I think the zoo hypothesis is possible. I would bet that aliens are already here, and studying us, as the trade of information in technologically advanced civilizations is considered valuable.
No. Hawking is right. We’d be setting ourselves up for a “Native Americans vs. the Europeans” situation. Even if the first group of aliens is benevolent, who says the next group won’t have darker motives? In the New World, there were Christian missionaries, colonists, and conquistadors, each with very different intentions.
I think the phrase “May you live in interesting times” most certainly applies here.
Any interest in opening a GD thread? Or have we talked it all out at this point?
Or maybe they’ll send us the useless third of their population, and we’ll just end up with millions of surplus hairdressers, insurance salesmen, management consultants, and telephone sanitizers. They’ll just displace us and start burning down all of the forests, and then making documentaries about the tragedy of it all before popping on holiday.
Stranger
I voted yes. I’m not paranoid.