So what would really happen if aliens did make contact?

[Dally]

Hehe, when I meant "primitive and slow", I was trying to look at it from the perspective of an alien species that would be capable of space travel- but not primitive and slow to us! With using radio waves I think the problem is that even though it's the fastest travelling "thing", it's slow when you take into account how large the universe is and we've only been monitoring for a bit, a small fraction of the sky as well.

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

If E.T. does make contact,it would be nice if it came through the 'Welcome' forum of SGL!

[ollypenrice]

Our conception of aliens tends to be so anthropomorphic. One of the blandest and most unjustifiable assumptions is the one that says intelligence equals high technology. That is the case on Earth but why assume it to be universal? If you were a life form living comfortably in your environment (not cold and needing fire, not wet and needing a roof, not hungry and needing a bow and arrow) your evolving intelligence* might lead you in entirely different directions. You might be incredibly intelligent and almost (or entirely) non technological. You would be hard to contact and not in the least interested in intergalactic ballistic missiles. That's us!

Olly

* Would intelligence evolve without environmental pressure? I don't see why not. The peacock's tail is technologically useless but the females like it. Maybe alien females like intelligent males! Sure, sexual reproduction is an anthropomorphic assumption as well but it would not be difficult to imagine an environment in which non technological intelligence would confer advantage.

[beamer3.6m]

Hows the book coming along Olly?

(Reference to earlier post in thread).

Is the peacocks tail technologically useless? Maybe to us... but to a peacock...

[JamesF]

There are quite a number of different things bound up in this, it seems to me.  But turn the question on its head and instead ask "If I wanted to detect alien life at huge distance, how might I go about it?"

There may well be alien life forms (and intelligent ones at that) that don't use what we would recognise as "high technology".  There are people looking for atmospheric conditions on exoplanets that might indicate conditions we would recognise as being potentially likely to harbour life.  Obviously there may be lots of different types of life we might miss because we don't recognise them, but how exactly would you go about finding them if you wanted to?

Of those that have developed technologically it doesn't seem unreasonable to assume that radio emissions are a reasonable way to go about detecting some of them for the reasons already mentioned.  Again, not all of them may have developed technology that emits radio wavelengths to a degree that might be detectable, but if they don't what would you suggest might be a better way to look for them?

So I think I would be tempted to argue that our view of aliens is not necessarily anthropomorphic, but our view of what we might be able to find and recognise as such may well be.  Might even necessarily be.  We may fail to recognise all sorts of intelligent aliens as a result.  I don't see this as a big deal, merely an acceptance of our limitations.

James

[m1dlj]

Our conception of aliens tends to be so anthropomorphic. One of the blandest and most unjustifiable assumptions is the one that says intelligence equals high technology. That is the case on Earth but why assume it to be universal? If you were a life form living comfortably in your environment (not cold and needing fire, not wet and needing a roof, not hungry and needing a bow and arrow) your evolving intelligence* might lead you in entirely different directions. You might be incredibly intelligent and almost (or entirely) non technological. You would be hard to contact and not in the least interested in intergalactic ballistic missiles. That's us!

Olly

* Would intelligence evolve without environmental pressure? I don't see why not. The peacock's tail is technologically useless but the females like it. Maybe alien females like intelligent males! Sure, sexual reproduction is an anthropomorphic assumption as well but it would not be difficult to imagine an environment in which non technological intelligence would confer advantage.

Yeah, but would they still come here for the 'Stag Do'  ? Ray

[Qualia]

Might also be a problem if they're made of anti-matter

[Steve Ward]

Well if the 'news' channels are anything to go by today , Philae could be getting a knock on the hatch very soon ... 

[rolion]

Interesting topic and very challenging answers, thanks

What drives me insane is that in almost all the movies, we ,humans are perceiving the others as enemies, mostly negative outcomes and destructive, "shut first ask Qs later" scenarios.

I would love to see a movie that doesn't have a negative outcome, where they are perceived as allies / friends and sharing the cure for this rubbish that is surrounding us, in this life, on this planet !

Well, i guess Stargate has prepared us for all of these unknown-knowns !

And for some of you, please see attached a 3 hours movie -=- take your time -=- and watch how the previous alien encounters are been dealt with:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9w-i5oZqaQ&app=desktop

Ancient Aliens Debunked is a 3 hour refutation of the theories proposed on the History Channel series Ancient Aliens. It is essentially a point by point critique of the "ancient astronaut theory" which has been proposed by people like Erich von Däniken and Zecharia Sitchin as well as many others.

The film covers topics like:
Ancient building sites: Puma Punku, The Pyramids, Baalbek, Incan sites, And Easter Island. Ancient artifacts: Pacal's rocket, the Nazca lines, the Tolima "fighter jets", the Egyptian "light bulb", Ufo's in ancient art, and the crystal skulls. Ancient text issues: Ezekiel's wheel, Ancient nuclear warfare, Vimana's, the Anunnaki, and the Nephilim.

All the claims are sourced at the website: http://ancientaliensdebunked.com

It was produced by Chris White and includes commentary from Dr. Michael Hesier.

It is distributed for free on the internet and is a completely non-profit project. Viewers are encouraged to share, and burn copies to DVD, as long as they do not profit from its distribution.

Feel free to upload this to your Youtube channels and similar sites without any permission, but beware of potential copyright claims from the History Channel (A & E) I believe that all the material used from them in this film is legal under "Fair Use," as it is non-profit, and for the purpose of critique. But they still may try to take the video down from the various site you have uploaded it to, and it could be one of the three strikes against your account (Youtube). You have my permission to challenge them if they do this through a counter claim (they ask if you own the video, so you have my permission to say that you do), I believe that they will back down and reinstate the video if you challenge their claims.

[goodricke1]

I think one overlooked angle is that aliens may be in the same boat as us - they are searching for more advanced species in the same way we are.

Even if they are a million years more advanced than us they might be a million years less advanced than others - they cannot reveal their existence to us because they don't know how their superiors would react. A so-called 'paranoid universe' explanation of the Fermi paradox.

[bmtta2003]

Why  does everyone consider aliens to be a collective group from another planet. Our own planet is made up of many different countries and cultures. If aliens landed in North Korea they would have a totally different perspective than if they had landed in Sydney, Australia. 

What if we landed in a war zone on another planet, not realizing that the rest of the planet was beautiful and peaceful. What would we think? Couldn't aliens also have different cultures, mores, and taboos?

Some could be friendly, some suspicious, and others down right nasty.

[Scott]

Might also be a problem if they're made of anti-matter

doesn't matter? ....sorry, I'll get me coat 

[ghostdance]

Couldn't aliens also have different cultures, mores, and taboos?

/quote]

Indeed

See 'Dark Light Years' by Brian Aldiss...what if our mealtime and, er, toilet-time were for them *utterly reversed* in terms of privacy and sharing?

Good book from a master....recommended reading for all would-be alien ambassadors!

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

Brian W. Aldiss is one of my favourite authors-One of the giants of British Sci-Fi,his 'Billion Year Spree' was a landmark history of the genre,when it came out in the 1970's.He could also turn his hand to travel writing(though not 'off-Earth' as far as I'm aware!) and semi-autobiographical novels.