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There's to me, three basic cases: - They are so advanced technologically they can visit us any time they want. We have nothing of interest for them. Any resour

There's to me, three basic cases: - They are so advanced technologically they can visit us any time they want. We have nothing of interest for them. Any resource we have, they can synthesize it. They may decide to observe us without interfering for scientific purposes or just out of curiosity. - They are "within range" of our technological development. They could be very dangerous because they share our problems (lack of energy, lack of resources, etc.). No worries, they cannot visit us. - They are too primitive to even understand the message.

chrischen 15y ago
There's at least another case. They are more advanced than us and realize that if we are allowed to develop, we may become a threat to them in the future. They may decide to annihilate us preemptively.
- shin_lao 15y ago
  You think like a primitive life form in saying so.
- todayiamme 15y ago
  It's extremely likely that any space faring civilization would have developed weapons capable of their own destruction sooner or later. If they weighed things with such a calculus, then it's extremely likely that they would have wiped themselves out. I think that if we extrapolate from our own development then it's quite clear that high technology without the insight to use it is extinguishing in nature. After all look at us, we've scarcely scratched the surface of what technology can do and our lack of insight is already killing us. However, there is an alternative around that too, if they are ant-like in their social structure, peaceful for their colony and hostile towards alien beings, then their inclination towards violence could survive the curse of high technology. However on the whole, I think that if we ever do manage to make contact with sentient beings then it is extremely likely the contact will be peaceful. That said, all such postulations are futile, because any such species will be smarter than me and beyond my means to understand.
gosub 15y ago
Or they are in a "medieval" stage, and the message is interpreted as god speaking. And we become someone else's religion.
- skore 15y ago
  I prefer the "desperate for gold" hypothesis in which the probe manages to safely crash in the backyard of an alien scientist who is in quick need of some gold to finish an experiment and in possession of a perfectly fine smelting pot.

chrischen 15y ago

There's at least another case. They are more advanced than us and realize that if we are allowed to develop, we may become a threat to them in the future. They may decide to annihilate us preemptively.

shin_lao 15y ago
You think like a primitive life form in saying so.
todayiamme 15y ago
It's extremely likely that any space faring civilization would have developed weapons capable of their own destruction sooner or later. If they weighed things with such a calculus, then it's extremely likely that they would have wiped themselves out. I think that if we extrapolate from our own development then it's quite clear that high technology without the insight to use it is extinguishing in nature. After all look at us, we've scarcely scratched the surface of what technology can do and our lack of insight is already killing us. However, there is an alternative around that too, if they are ant-like in their social structure, peaceful for their colony and hostile towards alien beings, then their inclination towards violence could survive the curse of high technology. However on the whole, I think that if we ever do manage to make contact with sentient beings then it is extremely likely the contact will be peaceful. That said, all such postulations are futile, because any such species will be smarter than me and beyond my means to understand.

gosub 15y ago

Or they are in a "medieval" stage, and the message is interpreted as god speaking. And we become someone else's religion.

skore 15y ago
I prefer the "desperate for gold" hypothesis in which the probe manages to safely crash in the backyard of an alien scientist who is in quick need of some gold to finish an experiment and in possession of a perfectly fine smelting pot.