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What would we do if aliens visited Earth, presumably peacefully?
I think one issue is communication. Logically, there's no reason to suggest we'd be able to communicate with them. Just think of the diversity of animals here on Earth. There's a variety of forms of communications; humans certainly have the most complex, but there's no real reason to suggest that alien life would even have a language.
And why would they be here? Is it just to say 'hello?' Do they want something? Let's say we wanted to trade... but they didn't? Obviously, they would be technologically superior if they visited us. We would want that technology. Would they simply share it with us to be nice? Would they want something in return, and what would we offer if they did? Is the concept of 'trade' even something they would have. Once again, no other animal on Earth trades things like we do. We buy property, little sections of the Earth; no other animal, no matter how territorial, does that. Why would aliens?
And what if they came as an act of war? Obviously, we can assume they are vastly more intelligent that us if they come to us. How would we fight them? Are there 'wars' different from ours? Would we even stand a chance... and also, who's we? Would humans be able to get over their own conflicts among themselves and fight against the alien invaders? What about the aliens? Do they have separate races, or cultures, or nationalities?
I ask these just as a way to provoke thought. So many alien movies involve a race of aliens who have developed a way of life that is similar to our own in some way. They wage war, can offer trades, and have technology that is similar to ours (though possibly vastly superior). But in reality, Earth's life is still unique, even if there a billions of planets that have life. We evolved specifically for Earth, just as the aliens evolved specifically for their planet. This means we literally have no idea what to expect when they show up. And it just begs the question(s): 1) how would our governments handle it 2) how would we (ordinary people) handle it and 3) what kind of dynamic would you personally expect between the human race and the alien race; would it be hostile, peaceful, awkward...?
I can't imagine any good coming of it. Even for a highly advanced species, interstellar travel would almost certainly be an enormously costly enterprise. It seems unlikely to me that they would expend those resources unless they had a very good reason, and I doubt they'd go through it just to teach us how to design an SUV that gets 70 MPG. If they're coming all that way, the most likely reason is that they want something we have.
And if they're capable of interstellar travel, they don't need our cooperation to get it - any species that has the technology to travel from one star system to another has the technology to do whatever it wants to do once it gets here. I wouldn't consider their arrival a positive development. I think people all over the world would be extremely excited at first, but at the same time very apprehensive and anxious. Then (as they begin exterminating us), we would quickly become utterly terrified, and - shortly afterward - simply dead.
Oh, and as for the language issue... certainly they would have a language. Any species capable of successfully designing and operating an interstellar spacecraft, and organizing an expedition to another star system, would have to have a way to communicate with one another. I doubt we would be able to figure it out, though, unless they made it easy on us to learn. Basic mathematics would probably be the starting point of any language lesson. But I think the actual learning of an alien language would be extraordinarily difficult for human beings.
I mean, hell, we have species right here on earth (such as bottlenosed dolphins) that we know for a fact are using language to exchange complex information, but we have absolutely no clue what they are saying - which sounds mean what. And we've been studying them for decades. I doubt we'd be able to pick up an alien language at all, especially in the brief time that we survived after their arrival.
Last edited by Mr. In-Between; 09-08-2014 at 11:24 PM..
Interesting scenario. I would imagine a larger chunk of Earthlings will turn to religion once we find out that we don't stand a chance against these aliens. I think the majority of the world will overcome their differences and come together, while at the same time there will also be those extremists that will side with the aliens in the hopes of some kind of alien salvation.
Our race will be doomed if we are visited today. If they visit us maybe 100-200 years from now, maybe we'll have a chance since we'll probably be a force to be reckoned with. By that time, we would have already become a type 1 civilization and on our way to becoming a type 2.
If they were capable of interstellar travel, would they even recognize us as being a life form? Wouldn't it be like traveling from New York to Moscow and noticing a viral colony on a speck of dust there?
I think humanities biggest threat would come from the possible viruses or bacteria that could come along for the ride, similar to what happened in the Americas that decimated more than a few native populations.
The one major thing that survived when Columbus made contact with the entire culture existing in the Americas was ... barbeque. None of the socio-political norms survived unscathed, the technology was largely superseded, and masses of people died. Barbeque survived. Clearly, that is the purpose of humanity in the universe.
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