aghogday wrote:
Stephen Hawkins warns to do our best to remain hidden from them rather than trying to contact them. In that their intentions toward us would be one of expoitation, not unlike the effect of Christopher Columbus' exploration in South America.
I like to think of all of it as a waste of time. Considering the survival instinct and competitive nature of all life on this, planet, I don't see any reason to believe the nature of life could be anything but that on another planet. I think it is likely that any life that has developed technology would probably destroy itself with the technology well before they were able to cooperate enough to leave their planet for another solar system. And, considering the fragility of organic life, we might have more to fear from a technological product from another form of intelligent life.
However, I am looking at this from my tiny perspective as human, so what the heck do I know except for a guess at this point.
If we had the capability to bombard aliens in space, I can't see any reason for doing it, unless one were to put it in a Star Trek perspective, where the conflicts of our world are a microcosm of intergalatic conflicts. For me Star Trek was a satire on our world and the differences that exist among us here on earth; played out in space. That's all it could be because this is the way human's view reality, tribe vs. opposing tribe, for survival purposes.
So many countries in the world are in financial trouble, and there is so much conflict among humans that I doubt we will ever have the cooperation in the world necessary to achieve an opportunity to bombard Aliens on other Planets. It is probably a good thing for them that we don't achieve this capability and also a good thing for us if they don't achieve this ability. Asteroids, black holes, gamma rays, etc. are enough for us to worry about as far as space is concerned.
Imagine what life would be knowing your whole life there was a real chance of intelligent life destroying us at any second. Many people in the world already participate in a life similiar to this. We have not had much to fear from wars between our borders; in comparison to what many others in our world have experienced in the last one hundred years.
Stephen Hawkings suggests the mathematical potential for intelligent life is there; but is it there at the same time? We exist on such a small point in the timeline of life on our planet. And, we are the only intelligent life that has gained the ability of technology in the history of our planet. Intelligent life on other planets seems inevitable but, intelligent life with advanced technology at the same time we exist is beyond my comprehension. Too many variables at play, and time is the biggest one as far as I can see.
im a huge fan of Steven Hawking thats one of my favorite quotes by him where he said if aliens were advanced enough to visit us it would end similar to how when Christopher Columbus found America and it didnt work out to well for the Native Americans and in my personal opinion relating to that quote i would say that if they can visit us they would probably view us as about as primitive as the Native Americans when Columbus came here
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09 Mar 2011, 6:49 pm
so true.
