Stephen Hawking Warns About Making Contact With Aliens April 25, 2010
by Anthony Pascale , Filed under: Celebrity, Science/Technology , trackback
In the future outlined by Star Trek, humanity literally makes it a mission to "seek out" alien life. It seems every week the heroes of Star Trek in the 22nd, 23rd and 24th centuries met new aliens. However in a new Discovery channel show premiering tonight, noted physicist Stephen Hawking (himself a Star Trek guest star), says all this seeking out alien life is a mistake.
Hawking – fear the aliens
Tonight the Discovery Channel premieres a new show, Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking. The premiere episode is all about "Aliens", and according to Hawking, we should fear them. Hawking postulates:
We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet. I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach.
Watch a clip of Hawking’s vision of the alien invasion of Earth.
CLICK TO SEE CLIP FROM TONIGHT’s "INTO THE UNIVERSE WITH STEPHEN HAWKING"
Future episodes will deal with more Trek related issues, such as time-travel. Here is a promo for the show.
The show premieres at 9PM on Sunday night (4/24). More info and clips at discovery.com/tv/stephen-hawking/
Hawking on Star Trek
Stephen Hawking may be worried about aliens, but he is still a fan of Star Trek. He even appeared in the TNG episode "Descent, Part 1". Here is the clip.
VOTE: Aliens – friends or foes?
For years humans have been trying to make contact with aliens. The SETI program is searching the skies. We have sent out signals for decades. And the Voyager spacecraft even carried special messages to possible alien travelers (and Star Trek The Motion Picture showed us how that can come back to bite us).
So is Hawking right? Should humanity be worried about contacting aliens.
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Comments»
My only idea on this is that I believe for a race to make it into space they would have to unite and evolve far past the state of greed that humanity exists in. Plus if they were going to take us over I think they would have done it by now. But only time will tell.
Bring `em on! We’ll destroy ourselves eventually anyway. An alien invasion could be a great diversion from that!
Hmmm… this will come as a shock to most readers here.
According to post-Star Trek spin-off dogma (as with TNG onward), aren’t more advanced (”evolved”) species necessarily more peaceful and benign? Put another way, only “primitive, uneducated” species are threatening or even violent because they “fear the unknown”.
It is certain no one, even clinging to the most naive, Utopian, socialistic, political ideology, can claim Stephen Hawking as an ignorant paranoid militarist. Yet his prudent threat assessment of unknown but presumed advanced alien race would no doubt bring apoplectic fits to certain persons known to us at this site and elsewhere.
I for one agree with his advice to keep a low profile and avoid unnecessarily “tugging on Superman’s cape”, as the old song reminds us so wisely.
Just sayin’ — but sincerely so,
C.S. Lewis
I think we should be very careful about applying human standards of behavior to potential alien life. They most likely would be so different from us that there would be no basis for understanding. I certainly wouldn’t rely on the “dogma” of television shows for my opinion.
If aliens did invade our world, the question is, would Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum be able to stop them? :-)
There is nothing wrong w/ meeting aliens…cause if we do I don’t think they will hurt us…and if they do…hey we tried to be nice:)
HA HA….Stephen Hawking says oh no dont like them they will probably be like us only more advanced hahah….sheeesh………
Guess that means James Cameron and Avatar is right….Man is nothing but a greedy resource user/taker….
Oh to those of you in other articles mentioning how you have no desire to see Avatar….I just got the blu ray..the colors and clarity are incredible..the story still works to me….its beautiful, funny, scary and yes pc….Mankind tries to kill or relocate the natives again..this time mankind loses….
I have to admit I much prefers Gene Rs Optimism to this. Oh well……
I don’t think it will be our choice either way. I think it’s 50-50. They could be like Vulcans or they could be like the Borg. Who knows?
There’s the possibility of disease and microbe exchange that could kill either us or them as well.
I think Hawking raises good points. I don’t think we can use Star Trek or Hawkings show as a definitive example of what to expect.
Alien means ALIEN…how can we know what to expect?
Hawkings is a theoretical physicist, not a “space anthropologist” (is there such a thing?). So he’s perfectly welcome to his opinion, but in the end his guess in this area is as good as yours or mine. We don’t have enough information about planets beyond our little system that might support carbon-based life, and have not yet discovered any other forms of life on the planets we do know about. All this fearful speculation is a little premature. But of course, we silly humans are always looking for the next big thing scary thing!!;)
Why does it have to be carbon based life?
“If they’re more advanced than us,they should be nearer the Creator.”
THe War of the Worlds (1953 film)
#11)
The guy that spoke that line was vaporized by a Martian heat ray minutes later!
The most interesting thing about this was touched on in First Contact. “It united humanity in a way that nobody thought was possible” Racism would disappear because our frame of reference would suddenly be expanded to us (humans) and them (aliens)
:)Paul
April, perhaps you were reaching for the title “Astrobiologist”. Wiki Astrobiology, there’s tons of reference out there.
We are the aliens. Ask the trilobites.
Stephen Hawking is wrong, for alien beings to reach us they must have evolved to a higher state and be benevolent and respect/understand how rare and precious life is. Besides, there are galatic laws protecting planets from invasion. For every malevolent alien race there are thousands more benevolent races to help balance things out.
Scifiguy–it doesn’t have to be carbon-based. Who knows, there might be a planet full of Hortas out there somewhere!
