# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/21 "2017-06-16T02:21:32Z")
The gag about aliens confusing cars as the dominate lifeform goes at least as far back as the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The Ford Prefect was a car only sold in the UK and not in America making the joke easy to miss (also a lot of people read it as Perfect not Prefect). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/22 "2017-06-16T03:07:46Z")
Dogs. L. Ron Hubbard said so. 😉 But, seriously, it would have to be humans. It wouldn’t take much observation to see that humans run things; you could pick that up as soon as you decoded TV broadcasts. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/23 "2017-06-16T03:14:54Z")
Aliens would probably be able to see the reptillians for what they are. So, the reptillians. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/24 "2017-06-16T03:19:59Z")
> [@Marci\_Al](#): > > Dominant, meaning hardly any competitor for food and habitat, allows the greatest amount of commensalism, and parasitism in other species. Really man (disappointingly so.) You are on the right track in trying to define “dominant” but bacteria beat us there on all counts. Anywhere we exist they exist, within and on us, we us serving them their food and often taking care of their waste. And they exist in many places we cannot and no other organisms on this planet can. Forget about population numbers, by mass we are beat out even by termites and krill, but bacteria beat us out by several orders of magnitude. They were here long before us and will be around when we are gone. Not sure how we can even delude ourselves into thinking we are “dominant.” Of course in reality any alien will be alien-centric: which entity seems to them to be most like them? ---
**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, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/25 "2017-06-16T03:35:13Z")
The thing with the bacteria argument is they can relate to humans as commensals, mutuals, or as parasites. We’ve pretty much handled the parasitic aspect (or we wouldn’t have grown this numerous.) Bacteria and viruses will win only if they can keep the human population in check. Well, they haven’t since 1919. The best argument for bacteria is their role in the nitrogen cycle, to which nearly every organism is dependent. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/26 "2017-06-16T03:44:35Z")
> [@Marci\_Al](#): > > … Bacteria and viruses will win only if they can keep the human population in check. Well, they haven’t since 1919. > > The best argument for bacteria is their role in the nitrogen cycle, to which nearly every organism is dependent. Huh? They win _more_ the more we multiply. Everyone of us is many many more of them and even in cell count at least as much of them as us. We are the multi-generational ships they will colonize new planets with and once there they will spread into more niches than we do. Hell even if we don’t do ourselves we may serve to spread them on the structures we create for their sake. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/27 "2017-06-16T05:04:46Z")
I first heard of cars being the dominant species on Earth in a Michael Crichton novel. Don’t recall which one right off hand. ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/28 "2017-06-16T08:05:34Z")
Smart phones. ---
**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 16, 2017, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/29 "2017-06-16T16:45:25Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > 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)😃 I suppose, for that matter, they could have super-human eyesight, or be observing in something other than the electromagnetic spectrum. Maybe they can observe humans on earth from the edge of the solar system. Just takes some pretty sensitive sensory organs. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/30 "2017-06-16T16:51:39Z")
The alien observing the Earth will consider itself to be the dominant species. ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835/31 "2017-06-16T17:42:06Z")
> [@XT](#): > > …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… Well, sure, if they’re perverts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-alien-observed-earth-who-would-they-perceive-as-the-dominant-species/788835.md?page=1)