Alien nomads could destroy earth

Oberon · 10-04-15, 04:29 PM

Wait...I've seen this one, Will Smith saves us all.

Still, the guy isn't wrong, I mean this has been said by people since 1898, compared to advanced lifeforms we are but cattle or vermin, to be horded and farmed or exterminated as needed.

Chances are though any advanced species would send out Von Neumann machines ahead to terraform any planet they wanted to colonise, or to harvest any planet they wanted the materials from.

Still, it's a bit late now, anyone within about a 100 lightyears will know of our existence or learn of it within the next decade or two, and it'll take them at least a century to travel to us assuming that they have near light speed propulsion systems. If they don't then it'll be a magnitude longer before they reach us.

By this point I would hope that we would at least have got a footprint on Mars, and our technology in terms of AI and human to machine connections would be much further ahead that we might not exist as homio-sapiens anymore having moved into transhumanism and to posthumanism.

It's both incredibly exciting and absolutely terrifying at the same time.

Torplexed · 10-04-15, 05:05 PM

There is no need to worry about aliens destroying the Earth, we're perfectly capable of doing it ourselves.

The fact that we still exist is strong evidence that there are no billion year old highly xenocidal species out there as there are a number of ways (beserker Von Neuman probes, a Niccol-Dyson laser, ect) in which they could simply wipe out all life-bearing or potentially life-bearing planets in their local group of galaxies in less time than any intelligent species could get to the point where they started transmitting

Just because Faster Than Light drive might exist, we tend to conclude that any hostile aliens will have immediately paved the galaxy. But, as Douglas Adams noted space is vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big and FTL travel is likely really, really expensive in resources. I think if FTL was that easy, apart from its expense in resources, then there would literally be advanced aliens everywhere, if they exist at all. There is not much evidence suggesting that is the case, unless we are being kept in some zoo. (highly speculative but being kept locked in a interplanetary cage with a "do not agitate sign", seems appropriate to our species at times.)

u crank · 10-04-15, 05:27 PM

Hmmph. Alien nomads. Ya better think twice. We Humanoids have pretty much subjugated this world. We went to the moon and kicked those moon men the heck out. Then we sent an unmanned craft to Mars and those dudes ran off before we could get a look at them. Bring em on!

Torplexed · 10-04-15, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by u crank

Hmmph. Alien nomads. Ya better think twice. We Humanoids have pretty much subjugated this world. We went to the moon and kicked those moon men the heck out. Then we sent an unmanned craft to Mars and those dudes ran off before we could get a look at them. Bring em on!

Yeah, and the Russians kicked Venusian butt. Sure, the corrosive elements on Venus had the Venera probe for lunch, but who cares? Humans rule!

mapuc · 10-04-15, 05:41 PM

It is funny I should read this today-yesterday I saw Independence Day

It also makes me wonder if Hawkings have seen to much of "Hollywoods version of how Aliens are"

Markus

Torplexed · 10-04-15, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mapuc

It is funny I should read this today-yesterday I saw Independence Day

It also makes me wonder if Hawkings have seen to much of "Hollywoods version of how Aliens are"

Markus

What's funny is that some cable channels here play Independence Day, all day on the 4th of July. We've probably raised a generation who thinks the USA won it's independence from genocidal aliens, not King George III.

Hawking is either being paranoid, or hunting for a little more publicity. Let's look at the Fermi paradox and the Drake equation for an example. Any species capable of interstellar technology would have had the ability to annihilate itself many times over before ever achieving the technology necessary to travel interstellar distance through space.

The Fermi Paradox offers us a way of looking at a vast universe that is not exactly teeming with obvious signs of intelligent life. Because intelligent, curious, inquisitive species probably end up accidentally killing themselves in the effort to understand the make up of reality, or accidentally or deliberately kill themselves off out of hostile and aggressive tendencies.

Therefore, within reason, it is more probable that the only species capable of such advanced technology would be the few left who were able to overcome the aggressive and hostile tendencies Hawking fears. The problem is this makes for boring science fiction and we are bombarded with scenarios in pop culture where creatures come to earth to take our resources when in reality their tech is so advanced they would be able to program matter itself and create their own resources.

Of course, this does not rule out ancient trans-dimensional million tentacled cephalopods who want to shatter the sphere of our reality and devour our sanity like cold mint jelly. That's just instinctual behavior for animals vastly more complex than we are.

"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn"

mapuc · 10-04-15, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Torplexed

Hawking is either being paranoid, or hunting for a little more publicity.

I'm not questionings Hawkings skills. I point out the way many of these scientist see aliens

Not so long ago I saw some kind of documentary on the German TV-channel N24 about alien and it that program they were hostile and in many more documentary I have seen, the aliens are hostile.

I have seen some sci-fi movies throughout the years and in most of them the alien is very hostile towards us.