Combatkarl–yeah, that sounds right…:)
Hopefully my point is still valid…
Sounds like he knows something we don’t. *panics*
Watching the show now. Magnificent stuff. BTW, he says something along the lines of “maybe Star Trek and Star Wars, two of my personal favorites, got it right” (meaning there are lots of advanced races roaming the stars.)
The problems with Hawking’s logic here are definitely multi-faceted:
First, he implies that the only logical evolution of a species like ours can be towards a state of a cut throat, intergalactic imperialism. Now, if that’s true, then that can be the only state our own species could ever reach anyways, and if that’s truly the best we’d ever become, then there’s hardly any intrinsic moral problem with another race enslaving or wiping us out if our only potential destiny is to inflict that upon others. For that matter, I don’t really care for future generations of my species if that’s the best they’ll achieve anyways.
Secondly, even if he considers the possibility of benevolent aliens, he implies a probable propensity towards the aforementioned imperialism. The problem with this is that it ignores the entire reason that we’ve long assumed that an advanced race must be benevolent in the first place: because technological evolution must be met with social evolution. If one were to project the course of humanity, one could only see us becoming what Hawking describes in these aliens if mass technological advancement was paired with complete social stagnation, if not flat out regression. This is hardly probable.
Lastly, it doesn’t matter, because we’re not going to stop. Borg, Vulcan, or otherwise, we WILL meet whoever’s out there, because of the same quality which got our civilization this far technologically. We’re a very curious species, and we may only be tiptoeing into space, but we’re out there. This meeting that Hawking dreads is the fate of our kind, so we might as well look to it optimistically.
What about hot space chicks? Cause that makes it worth the chance, imho.
I for one will welcome our new insect overlords, and I’d like to remind them that as a trusted TrekMovie commentator, I can be helpful in rounding up other trekkers to toil in their deep underground sugar caves.
Hawking must have just finished watching “Independence Day” or something.
Why the assumption that a race must be “advanced” (in a friendly / diplomatic way) or “benevolent” to reach the stars? There’s nothing to stop a violent, aggressive race from creating technology to get them here and take us over. IMHO.
For such an intelligent individual, it’s disappointing to see how he can also be so short-sighted. I know I’ll leave this world when I meet my Lord in heaven, and it’s my hope He may allow my spirit to roam the stars and see what I’m missing out on, but my soul cries for a day when my children won’t have to wait for their eternal life to have that opportunity.
It’s natural for us to crave knowlede, to experience adventure, to explore, to satisfy curiosity, and to expand ourselves outward. Anything less just kills the human spirit. A world where we would look up into the sky and never have any hope of ever being a part of what it out there sounds like a living hell on earth, to me.
Roddenberry had an optimistic view of the future. I see it as naive. I’m not saying I don’t hope he’s right, I just think that odds of us meeting “kind” aliens are slim to none.
Why would aliens come to our planet unless they want something from us? If they had the technology to get here, they could probably take whatever they wanted by force. We can only hope that any aliens we meet will have no concept of violent invasions and just stumble across us and say, “Hi.”
#21
Those “insect overlords” you speak of are building a spherical weapon somewhere out in deep space and are preparing to deploy it soon….
Someone save us all…
20. Are you also en-”thralled” with space chicks in tinfoil bikinis?
For all those who say that aliens have to be more “enlightened”, first i agree with #23. Second look at the ferengi, albeit yes they are fictional, but they are not “enlightened”, they view the universe as a massive money making scheme. It would be no stretch of the imagination for a civilization to have different factions that exist on several planets as military installations.
Haven’t seen this yet, but maybe Hawking is playing the odds. No matter how many enlightened superior alien civilizations are out there, if there’s one malevolent one, we’d be at their mercy. And really, by the time the good guys found out we were under attack, the world as we know it would long have been ended. On the other hand, if we find the good guys first, we can get help to ready ourselves for the bad guys when they come — and I have to believe that more of them are enlightened than not.
#28 Exactly!
Just as all humans are not “imperialists” or “Commies” or “Fascists”, I would assume that would be the case with aliens as well. Maybe multiple agendas from the same race?
Maybe some races have a hive mentality…that’s certainly possible.
My thinking is they will just show up one day. They will either communicate with us or not.
I think we would know their intent in short order. Maybe what is considered evil to us is not to them. Maybe they just do what they do?
Here is the problem, if the advanced alien civilization is so advanced to travel millions of light years to another solar system, they will will not need what we have to offer.
It’s like a billionaire running 10 years to the other side of the world to steal a shiny penny/candy from a baby, who cares, not worth the effort except to see it for yourself and understand the shiny penny/candy and to know what is out there.
The only way earth is invaded is if we pose a significant threat to the galaxy and/or other planets/races, if we are the benevolent alien race we will be targeted like roaches.
Now if the alien face feeds on our soul energy and our planets electromagnetism, that is a different story. No worries though, I am sure we have guardian angels.
*race
I’m inclined to think that we should have heard something by now.
So far, it looks as though we stand alone in the universe…
#34
MIles surely you cannot be so closed minded, there are zillions of galaxies with trillions of stars, for there to be 1 planet that supports intelligent life is mathematically impossible.
There are reasons contact has not been made, to preserve our way of life and natural development, c’mon folks.
27- Um, yup.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=trek+shana&FORM=BIFD#focal=6314c48577ec58665b8e2021dabb738a&furl=http%3A%2F%2Fsheryl.org%2Fimages%2Ftrek%2Fwomen%2Fclassic%2Fshana.jpg
We can be reasonably sure that anything that visits this planet is its own planet’s top predator, as we are on our planet. Our own history of expansion is one of genocide and plunder, not the benevolent exchange of ideas. I imagine our first encounter with aliens will be closer to District 9 than to Close Encounters.
