# If an alien observed Earth, Who Would they perceive as the dominant species **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 13, 2017, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835 "2017-06-13T03:47:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/1 "2017-06-13T03:47:00Z")
If an alien observed the earth, the dominant species observed would not be humans:D [What on Earth! - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFaHArkYLsM:) The film is humorous but it does make a point on the use of the automobile 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/2 "2017-06-13T03:57:12Z")
Cats. The aliens are probably cats themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/3 "2017-06-13T04:23:30Z")
nm. didn’t fully read OP. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/4 "2017-06-13T16:44:47Z")
If you were an alien and saw a human picking up a dog’s poop, who would you think is in charge? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/5 "2017-06-13T17:50:46Z")
Serious response? If aliens could get all the way here, they would (barring some really weird sci-fi shit) have the following three characteristics: 1. Tool users (to build their spaceships) 2. Social animals (you can’t build a space ship by yourself) 3. Capable of abstract thought (you can’t travel all the way here without knowing the math). As such, they would have a lot more in common with us than with any other creature on earth, and would automatically assume that we were in charge. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/6 "2017-06-13T18:19:22Z")
Trees ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/7 "2017-06-13T18:21:21Z")
Viruses. Virii? Them sub-celular life things. Yeah. More biomass in prokaryotes, sure, but the sheer abundance of viruses dwarfs everthing else. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/8 "2017-06-13T19:38:38Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > If an alien observed the earth, the dominant species observed would not be humans:D > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFaHArkYLsM:](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFaHArkYLsM:) > > The film is humorous but it does make a point on the use of the automobile 🆒 It’s humorous, but not really a point about the cars. Any aliens observing Earth are going to look at and view our transmissions…that’s probably how they would come here in the first place. They would have seen our radio messages first, but eventually would have gotten our televised transmissions as well. It would have been pretty clear to them who the dominant species was, as well as what ‘cars’ were, as they would have to be tool using critters just like us, at least broadly. There would have millions, literally, of man hours of transmissions of humans both voice and video, and regardless of how alien these aliens are, if they have managed to get into space then any sort of observation by anyone not trying for laughs AND to be completely obtuse (as the folks in that video were obviously deliberately trying to be) are going to understand that cars aren’t the dominant species on the planet. 😉 Cat’s and dogs aren’t going to be either. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/9 "2017-06-13T20:00:56Z")
That video is an old favourite of mine. NFB has put out some good stuff over the years. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/10 "2017-06-13T20:06:45Z")
No doubt that any intelligent alien would eventually perceive people as the dominant species. However, at first observation, vehicles are much larger and more prominent visually from a distant than most people and if you look at in that respect, they do stand out. I will bet the mass of all vehicles exceeds that of all people on earth. By that, I mean, cars, trucks, planes, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/11 "2017-06-13T20:10:05Z")
Wheat. It has quite extensively exploited the human race in order to perpetuate itself. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/12 "2017-06-14T05:40:44Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > at first observation, vehicles are much larger and more prominent visually from a distant than most people and they do stand out. Yeah,vehicles are an interesting species. Alien kids would love watching them just like human kids love watching ants. Let’s just hope the alien kids don’t have a big magnifying glass on a hot summer day. 🙂 But( if anybody wants a serious answer) I think aliens would quickly realize that, while cars do move around a lot and attract attention, they don’t build new buildings by themselves. Oh , and they don’t watch porn. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/13 "2017-06-14T05:54:37Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Yeah,vehicles are an interesting species. > Alien kids would love watching them just like human kids love watching ants. > Let’s just hope the alien kids don’t have a big magnifying glass on a hot summer day. 🙂 > But( if anybody wants a serious answer) I think aliens would quickly realize that, while cars do move around a lot and attract attention, they don’t build new buildings by themselves. > > Oh , and they don’t watch porn. 🙂 Also, most cars don’t move around by themselves…yet. Although we’re working on it. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/14 "2017-06-15T00:38:51Z")
Let me put this another way. When looking out of a window of a plane, the most common visible object in motion are vehicles. This brings up another interesting point, I wonder if people on the ISS can spot moving planes ? ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/15 "2017-06-15T23:49:46Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > I will bet the mass of all vehicles exceeds that of all people on earth. By that, I mean, cars, trucks, planes, etc. By a lot. More mass in cars alone. There are over a billion cars/trucks on the road, and the average car weighs plenty more than the average 7 people. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/16 "2017-06-15T23:52:37Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > This brings up another interesting point, I wonder if people on the ISS can spot moving planes ? With the naked eye? Doubt it. The ISS is at an altitude of 250 miles. Planes cruise at like 6-7 miles up, and they’re pretty tiny from the ground. They might be able to see a long contrail. How is this hypothetical alien observing earth? Did they swim here? Presumably the concept of a vehicle/shelter isn’t totally foreign to them? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/17 "2017-06-16T00:12:23Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > If you were an alien and saw a human picking up a dog’s poop, who would you think is in charge? Well, considering the fact that the dog is being held with a lease around it’s neck… ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/18 "2017-06-16T00:15:16Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Well, considering the fact that the dog is being held with a lease around it’s neck… I never had a lease for my dogs. But didn’t matter because they didn’t pay rent and I never tried to evict them. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/19 "2017-06-16T01:36:08Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > With the naked eye? Doubt it. The ISS is at an altitude of 250 miles. Planes cruise at like 6-7 miles up, and they’re pretty tiny from the ground. > > They might be able to see a long contrail. > > How is this hypothetical alien observing earth? Did they swim here? Presumably the concept of a vehicle/shelter isn’t totally foreign to them? I figured they might be able to see them with binoculars maybe:confused: I don’t know how the hypothetical alien is observing earth. Yes, I know that you are getting at the point that they would be in a vehicle but suppose they could travel without using one (ie Superman)😃 ---
**Author:** ![Marci\_Al](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Marci\_Al](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marci_Al)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/20 "2017-06-16T02:06:41Z")
Dominant, meaning hardly any competitor for food and habitat, allows the greatest amount of commensalism, and parasitism in other species. Really man (disappointingly so.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835.md?page=2)