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One thing I don't hear mentioned very often in the "why would aliens bother coming here" debate, is a comparison of UFO behavior and our behavior with other spe

One thing I don't hear mentioned very often in the "why would aliens bother coming here" debate, is a comparison of UFO behavior and our behavior with other species we study in remote locations. Consider the mountain gorillas in central Africa - we'll send a person out there to sit in the trees and take pictures, and if they catch a glimpse of the human, who cares? Meanwhile, the way we travel to the gorillas home, our cities, our whole way of life are totally unknown and even incomprehensible to the gorillas. What does a gorilla know of internal combustion, or tranquilizer darts, or digital cameras? If there are aliens visiting us, I imagine it's similar. Maybe they're just coming to take pictures and check out what the local tech-apes are up to for a research paper, and if one of the humans catches a glimpse of your spaceship, who cares? Even if they get a clear look at your ship, they have only a vague idea of how it works and what it's for. Maybe there's no aliens, but the universe is a big place and we barely understand it. Our comprehension of what's even physically and technologically possible changes every century. We're just apes who saw a land rover in the distance.

reader_mode 6y ago
That's anthropomorphism to almost religious levels. I doubt you'd have the same drives and incentives as humans at such level of development.
- maybelsyrup 6y ago
  Yes, it's "anthropomorphism". It's an analogy.
- CptFribble 6y ago
  That's my point - I usually see talk of aliens dismissed with "if they're so advanced, why would they bother? Therefore it must be something else." We cast our own human drives and incentives on the aliens in that case. Similarly, a gorilla may stand on a mountain and look up at a plane, and think "if they're so advanced, why bother bringing that thing to my mountain? It must be an optical illusion." The gorilla doesn't understand the plane's purpose, design, or usage, yet dismisses it anyway based on a limited mental model of the universe. It's an imperfect analogy, but it's meant to show that while we all dismiss the concept of aliens because we can't fathom why an advanced race would use their technology just to visit a "lower" species, we actually do the same thing all the time - so maybe it's not as far outside the realm of possibility as we think.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
Salgat 6y ago
The only reason researchers and documentary makers don't perfectly hide themselves is due to how expensive and limited technology is (in Planet Earth they had to setup a hidden blind and stake out an area for months to get the proper footage undetected which is incredibly expensive to do). I imagine if you're a space-faring race capable of visiting planets on a whim, hiding yourself from rather primitive civilizations is trivial, so why wouldn't they?
- frankhhhhhhhhh 6y ago
  Don't we purposely avoid interacting with uncontacted indigenous people, like in the rainforest for example?
  - millipedegears 6y ago
    No, As a general rule we prefer to build giant strip mines on indigenous peoples land; extract all the wealth and generally destroy it. If Aliens exist and are here; they are not like us at all.

reader_mode 6y ago

That's anthropomorphism to almost religious levels. I doubt you'd have the same drives and incentives as humans at such level of development.

maybelsyrup 6y ago
Yes, it's "anthropomorphism". It's an analogy.
CptFribble 6y ago
That's my point - I usually see talk of aliens dismissed with "if they're so advanced, why would they bother? Therefore it must be something else." We cast our own human drives and incentives on the aliens in that case. Similarly, a gorilla may stand on a mountain and look up at a plane, and think "if they're so advanced, why bother bringing that thing to my mountain? It must be an optical illusion." The gorilla doesn't understand the plane's purpose, design, or usage, yet dismisses it anyway based on a limited mental model of the universe. It's an imperfect analogy, but it's meant to show that while we all dismiss the concept of aliens because we can't fathom why an advanced race would use their technology just to visit a "lower" species, we actually do the same thing all the time - so maybe it's not as far outside the realm of possibility as we think.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

Salgat 6y ago

The only reason researchers and documentary makers don't perfectly hide themselves is due to how expensive and limited technology is (in Planet Earth they had to setup a hidden blind and stake out an area for months to get the proper footage undetected which is incredibly expensive to do). I imagine if you're a space-faring race capable of visiting planets on a whim, hiding yourself from rather primitive civilizations is trivial, so why wouldn't they?

frankhhhhhhhhh 6y ago
Don't we purposely avoid interacting with uncontacted indigenous people, like in the rainforest for example?
- millipedegears 6y ago
  No, As a general rule we prefer to build giant strip mines on indigenous peoples land; extract all the wealth and generally destroy it. If Aliens exist and are here; they are not like us at all.