My hope is that our first contact with alien intelligence will be over radio waves, across vast distances that will make it almost impossible for us to have physical contact … and if possible to do so at some point, only after a very, very long time, so everyone can get used to the idea of sharing the universe.
Scott B. out.
No doubt it is a logical theory but it is based on the argument that the aliens are indeed “based” on how we act and developed or that they are nomadic or only wish to exploit other planets resources. What about aliens that are self sustaining and don’t need to take? We still have a ways to go but look at how much we have advanced. We still have violent people, the odd corrupt people in government, but in my 26 years of life I have come across more good people than bad, and that is not bias, the “good” indeed outnumber the “bad.” And with moving closer to green technologies and self sustainment, I highly doubt that most space faring species (if there are any) will have completely depleted their planets resources and have come looking for more.
There are no aliens.
They make good imaginative fiction.
Space in not like sci fi movies. It is barren cold and boringly scientific.
There is no x-wings, millenium falcons, or starship enterprise, phasers lightsabers, klingons or jedi.
But in this whole universe we’re the only civilized and intelligent race out there? Isn’t that’s a bit narcissistic and narrow minded to believe? Maybe we’re alone in our galaxy, but no way in the entire universe. It’s hard to believe in everything that exists everywhere that we’re the only thing that is alive. I just think we’re all probably spaced out wayyyyyyyyyyy to far away to make any sort contact.
Besides, I get the feeling first contact with an intelligent race would probably go something along the lines of Hitchhikers Guide (taken from the movie post-credits scene):
‘It is of course well known that careless talk costs lives, but the full scale of the problem is not always appreciated. For instance, at the very moment that Arthur Dent said “I wouldn’t want to go anywhere without my wonderful towel,” a freak wormhole opened up in the fabric of the space-time continuum and carried his words far far back in time across almost infinite reaches of space to a distant Galaxy where strange and warlike beings were poised on the brink of frightful interstellar battle. The two opposing leaders, resplendent in their black jewelled battle shorts, were meeting for the last time, when, a dreadful silence fell, and, at that very moment, the words, “I wouldn’t want to go anywhere without my wonderful towel” drifted across the conference table. Unfortunately, in their native tongue, this was the most appalling insult imaginable, so the two opposing battle fleets decided to settle their few remaining differences in order to launch a joint attack on our galaxy, now positively identified as the source of the offending remark. For thousands of years the mighty starships tore across the empty wastes of space and finally dived screaming on to the planet Earth – where, due to a terrible miscalculation of scale, the entire battle fleet was accidentally swallowed by a small dog. Those who study the complex interplay of cause and effect in the history of the Universe say that this sort of thing is going on all the time. ‘
I just watched a couple of episodes of Hawking’s new show. It’s EXCELLENT! …really good show about understanding the Universe, also after that…
I don’t think he’s saying “Fear the Aliens!”, I think he’s just saying: we don’t need to broadcast, to advertise, to be a crying baby in the wilderness.
Plus, this (unfounded) fear of the unknown alien is based on projecting OUR OWN NATURE on that possible treat. (Stronger culture conquering the weaker culture).
I believe the aliens want help us and guide us, and that they have been for a long time already. If they could, they would tell us to stop destroying our environment, but the evil power structure won’t allow it.
Anybody who is/was interested in the visitor phenom. it is still going on–off the wall weird/stranger than anyone would guess-supposedly ufos are more prevalent than ever-other govts are releasing their records–anybody remember whitley strieber n his book communion–he has recently claimed proof that alien implants are real and prove not from earth–isotopes were found in one that dont exist on earth-his website unknowncountry.com–highly recommended–i dont think he is making it all up-he also co wrote coming global superstorms with art bell-made into a roland emmerich movie,day after tomorrow or something like that–strieber doesnt exactly think the visitors are aliens that is too simple for what they seem to do/are—im not a true believer but is facinating to research n discuss-crop circles same thing-they are not all made by guys or students with boards n strings–
Oh who knows we’ve been pretty god damn lucky throughout the past 60 years with the American, German, Korean and Russian conflicts.
I just get the feeling that in this version of this universe we’ll be alright and probably come into contact with some sort of inteligent being that may not want to help us, but wont try to ruin our world.
Although I get the feeling that first contact wont happen for quite some time, probably after we’re all long dead and buried.
I honestly think it could be just about anything. It could be Nazis in space or Ghandis in space, who knows.
Theres good and bad in humanity so why wouldnt there also be both good and bad living somewhere else in the universe.
End of line if we ever meet any enlightened aliens I hope we try to be enlightened enough to at least think about any alternative views on the universe, especially if said aliens have been the ‘watcher’ type having been here before and viewed certain world events and have a more accurate record of it.
Not likely to happen though.
Well… I would rather say… THEY should fear US…
The first time a more advanced species enters our realm of reality they will be nuked from the sky because some dipshit generals decided it would be easier to just take the technology… (or someone will say that they hav WMDs… would do the same trick… has been tested before…)
Ah… and why does everyone assume that technologically advanced equals spiritual enlightenment?
Nobody will believe this so doesn’t hurt to post.
http://www.burlingtonnews.net/secretsufo.html
Presumably the S.H. scenario is accounted for, in S.T. by the existance of the Klingon & Romulan Empires, organized-to-exploit, just as Hawking envisions. Presumably, other advanced civilizations exist that don’t want to be exploited, or to expoit. They would form a defensive Federation of planets who would come to the aid of any advanced civilization who didn’t want to be subjugated to an exploitative Empire, This is the basic background-story to Star Trek (& provides the dramatic tension/conflict to stories of voyaging/exploring/terra-forming/contacting).
