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It doesn’t really matter who’s a proponent of what - if life is not singular then you have to assume it’s relatively common, and then you have to assume that me

It doesn’t really matter who’s a proponent of what - if life is not singular then you have to assume it’s relatively common, and then you have to assume that messages like this will reach aliens on a wide spectrum of hostility and advancement.

Zigurd 8y ago
Unless some unknown physics makes space-opera style fast travel possible, what would be the meaning of hostility? Based on what motive? Expressed how? Space isn't tribes of chimps in adjacent trees. If we find aliens it will be more like "Don't let the Great Filter get you and maybe we'll have a really slow conversation."
- sudhirj 8y ago
  Relativity muddles things a bit. If any civilization lives on a ship that can get near the speed of light, coming to destroy us would take only a few hours or days in their time, even if it took hundreds of years in hours.
  - goatlover 8y ago
    But why bother using all that energy? And It will be a huge amount to get light years down to hours. What threat would we be to them?
    - sudhirj 8y ago
      We're always a threat. All we need today is a closet Hitler type rising to power in any of the nuclear countries - and that's just today. No idea what socio political landscape will be when the world is hot, water and food scarce, and we know there are aliens out there.
- ImSkeptical 8y ago
  I don't think we should try to guess the motivations of aliens. You can't really rule out, or make well founded assumptions about, how aliens will act or what they'll want. Perhaps the aliens will just exterminate us to foreclose on the possible future where we become their equal or better. Perhaps they'll kill us for religious or ideological reasons. Perhaps they'll have a need to do something with our resources and no concern for our well being. Perhaps they'll be intelligent weapon systems programmed to kill and they'll identify us as enemies.

Zigurd 8y ago

Unless some unknown physics makes space-opera style fast travel possible, what would be the meaning of hostility? Based on what motive? Expressed how? Space isn't tribes of chimps in adjacent trees. If we find aliens it will be more like "Don't let the Great Filter get you and maybe we'll have a really slow conversation."

sudhirj 8y ago
Relativity muddles things a bit. If any civilization lives on a ship that can get near the speed of light, coming to destroy us would take only a few hours or days in their time, even if it took hundreds of years in hours.
- goatlover 8y ago
  But why bother using all that energy? And It will be a huge amount to get light years down to hours. What threat would we be to them?
  - sudhirj 8y ago
    We're always a threat. All we need today is a closet Hitler type rising to power in any of the nuclear countries - and that's just today. No idea what socio political landscape will be when the world is hot, water and food scarce, and we know there are aliens out there.
ImSkeptical 8y ago
I don't think we should try to guess the motivations of aliens. You can't really rule out, or make well founded assumptions about, how aliens will act or what they'll want. Perhaps the aliens will just exterminate us to foreclose on the possible future where we become their equal or better. Perhaps they'll kill us for religious or ideological reasons. Perhaps they'll have a need to do something with our resources and no concern for our well being. Perhaps they'll be intelligent weapon systems programmed to kill and they'll identify us as enemies.