Its curious that most thing we have with aliens (movies, games, you name it) ends with humans going to war with them.
Says nuff about our race.
This Galaxy is vast; its wonders and beauty are almost unfathomable. But the galaxy also hides dark secrets, some of which have lain dormant since the beginning of time itself. There is a danger in secrets, both in seeking and in knowing. Some things are meant to be hidden from view. Some mysteries defy understanding, and sometimes even the things we think we know are untrue. Some secrets should remain untouched.
(08-08-2015, 10:41 PM)Shizune Wrote: If it's a warning, think about it like this, that means a race, perhaps more advanced then even our own, is scared of something much greater...
Mass Effect anyone? I also agree with what Dove said
Ghost don't be ridiculous we can't possibly be the only civilization in the never ending universe.
That story echoes my own thoughts on the subject of humanity running into any alien species.
There are a few considerations that tend to throw any naivete we entertain about peaceful and great first contact with an alien species out the window. Drake's equation is accepted, if a contested theory...but it tends not to factor in the all-important vector of time. Let's consider our own species for a moment. Our own species came into being roughly two million years ago. A huge period of time by our understanding, but only a little bit for the Universe (which is about 14.7 billion years old by our estimates). Out of that time, we've only really started to get our stuff together as a civilization about a hundred thousand years ago, with records of ancient civilizations in Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley only reach to about 6000-8000 BCE. So think about it. In about Ten thousand years, an intelligent species like us has gone from being merely intelligent animals to developing a complex, contemporary society and become capable of at least a little space travel. Ten thousand years is nothing for the Universe, and it is worthwhile to note that we could've gotten here even faster but large periods in human history had relatively little scientific development, with the major brunt of it happening in the past half millennium.
That brings me to my point. There's every possibility that there can, and will be a ton of alien civilizations existing in our Galaxy alone. But it is not necessary that they will exist at the same point in time. There can easily be alien civilizations just a few thousand years ahead of the curve from us (the most minor of time gaps in terms of the Universe) and still be so advanced as to be unrecognizable. By the same token, there can also be medieval alien civilizations a few thousand years behind us. If we increase the time gap under consideration, things become even more ludicrous. It leads me to view any first contact scenario with a healthy dose of fear. If any alien civilization operates remotely on the same motivations as humanity does, we will be enslaved without a doubt. Even if not that, the technology gap will all but ensure that we're third-rate citizens of any Galactic society that may be in place. They may bridge the technological gap, but that would be irresponsible of them to do so, as we may not have enough experience being a sapient species to really be able to handle that kind of thing.
In the end, all is hypothetical. But our best hope is to assume that we're part of some sort of cycle of sapience, and any alien species that evolved is growing alongside us. If that is somehow true, then we should certainly expect to meet and greet them within the next one thousand years.
Look at ourselves. In nineteenth century, people believed that technological advance can bring only good. Mustard gas changed their opinion in the WW I. Then we have discovered an amazing source of energy, we became able to get it out of atoms. No- We have made a bomb.
I am saying that technology advances too fast, way faster than our moral values. Moral values can't be kept working because of our animal nature. I see the humanity as an oversized monkey herd. The only difference between us and animals is the technological advance. But we have a lot of common with monkeys. There are alpha males trying to hold their power, there are several other powerful individuals who pursue this power, or try to get similar power somewhere else. And then there are simple denizens as me and you - exploited by the powerful just to be more powerful.
We are incorrigible. We tend to repeat every error, just more horrible and on much larger scale. Firstly I thought that humanity needs several hundred thousands years of evolution to get better, but now I think that... we can't get better. It's in our nature, bad habits and power-hunger are quite profitable things - Survival of the fittest.
Why am I saying that and what does it has to do with aliens? We will obliterate our own civilization before we get a chance to meet another. If few thousands or milions of people somehow manage to survive WW III. or other kind of apocalypse, they will restore the human civilization. This future civilization will blame the past events on an asteroid. All of this misery will repeat all over again until we exagerrate our self-destructive nature and wipe ourselves completely.
In case I am are not right with meeting another civilization:
Stephen Hawkin Wrote:If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans.
~I wish you a good day. Enjoy your life while you still can (;
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I can only hope we are more technologically advanced than the other in first contact. I doubt we can hide from a more advanced species. We've been playing with road flares for over a hundred years. I'd find it hard to imagine anyone looking can miss it. The first fiction I encountered to this point of thought was Anne McCaffrey's Freedom series. certainly there are plot points that drive the story while ignoring potentially more likely possibilities, yet it was a great series and got me thinking about this quite a bit. This also happened to be around the release of ID4, Independence Day with Will Smith. Good fun and lots to think about. I'd unrealistically hope to encounter an alien species on my own terms and a favorable position. I'd probably only realize their presence as I'm captured for study.
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