Hitler’s Germany made amazing strides in technology and advancement. Had the cards been played slightly differently Germany could have emerged the victor in WW2, and with the V2 research going on, it’s not impossible to imagine Germany launching the first rockets into space. Hawking’s thoughts on the matter make a lot of sense. Like Dr. McCoy said, evil often triumphs, unless “good” is very very careful.
Why would any alien species target one of the least massive energy producing stars? wtf steven!
I don’t agree with Mr.Hawking at all, if that’s the aliens attitude towards earth we would be gone a long time ago, they prefer to watch, i’m sure we’re hilarious little hamsters to them.
…….while i’m on this topic, has anyone seen this, real life OdO, >>>> go to about 0:22 seconds>>>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1Fqv6WaCak
What humans dream up for television has nothing to do with any of this, but basic math might suggest that there are hostile aliens out there. However, I don’t think there’s much we can do about them.
First – if there are many planets in our galaxy that have sprouted intelligent life then there are bound to be variants where violence is the norm. While advanced intelligence might suggest benevolence, it cannot really guarantee it. (The Drake equation now suggests a very low number of intelligent civilizations based on current assumptions so perhaps we’re safe there.)
Second – if there are hostile aliens out there able and willing to attack planet earth, I don’t think there is much we can do to call attention to ourselves that we aren’t already doing. We’ve been sending out radio and television signals for decades already. Let’s just hope that they aren’t pissed off about the cancellation of the Star Trek: Enterprise.
Interesting comments from skyjedi (#39) that I must disagree with for the most obvious of reasons – we are the aliens in the eyes of anyone else! If we are here and able to develop technology, how is not possible? No one is suggesting that the “aliens” are just like we imagine them to be, but it is obvious that they can exist – else we would not exist.
skyjedi said:
There are no aliens.
They make good imaginative fiction.
Space in not like sci fi movies. It is barren cold and boringly scientific.
There is no x-wings, millenium falcons, or starship enterprise, phasers lightsabers, klingons or jedi.
Speculating about the possibilities of alien life and alien intention is a lot of fun, the stuff so many sci-fi stories have been made of. And we’d probably like to believe that an alien race that survived long enough to be able to traverse deepest space would be a wise and gentle species. But what are the facts? In spite of thousands of ufo and abduction reports, it seems that undeniable, first-hand, globally experienced evidence still eludes us. The best we can say is that there have been some ufo reports that concerned clearly unknown objects. Abduction is another matter — the only reports come from people who claim to have been abducted, and (unless we are deliberately being kept in the dark) there hasn’t been any hard evidence apart from their stories.
I have seen two ufos in my life — flying objects that were clearly unlike anything I had ever seen. But my experience, nor my claims, amount to anything like the kind of proof needed to stand up to scientific inquiry. Until there is undeniable evidence of alien existence, it is just speculation. When it makes CNN or FOX news, then we could probably say, “Ok, this is it.”
Lord knows, our world could certainly use some help and guidance from a species like the Vulcans… I, for one, am not feeling particularly optimistic about our chances of evolving into a higher species on our own. Yet, looking for alien life, envisioning aliens among us, believing that there are other species “out there” seems to be an aspect of humanity that is undeniable, a kind of archetype that exists deep in our consciousness and mythology. Perhaps there is something to it, or perhaps it is just based on wishful thinking. I think it would be nice to know, for certain, we are not alone in the universe… it would be a humbling experience for humanity.
Even if the aliens are nice we’ll be mean to them. Then they’ll say “Sorry but it’s for the good of the universe” and then vaporize our planet.
#56
Says you.
We prove that life is possible, maybe even probable. Why would our planet in the midst of billions and billions and billions of other planets be the only one?
#56 I meant #39
Given the vast number of stars in this galaxy alone, I have no doubt that there are thousands of planets capable of supporting humanoid life forms, to say nothing of other possible non-humanoid forms of life that live under conditions radically different than those existing here on Earth. I have no idea how we will ever be able to physically travel and explore other solar systems in any kind of reasonable time frame, but then again, there was a time when people couldn’t imagine how heavier-than-air human flight could possibly work, either.
But if other civilizations have broken the lightspeed barrier and are out there, I imagine that they are also advanced enough to conceal their presence from us. I figure they are watching us under their version of the Prime Directive, waiting for us to be ready.
To add to things here. I think he is just looking at what he knows, which is our history, and history tends to repeat itself a time or two.
He said that any race capable of technology to reach us in any span of time would seem like Gods to us by comparison. And looking through history the races who show up on the land of others with superior technology pretty much get whatever it is they want, and things don’t bode nearly as well for the less advanced civilization.
I don’t think we even deserve to go into space yet. We need to take care of our own planet and people before we go screwing with others. Remember, the Vulcans kept humans contained to a small area until 100 years after Cochrane invented warp drive.
It seems like Dr. Hawking watched the movie Independance Day too many times. The aliens in that movie were going to strip mine the Earth.
Wouldn’t it be easier to mine the asteroid field instead?
I think if aliens even know we are here they will look at our transmissions and see how badly we treat each other and our planet and warn every alien race to stay away until we get our act together.
63-Of course, the best way to take care of our planet is to use resources from space, free energy from the sun, for example.
