of children would most likely work even if they were purebloods. We think pictures of _cats_ are cute. Would America really look the other way as we murder Neanderthal children? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-humanity-react-if-there-were-suddenly-another-intelligent-species/282467/31 "2005-01-01T20:25:38Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > They’d demonize it, of course. Where’s the surprise in that? > > If homosexuals (who are of the same species and, ostensibly, part of God’s children) can’t get a break, what are the odds that a totally _different_ species will get better treatment? Of course they would demonize them and it would be fun watching them foam at the mouth and go into convulsions while doing so. That an animal or non-human could even be close to the same level as us would be even more damaging to them than those damned heathens and sodomites. Disclaimer: I am a heathen and sodomite. I personally think an apartheid or caste system would be the most likely end-result. We’d allow them to clean our sewers but they wouldn’t be allowed in our shops and they damned sure wouldn’t be allowed to marry our sons and daughters. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-humanity-react-if-there-were-suddenly-another-intelligent-species/282467/32 "2005-01-01T21:29:16Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > An interesting (and even more far-reaching) corollary might be “What if we found out we weren’t THE most intelligent creatures on Earth?” “Well, that explains a _lot._” > [@Cartooniverse](#): > > What does the second most intelligent species on earth think of what we are doing to the planet, and how are they going to react to it eventually? I suspect they’ve already left the planet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-humanity-react-if-there-were-suddenly-another-intelligent-species/282467.md?page=1)