There are some science program where the scientist say alien can't be hostile.

Markus

fireftr18 · 10-04-15, 07:50 PM

They're already here, everywhere, and they're taking over. They are right now disguising themselves to look like us to interbreed with us.

Sailor Steve · 10-04-15, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mapuc

Not so long ago I saw some kind of documentary on the German TV-channel N24 about alien and it that program they were hostile and in many more documentary I have seen, the aliens are hostile.

It wasn't a documentary, even if it claimed to be. Documentaries "document" what is, not what someone imagines might be, no matter how important that someone is.

Quote:

I have seen some sci-fi movies throughout the years and in most of them the alien is very hostile towards us.

Sci-fi. Short for Science Fiction.

Quote:

There are some science program where the scientist say alien can't be hostile.

Again there is no "can" or "can't". It's just speculation. Unless there are secrets somebody isn't telling us (and now we're back into conspiracy theories) there is no evidence one way or the other as to whether aliens even exist, let alone how they might act if we meet them. None.

Oberon · 10-04-15, 05:58 PM

I think another part of the problem is that we mainly make our aliens based upon our viewpoints and thought processes. We could be surrounded by aliens that we just simply cannot comprehend with our current abilities.

It's a tricky thing.

10-04-15, 05:05 PM	#2
Torplexed Let's Sink Sumptin' ! Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 5,823 Downloads: 43 Uploads: 0	There is no need to worry about aliens destroying the Earth, we're perfectly capable of doing it ourselves. The fact that we still exist is strong evidence that there are no billion year old highly xenocidal species out there as there are a number of ways (beserker Von Neuman probes, a Niccol-Dyson laser, ect) in which they could simply wipe out all life-bearing or potentially life-bearing planets in their local group of galaxies in less time than any intelligent species could get to the point where they started transmitting Just because Faster Than Light drive might exist, we tend to conclude that any hostile aliens will have immediately paved the galaxy. But, as Douglas Adams noted space is vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big and FTL travel is likely really, really expensive in resources. I think if FTL was that easy, apart from its expense in resources, then there would literally be advanced aliens everywhere, if they exist at all. There is not much evidence suggesting that is the case, unless we are being kept in some zoo. (highly speculative but being kept locked in a interplanetary cage with a "do not agitate sign", seems appropriate to our species at times.) __________________ --Mobilis in Mobili--

10-04-15, 05:27 PM	#3
u crank Old enough to know better Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Prince Edward Island Posts: 11,747 Downloads: 136 Uploads: 0	Hmmph. Alien nomads. Ya better think twice. We Humanoids have pretty much subjugated this world. We went to the moon and kicked those moon men the heck out. Then we sent an unmanned craft to Mars and those dudes ran off before we could get a look at them. Bring em on! __________________ “Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” ― Arthur C. Clarke

10-04-15, 07:50 PM	#8
fireftr18 Ocean Warrior Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Kentucky Posts: 2,528 Downloads: 77 Uploads: 0	They're already here, everywhere, and they're taking over. They are right now disguising themselves to look like us to interbreed with us. __________________ Of all the forms of Martial Arts, Karaoke causes the most pain!

10-04-15, 04:29 PM	#1
Oberon Lucky Jack Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 25,976 Downloads: 61 Uploads: 20	Wait...I've seen this one, Will Smith saves us all. Still, the guy isn't wrong, I mean this has been said by people since 1898, compared to advanced lifeforms we are but cattle or vermin, to be horded and farmed or exterminated as needed. Chances are though any advanced species would send out Von Neumann machines ahead to terraform any planet they wanted to colonise, or to harvest any planet they wanted the materials from. Still, it's a bit late now, anyone within about a 100 lightyears will know of our existence or learn of it within the next decade or two, and it'll take them at least a century to travel to us assuming that they have near light speed propulsion systems. If they don't then it'll be a magnitude longer before they reach us. By this point I would hope that we would at least have got a footprint on Mars, and our technology in terms of AI and human to machine connections would be much further ahead that we might not exist as homio-sapiens anymore having moved into transhumanism and to posthumanism. It's both incredibly exciting and absolutely terrifying at the same time.

10-04-15, 05:41 PM	#5
mapuc CINC Pacific Fleet Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Denmark Posts: 20,543 Downloads: 37 Uploads: 0	It is funny I should read this today-yesterday I saw Independence Day It also makes me wonder if Hawkings have seen to much of "Hollywoods version of how Aliens are" Markus

10-04-15, 05:58 PM	#10
Oberon Lucky Jack Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 25,976 Downloads: 61 Uploads: 20	I think another part of the problem is that we mainly make our aliens based upon our viewpoints and thought processes. We could be surrounded by aliens that we just simply cannot comprehend with our current abilities. It's a tricky thing.