Well, we have always defined ourselves as an advanced culture (European Culture) and that is the justification we used to conquer many indigineous cultures…
Imagine an ‘advanced culture’ from space (who coincidentally is resource poor) arriving here and thinking,”Hey, these guys have wars all over their planet…we need to enlighten these barbarians.”
Hawking is right. Advanced has seldom meant ‘enlightened’ but rather more often ‘arrogant and rapacious’.
If aliens existed you’d think we’d run into them after the many many years of existence we’ve gone through.
But then again there have been many pointless claims of appearances, UFOs, and crop circles…..so I will just shut my mouth.
And of course, there is a unique resource on earth that is found nowhere else: humans. There may be many uses for humans. “To Serve Man…it’s a cookbook!”
Who cares? Are we really going to see a first contact in our life time…. GET REAL!
They have been here for a long time abducting women and children to preserve the Human species because they know Humans will wipe themselves eventually.
Well lets put it this way. If we are the only planet that supports life, the rest of the universe sure seems like a big waste of space.
Well, I know this sounds like a broken record, but I would sure like to be able to watch this stuff outside the US. I can’t even find a download version out there…
72-If so, we are VERY special, and should take of ourselves and each other and the planet. I think it worth an entire universe just to make it possible for us to exist.
oops – meant 71.
I believe the 3 possibilities are plausible enough: either an alien race will be ready to wipe us out, or they will be ready to help us, or they will just ignore us. But no matter what we think, that’s all it is — what we think. We tend to impose our human ideas onto other beings who may, or may not even exist, much the same way we impose them onto non-humans on earth, giving them human-like qualities of thought, feeling, etc. We imagine scenarios like the one Hawking presents, or one where the aliens abide by some prime directive, or one where they are peace-loving guardians come to rescue us. It’s all just fantasy, until their arrival and interference becomes a reality. I do not think we can use our own ideas, nor use our way of thinking, as a model to come to any conclusions about another species.
I think — IF we were visited by an alien race — the shock would drive many people into sheer terror, in which case the aliens might wipe us out simply because we are an annoyance. I suppose a covert arrangement between aliens and a government is possible, in an attempt to avoid global panic. But that presumes some ability to communicate. If communication depends on something other than telepathy, then communication might be a major issue, one which could take years to resolve, or it could simply lead to conflict… But we’ve seen all of this kind of stuff on the big screen, haven’t we…..?
BND: Awwwwwwwwk! Me shed be all on fire from somethin’ on high comin’ down! It be a ship o’ sorts!
ALIEN: (stepping out the ship, tapdancing and farting in its manner of communication) Tap tap tap Braaaaaaap!
BND: Uh, ye’ say ye’ come in peace? Wit’ medicines and technology ta’ advance mankind? Gunna’ get rid o’ tha’ Lifetime Network as well?
ALIEN: Tap tap tappity tap! Braaaaaaaaaaaaaap!
BND: But first ye’ need ta’ stick that thing in me bom?
ALIEN: Tappity tappity tappity tappity! Braaaaaaaaaap! (holds up small maple tree with electrodes and computer chips upon it)
BND: Well, wit’ apologies ta’ Kilgore Trout… (picks up shovel and brains the alien) Hmmmmm… tastes like chicken…
(alien ship flies away dropping firecrackers on BND)
BND: Awwwwwwk! He still be alive… wavin’ that maple tree like he’s still inta’ doin’ it… Hope he gots a good HMO. (BND drives alien to County General, chucks him in emergency room, and speeds away. Later, a doctor comes out with leaves trailing from under his pants)
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…
The times we live in seems to reflect our perseption on how we may see aliens the 50s. We saw them as hostile invaders due to the cold war paranoiam later in the 60s 70s we were more mello and treid to see good in all. Thus friendly aliens. Such as close encounters came to play. Now we are back in the 50s paranoid all over again. Full circle. We only should look at our selvies. Good vs evil I’m sure is a universal constant. Ther are good aliens and there are bad ones. We can only hope that we have the wisdom to handle what may land here on Terra firma
I am a Christian so I believe we are here because GOD created us and put us here so if GOD wanted to create a new race on another planet he could but I think its the angels and demons we should be worried about most of all with the end time apocalypse but that is just my perspective so make it what you will.
Aliens are probably just like us. Some of them are very nice, others are bastards. Sometimes the bastards can have a day where they’re nice to be around, sometimes the nice ones might have a bad-hair (/bad scales?) day and be miserable to be around.
I despise the belief in the perfectibility of the human race or any other race. That belief leads to Nazism, Stalinism, New Atheism, and any poisonous religious zealotry you care to mention. I don’t believe all that Star Trek: The Next Generation fascist crap about races evolving into something transcendently ‘perfect’ when they go into space. Men went away in sailing ships and exploited and blew each other up until portions of them learned how to behave a bit. They’ll be exactly the same in space and I’m damn glad about that. Because if we end up like 24th Century Star Trek humans, we’d be better off blowing ourselves up now!
Fermi’s Paradox leads to some uncomfortable assumptions about why there seem to be no aliens out there! Are we not hearing anything because there is nothing to hear, because they don’t want us to hear, or because they’re preventing us from hearing outright.
Maybe we should watch out for the Inhibitors!! ;)
This is definitely a fun little conversation. Sadly I came to it a bit late. But I’ll throw in just for sh*ts and giggles.
