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Let's speak hypothetical. Our world is visited by a highly intelligent, socially more cooperative and harmonious, technologically vastly superior race in our galactic neighborhood in the near future. Let's say that their mission is one of exploration but not necessarily one of forming complex diplomatic relations, nor necessarily of engaging in hostile actions in pursuit of resources of whatever kind: slaves, mineral, gaseous, water, energy etc. Let's just assume that they are explorers with a cautious and curious nature and after some preliminary fact finding decide to meet with appointed representatives at a time and place of their choosing (I assume theirs because security concerns might rule anything else too risky.) What would this entail for humanity given the current state of political unity, military readiness, receptiveness of the average person to such a seminal event? Would it do more harm than good to be exposed to a space faring race when our forays into space have been so few? How would we prepare ourselves for such an earthshaking possibility? Would it have a net disruptive effect or do you think it could be somewhat unifying as we forget our animosities and rivalries with one another for a moment in the sublimity of it all (ala 9/11, but probably far more potent.) What if they made requests or demands of us without a threat of force that we could attend to in order to keep a renewed relationship with them but they were greatly costly and nothing concrete was promised in return but suggestions were made? Should governments resort to covert means to procure intelligence on them or would that be dangerously provocative? Would it make more sense to establish a kind of martial doctrine that repressed the publics ability to approach and interact these beings or would that agitate upheaval? Would it make more sense to just ask them to leave for fears that we might be exposing ourselves to a calculus of risks and dangers we aren't prepared for or should we make more overtures of our own to send signals? Should we send representatives to their world without guarantees for their safety? Should national legislatures draft procedures now to prepare for such an eventuality, and should the public have much of a say in establishing those procedures? Would we want to learn each others languages or establish a third language so that everyone could learn and help develop it? What kind of specialists or laymen would be the best people to make first contact? Should the event be tightly controlled or done in as unthreatening of an environment as possible? I don't think we've ever had a debate here on this and I wouldn't be surprised at all if in the next couple hundred years (and a lot sooner) first contact was made. Pegged Lamb fucked around with this message at 23:56 on Mar 18, 2016 |
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Mar 18, 2016 23:52
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McDowell posted:There are a number of ways the lower forces might try to manifest themselves and convince the masses you can create the kingdom of heaven on earth. They prefer complete individual striving and cannibalism but they could come forward as an alien invasion/intervention, or a Rapture and a Second Coming. Do not be deceived. The subtleties of creation - matter, energy, time, space - are masked by gross temporal flesh. I don't think any of this is as ridiculous as you believe. They'd almost assuredly want various forms of matter and energy but also cultural exchange.
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Mar 19, 2016 01:53
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rudatron posted:Aliens are not coming to visit us, not in the next 100, 1000, or 10 000 years. It's just not likely. Why wouldn't they be here already? Who says they aren't? Cloaking tech may be real. Some of the lunar astronauts claimed to hear music on the moon. Frankly, I am incredibly dubious about just about every kind of theory concerning interstellar travel or our simplistic statistical models concerning the distribution of life or projections about xenobiology considering we are so young and primitive and struggle to supply the little ISS. Our oceans are a mystery. Virtually everything we think we think we know we should assume will be overturned.
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Mar 19, 2016 07:30
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rudatron posted:You can't cloak anything in space, anything warmer than background temperature (which it had to be to even be alive or active) will emit blackbody radiation. There's also the light from the sun that you have to either reflect or absorb (which raises the temperature). I think you're a little too confident about the first thing. When we've lowered the temperatures of helium to 0.0001K several years ago why don't you think that could be sustained for a hull, or that light can be manipulated in ways we haven't dreamed of. As for my insanity, well people thought that germ theory was insane too. French Canadian posted:Are we the first new civilization they've found? They'd be excited. 200th? Probably give no fucks. I don't know. We catalogue stars and nebula and primitive tribes, etc. McDowell posted:Extraterrestials, ghosts, God - the supernatural. it is very, very strange that this forum treats the existence of extra terrestrial life as tantamount to the supernatural, probably based on nothing more than the latest Neil DeGrasse Tyson podcast. Also I don't call the pathological attachment to Occam's Razor and the continual practice on this forum of yelling past each other and virtually never settling on any conclusions or definitions "learning and growth."
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Mar 19, 2016 20:30
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SedanChair posted:It isn't, but the additional subtext in this case is that you have had a schizophrenic episode and treat the future arrival of aliens as a foregone conclusion as a result. I was lying down, not shifting in place for about three minutes before I felt both of my shoulder blades independently fold inward into my back. What is the epidemiology for schizophrenia that causes that? For fucks sake our species is just now finding out that fat isn't categorically bad for you and we still don't understand half of how the human body utilizes water (or half of the other properties of water, for that matter.) http://nautil.us/issue/25/water/five-things-we-still-dont-know-about-water. Get off your high horses. We are dumb apes and you should assume that most of the energy you've expended building your overconfidence and supposed intellectual superiority to the masses has been in vain on anything but certain economic issues. Who What Now posted:Says the guy presenting that extraterrestrial life will contact the earth in his lifetime as an indisputable fact. Don't try to start one of those never ending "but, you said" things by deliberately mischaracterizing my original post which is a hypothetical, as you well know it is, and you are just being a vindictive rear end in a top hat for no reason (or out of a habit formed on this forum) v No it isn't a stretch; neither is it apropos to bring it up in this thread which I intended to be separate from that discussion. It seems, though, that the ribbing was just too tempting. if you want me to close this thread because we're already travelling covered territory just ask. Pegged Lamb fucked around with this message at 21:06 on Mar 19, 2016 |
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Mar 19, 2016 20:58
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SedanChair posted:It's not ribbing, I am telling you you need help, not to be spinning out insane poo poo on the internet in search of validation. I am not in the habit of suffering the delusions of the mentally ill. Germ theory seemed insane, at first, and all of the sudden it wasn't. I don't claim to be half the man this guy was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis but he was locked up for the seemingly ludicrous suggestion that washing your hands before an operation might have beneficial side effects by other genuinely concerned, well-meaning people eager to diagnose mental illness without a proper evaluation. I have taken the several suggestions to seek professional help under advisement and I will as soon as I can. Until then I suggest you alleviate your own 'suffering' by reporting this thread or have me close it, or simply bringing your attention elsewhere. Or better yet you could participate in the original exercise whether or not you think it is harm(ful)less fancy. There's a thread about malicious genies whose author might also enjoy your gifts of mercy. SedanChair posted:Louis Farrakhan: "disregard everything I said earlier. Hypothetically, what if it turned out the evil scientist Yakub invented white people?" Again we're at this "Interstellar travel, in my universe? What is this scientology/Necromonicon bullshit?" We're very unfortunate that physics seems to proceed only from one genius to the next. It leaves precious little room for uncertainty. Pegged Lamb fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Mar 19, 2016 |
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Mar 19, 2016 21:17
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