# Life on other planets? If so, LEAVE IT BE!! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 24, 2017, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-other-planets-if-so-leave-it-be/780641 "2017-02-24T16:58:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![2Bits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e95f7d/32.png) [@2Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2Bits)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-other-planets-if-so-leave-it-be/780641/1 "2017-02-24T16:58:48Z")
Can any of you give me any examples of a win-win when human beings have come in contact with “strange” life forms that exist on _this_ planet? I’m inclined to think that if and when we discover that first space alien it will either go badly for us or badly for them. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-other-planets-if-so-leave-it-be/780641/2 "2017-02-24T18:14:27Z")
The biggest danger in coming into contact with non-sentient life is that one form will likely outcompete the other for resources. The likelihood of biological interaction, e.g. conveying viruses or bacteria without sharing any part of the genome or possibly even basic biochemical structures (e.g. common amino acids) is practically infinitesimal. At most, parasitic fungi or an alien analogue using terrestrial species as a carrier or source of basic nutrients is probably as far as any direct biological interactivity. The dangers of meeting sentient alien life is two-fold. One is that it is likely to be so different in cognition that we would not even be able to communicate even simple concepts. The other is that there is very likely to be a great discrepency in technological capability to the point that one species could easily dominate the other or pose a catastrophic threat even inadvertently. Without careful precautions and an ethos toward preventing undue harm on the part of the more technologically advanced species, the risk of that species threatening the other is very likely. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-other-planets-if-so-leave-it-be/780641/3 "2017-02-24T18:56:22Z")
Our relations with both wolves and wildcats have proved mutually beneficial. Also horses. Not so sure about cattle or chickens. ---
**Author:** ![Totenfeier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@Totenfeier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Totenfeier)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-other-planets-if-so-leave-it-be/780641/4 "2017-02-24T19:00:49Z")
Is that a Prime Directive I smell cooking? ---
**Author:** ![2Bits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e95f7d/32.png) [@2Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2Bits)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-other-planets-if-so-leave-it-be/780641/5 "2017-02-24T19:22:27Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Our relations with both wolves and wildcats have proved mutually beneficial. > **[Tanned Furs - Bobcat](https://www.hideandfur.com/inventory/6205.html)** > > The Web's Leading Fur House. Tanned Furs, Antlers, Skulls, Bones, Teeth, Claws and More. [http://www.rmoutlook.com/article/Wolf-bounties-in-the-year-2016-20160602](http://www.rmoutlook.com/article/Wolf-bounties-in-the-year-2016-20160602) Huh? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-other-planets-if-so-leave-it-be/780641/6 "2017-02-24T19:42:08Z")
This xkcd [xkcd: Land Mammals](https://xkcd.com/1338/) predicts that how well it will go for aliens depends on how tasty they are to humans. Or vice versa :eek: It also documents the clear fact that domesticated species have been very successful through their interaction with humans. Provided you define success solely as headcount. Which, after all, is exactly how natural evolution defines it. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-other-planets-if-so-leave-it-be/780641/7 "2017-02-24T19:43:53Z")
fortunately/unfortunately I don’t think it’ll ever be an issue. Not that I don’t believe there’s life on other worlds; I do… with up to a hundred billion planets in this galaxy alone there just _has_ to be at least one other world with life on it out there in the universe. they’re just way too far away for us to reach them (or them to reach us.) ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-other-planets-if-so-leave-it-be/780641/8 "2017-02-24T20:10:31Z")
> [@2Bits](#): > > Huh? He’s saying that there’s a whole lot more canines and small felines on the planet than there’d likely be if we hadn’t bumped into them. They may not be in their original form but both have done very well for themselves. I’d argue that some other animals we’d classify as vermin have as well: rats, cockroaches, squirrels, maybe stuff like raccoons and opossums who can thrive in urban/suburban environments without much natural threat. We probably have a lot more bovines and junglefowl on the planet than we would without human interaction but it’s debatable if it’s a benefit to them since they’re being raised as food. I once observed to a co-worker at a garden center that all these plants put out flowers to reproduce by attracting insects. Instead, they attracted humans who grow a bajillion petunias annually to look at – far more success than they were getting by making themselves pretty to bugs. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-other-planets-if-so-leave-it-be/780641/9 "2017-02-24T20:29:36Z")
Shoot, we’re so hyper paranoid about contaminating other planets we sterilize our probes before we send 'em out. We may not encounter anything for thousands of years and I can’t see us being anything but extremely careful when we do. No guarantees they see things that way though. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-on-other-planets-if-so-leave-it-be/780641/10 "2017-02-24T20:31:22Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Our relations with both wolves and wildcats have proved mutually beneficial. Also horses. Not so sure about cattle or chickens. Beneficial to those intellectually inferior species if their goal is to be a “client animal”, e.g. a companion/work animal, or a food source. I would personally prefer to not be some alien creature’s pet, ride, or dinner. Stranger