I’ve wondered often at the existence of God as I knew him growing up. But then, I grew up and figured out that man is a highly creative creature. While I don’t doubt for a second that there is an/are intelligence(s) greater than our own somewhere out there, just as we can dream up a million dreams for others entertainment, so can we about the nature of our universe and what we hope is beyond. Beyond our solar system and beyond the end of our lives. It’s fun to theorize but I try and think about things logically. For instance the idea that our race will act on our less than kindly impulses.
For years now we have had weapons that can literally wipe out most life upon this beautiful little planet of ours but…it hasn’t happened. Because cooler heads have prevailed. While I admit that there have been some pretty stupid excuses for war, slowly but surely we are coming together as a species. It may take many more generations and not a few deaths but I do believe that we will get there eventually. It being the future.
It may not be what Rodenberry envisioned but I don’t think it’ll be far off. Speaking from a military point of view, never have I been ordered to go and kill a bunch people in order to take what they have or (insert your own particular horrible military scenario that involves the subjugation and murder of a local, supposedly weak populace…or basically Avatar). While big government may have their own agenda and there are a few really dumb people in the military that have done terrible things, it is not something the majority of people engage in. If you don’t believe that then take a look at the current battle over Rules of Engagement taking place in Afghanistan. Questions are asked, people are not pulling the trigger willy nilly.
The point is, most people, MOST, are not bad, mean, or purposefully hurtful. I doubt very much that an alien species will land and the order is given to take them out. I have a feeling that’ll play out pretty much the way First Contact did. Assuming of course that they don’t come in guns a blazen’. If that happens, we’re screwed. Unless they catch a cold.
There are 7 billion people on this planet and 7 billion different personalities. One personality per star and there are still many more stars left in our galaxy alone. Obviously not all of them will have a planet with intelligent life floating around it but if they do, they will be just as diverse as we are. I do agree with the idea of not advertising our ineptness. Hell we can’t even explore our own solar system. Doubt we could put up much of a defense.
I do find it somewhat arrogant to believe we are the only ones in this universe. The thought of ‘God’ is a pretty one but whatever your beliefs, even the religious give Him/Her credit for a love of diversity.
What I do worry about is overpopulation. Dwindling resources is a great reason for war but then it would have something of a cleaning effect wouldn’t it. And it might provide the impetus to actually go out and find our future among the stars.
Anyway, my thoughts. Such as they are.
This is interesting. People say there’s no God but then turn around and discuss the existence of something they’ve never seen but believe and assume “must” be there.
Interesting.
Young Ellie: “Dad, do you think there’s people on other planets?”
Ted Arroway: “I don’t know, Sparks. But I guess I’d say if it is just us… seems like an awful waste of space.”
Joel1245: “Hey, can I jump in here? Actually, space may be just that – simply space. Do we look at the Grand Canyon and say, “What an awful waste of space? Of course not because it’s relative to what we think a “waste of space is”. Admit it. If the universe ended up being small, we’d be disappointed as well so either way, the argument that there MUST be aliens is an indication of what we believe to be out there, not because we’ve seen it but because we hope for it. – Belief in the unseen. Hmmm, wonder where I’ve heard that before.
Logically, it’s possible there is extra-terrestrial life. Given how little we really know of the universe, it’s just as possible God is out there too. Religion and science should really be companions as the discussion between the two is vital. Carl Sagan (an agnostic in life) really made a point of that in Contact: we’re never entirely certain about what Ellie saw, but she had faith. While some of Hawking’s remarks could be seen as paranoid, they’re really just logical. Ah well, who knows… maybe they’re already here! ;)
Well, Hawkin is a genius so probably he’s right.
“We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet. I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach.”
Depends how many they are. They might also number far fewer and be able to hide from a planet’s native inhabitants while taking what they need, leaving nothing behind but UFO reports and incredible stories few believe.
I don’t think any of the answers on the poll question applies. IMO, alien life will be so different from us that concepts of “hostile” or “friendly” would be different to apply.
So, why Can’t that be us? Why can’t we be the bad aliens that travel around the galaxy and smackin’ down emerging cultures and taking their resources. Hell, that’s something as a species that we’re really good at!
I say, let’s play to our strengths! Let’s do it to them bfore they do it to us!
We go forward. Humamity is not a race of small mammals hiding from the dinosaurs prior to their demise. Little is gained by hiding in the shadows hoping they don’t see us.
If we no longer want to grow and explore, scrap NASA, the rockets and probes now and let us slowly sink back into the muck.
oops, HUMANITY is spelled wit an N. As in Nit pick
Frankly, being somewhat cynical at times when I saw this blurb on my homepage as NEWS, I thought, hey, it’s a stunt to get a show some interest and publicity.
This is so not a pressing problem.
Unless our pathetic attempts at contacting aliens happens to lethally bug some one out there, which seems highly unlikely, or happens to intrigue some enormously advanced and pressed for entertainment aliens, all is likely well for quite some time…
It seems mathematically probable that there is some life out there, but it also seems mathematically probable that without some incredible fortune of luck, we won’t be meeting them.
Of course, I haven’t looked into the latest info on this, but if that quantum theory of universes still has some chance, then in one of those infinite universes of possibilities- it has or will happen.
As the known, or visible universe stands right now, you would pretty much need to be a god to explore it. I think we don’t really need to worry about this question, seriously, until we can explore our galaxy at a appreciable rate. ;-)
Reminds me of the almost angry reaction that Leonard Nimoy got when he asked some guy “what he would ask the aliens if we ever meet them”.
It’s in I Am Spock, give it a read – it’s a very illuminating attitude towards extraterrestrial life. Suffice it to say, I really really thought Stephen Hawking was smarter than this. The number of silly assumptions he is making in his statement is just mind-boggling.
He’s supposed to be the smartest man alive. What the hell … I really feel ripped off.
Curious position. Pragmatic. But curious, nonetheless.
Personally, I think the world is flat. This whole “globe”/”sphere” thing is just an optical illusion. ;)
“In this galaxy, there’s a mathematical probability of three million Earth type planets. And in all of the universe, three million, million galaxies like this. And in all of that, and perhaps more, only one of each of us.”
“We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet.”
If he is referring to western civilizations the comment is fool talk.
Can’t believe that Hawking would make such a statement….utter nonsense
Has anyone seen Hawking’s episode about using a black hole for time travel? It combines Larry Niven’s ideas and it confirms that Star Trek’s “sling shot effect” could be possible and that ST 4’s time travel scene which should have passed in about 90 seconds but appears to the crew as taking several minutes could be possible.
He also describes making an artificial wormhole similar to stargates of both the series and the Lost in Space movie
A late reply ti #12, Spockboy
People think Ronald Regan was crazy for saying it, but he proposed a possible alien invasion as reason enough for humanity to unite… Lucky us, Gorby came into office and shared similar thoughts.
I dont think Reagan or even Carl Sagan thought a UFO invasion was really possible, but if it helped us get past the Cold War, great!
Just say “no” Mr. Hawking.
I don’t believe organic matter will survive intact in anything faster than light or any concieveable shortcut from point to point in space.
With that in mind, I think any alien that travels here has either:
1. Slept for a while (really a long while) and conquered cellular decay.
2. Had a thriving society for generations on an ark going through space.
or
3. Conquered death and amuzes themselves with a virtual existance for thousands of years before they reach our planet.
4. Died on the journey and their automated helpers are still alive and well keeping the ship running.
If you watch classic sci-fi films (Dr Who, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica (TOS)) you’ve seen these scenarios meditated on time and again. With the exception of #4 I find it hard to believe beligerance and conquest can survive that long as an intent. I would however believe misunderstanding, insecurity, and fear from “waking aliens” could result in the same outcome of violence and subjugation of the human race.
Regards,
Tushar
There’s another aspect we are all forgetting here. How would we even be able to recognize an alien visitation? The talk is pointed at something we would be able to understand. But if they are not from our world, why would they even remotely resemble anything we could understand? Maybe love, hate, understanding, compassion, greed are not in their vocabulary if they had one. What about their size? One million spaceships could have visited us already but be smaller than an atom so we’d miss it anyway. We are so sure this can be defined on human terms. Alien invasions make good story telling. Why would they even be humanoid or have the same failings as human beings? Horses don’t wage war on one another….maybe they’re horses from space?
I know it’s silly. Scientifically speaking, we have not done anything to alert the attention of another species. Our most distant probe hasn’t even left the galaxy yet. There just isn’t anything about our planet that sticks out enough when you get the sense of how huge the universe really is. Why would they come here?
I think Hawkins must of needed the pay check. And as far as the Discovery Channel goes, they spend more time on promoting fear and showing those gee-wiz clips (good special effects)…there just isn’t enough science or facts to warrant an intelligent conversation…that’s the real tragedy here. The Discovery Channel is an entertainment channel sprinkled with a little science. My two cents anyway…maybe I’ wrong.
98: “we have not done anything to alert the attention of another species.”
Well, except our television signals. Those have been beamed into space constantly since TV began. Frankly I think the aliens are afraid of us.
I mean, would you try to invade a planet that has both Captain Kirk and Doctor Who defending it? I think not!
Stephen Hawking might a the greatest scientists of the world – behind Newton and Einstein, but he seems to ignore the social development from middleage to our days today.
If yellow shining squids will ever come from outerspace and they are like us (as we are in the moment), they would try to sell us their cheap alien-products and try to trick us with some financial adventure: to buy hotels and houses on planet Vulcan after the Nero attack.
But again we’re assuming these aliens speak English. Or can read a television screen image. If our signals have been picked up, they may be read as just noise. Space junk.
Even if one of our probes are discovered, would an alien race see it as something worth investigating…or see it as “oh boy here’s more of that junk that keeps flying out of that galaxy’?
The perception I question is would they have any understanding of us coming from another world. Why would they think like us or have conflicts like us?
If these beings are advanced enough for space travel and at great distances, would we really have been doing enough to draw attention? I kinda of doubt it. We have radio telescopes all over the would and we pick up what we perceive as just space noise. Yet we might be receiving communication on such an advanced level (if at all) that we can’t understand it.
We create drama based story lines both in our fiction and in our real lives. Why would another civilization from another would have that kind of life?
I’m not saying your wrong #99. Just offering a different possibility.
Yeah… I love Star Trek and Doctor Who too.
To #100…..yeah I like that one. May even have info-mercials after they’ve landed.
95. Scruffy
“…People think Ronald Regan was crazy for saying it, but he proposed a possible alien invasion as reason enough for humanity to unite…”
I remember something about a Project Blue Book, or something like that, which was the government’s super-secret plot to create an alien invasion (via holograms, ultra-sonic subliminal hypnosis, etc.), which would cause the world to unite against an alien enemy, yet allowing the One World Government to take power and keep all of us in line… So, if we hear anything about an alien invasion, we might want to question it… nyuk nyuk…
103. “Project Blue Book” duh, was the UFO thing…. I meant “Project Blue Beam…” sorry
First contact will happen eventaully anyway now or 100yrs from now.If they want to start shit by trying to take resouries off our planet we got the weapons like nukes if there alive they can be killed.But if there here for peace.I am all for that.
@48 “Ah… and why does everyone assume that technologically advanced equals spiritual enlightenment?”
Right, just look at the USA.
The universe will always consists of duality; ying and yang, generation and destruction, microcosm and macrocosm, heaven and hell, benevolence and malevolence, push and pull, sweet and sour, positive and negative. On the cosmic and micro scale everything balances everything out, for every benevolent technologically advanced race, there is a equal malevolent technologically advanced race to counter.
This would suggest our universe is surrounded by universes that contain only positives and another that consists of only negatives, the hints we have are how protons, electrons and neutrons behave. Infinity sucks, it’s such a roadblock to mapping and understanding everything.
The problems we face on earth is most likely a microscopic version of the events in the galaxy, the good thing is that there is a galactic UN
I figured it out!!! Aliens are going to travel 100 billions light years to our planet so they can steal our fast food establishments. yeah that’s it. There’s no other place in the galaxy that sells McDonald’s Hamburgers like we do. So get ready boys and girls….load up those nuclear weapons…we’re about to get f**ked over some fries.
A world can united either by force or by peace.
If we are contacted by an alien world that was united by force, chances are, they ain’t gonna be friendly.
If the aliens came from a world united by peace, then we have a much better shot at it being a peaceful first contact.
#109
Even if the visitors arrive in peace, there are so many leaders on earth that can make a mistake and cause a war of worlds.
How many money centric people will try to turn these first contact visitors to benefit themselves and their best friends in the govt/wall street?
We will give you some human specimens in exchange for technology some to be used in science/med and some for (warfare) so we can protect ourselves against aggressors.
I’m betting it has already happened, first contact, I mean.
For one of the most intelligent of the human species his opinion is kinda dumb sounding… I mean dumb like ‘Hollywood’ dumb as in… most Hollywood films dealing with aliens they’re usually portrayed as far more technically advanced than us but sinister, amoral etc…
Perhaps cynical or nihilistic would be a better term for his opinion. I believe as most scientists, that alien life is just that… ALIEN (in other words no similar points of reference) and to describe them in humanistic or anthropological terms is insufficient .
And to number 127: I don’t mean to be a smartass or anything but what exactly except barions, leptons and then quarks could be smaller than an atom? For beings to be smaller than atoms they would have to be made up of even smaller atoms at a sub-SUB atomic scale. I think we could safely rule that out.
#31: “Here is the problem, if the advanced alien civilization is so advanced to travel millions of light years to another solar system, they will will not need what we have to offer.”
Unless they want to use us for food. Hey! Wouldn’t that make a great idea for a TV series???
Aliens come here in secret with hopes of subjucating us in preparation for an invasion and then we would be the spoils of war, not to mention their TV dinners. Great idea, huh?
Nah, that would never sell in a million years!
Um, how about a new cookbook to better serve man?
:-D
I hate all that crap about advanced alien life being benign and understanding. It’s so stupid to assume that higher achievements technologically and scientifically will make them ‘good guys’.
Like one guy said up there, what about The Borg? The Dominion? Etc? Human inventions but I think they ring true. Some aliens will be good, some will be bad, and some will be beyond reason or understanding.
You might be a nice guy who gives money to charity but you’ll still slaughter a fly if its annoying you.
#111
Size is all relative, who is to say the earth, star, galaxy is not the size of a atom compared to something bigger? There is no limits as to how big or how small you can go, being unable to see it does not preclude it from existence.
I really believe life exists in all shapes, sizes and forms, our universe can merely be a amoeba floating in a pond of water on some alien world, boggles ones mind. If amoeba doesn’t suit your fancy, imagine it to be a fruit in a field of fruits then. So the answer to what is outside the universe is irrelevant, if we do find out, we may go insane trying to understand it.
Advanced doesn’t mean benevolent. Shrimp have limited consciousness and lifespan but we don’t appreciate it enough not to consume them by the ton. They don’t like it?….too bad.
#112
Lizards love human meat marinated in soul energy, it’s their drug. Wouldn’t it be morbid to realize that we are merely cattle and earth is a farm in their backyard?
#115
I am sure it’s very possible, just keep in mind any form of bullying can be countered given enough resources and partners. Let’s say you play a game called civilization, and there are millions of players online, you being more advanced then the majority of players decide to invade and take what you want.
You will soon realize, that players you have been dominating come together and form a united front to counter you and will be forced to stop or be wiped out.
1 being you > 99%, but after x amount of time, 99%+ 1% you cannot beat > 1 being you
Advanced Aliens species are waiting for us to stop belieiving in God and prove our selves as a peaceful before making contact. Think about it either we will eventually destroy our selves or we won’t. If we do they can come and clean up our planet or if we don’t and prove ourselves peaceful they will make contact and welcome us as partners in exploring the universe.
Religion has been the number one cause of war and would likely be the number one reason for us to attack them if they came. Before we can make contact with another sentient species we must evolve and mature.
Yes, we should worry. Our luck, the aliens would probably be Democrats looking for a handout!
after 1000yrs, if we survives,then i think we will be the aliens for other primitive organism who will take their planets for their resources..
in this show,it shows that aliens suck up all the energy of sun and make a worm hole…it also shows a machine that sucks up sun but it doesnot get burn…is this kind of thing possible…??
I’m afraid they would take a look at what we have done to ourselves and others and annihilate us before we could get to them. Really!