Is Stephen Hawking ****ing with us?

Freebase Dali · 04-25-2010, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurent Quinn Proper

Those who kill another human are those whom are unfit in some way or another. Whether it be psychically, psychologically, or morally and so they hardly represent every one of us. These people wouldn't govern a civilization with the sufficient power brain to develop space crafts and telecommunication devices that could travel the light-years warrant to cause bodily harm to another civilization.

The resources needed to travel and then destroy a civilization are far too vast and irreplaceable for someone looking to "kill annoyances".

What if their home planet was on the verge of collapse and they needed a new one or their entire species would be gone? You think humans would politely move over to accommodate an entire alien race along the side of us? Not only that, but there probably wouldn't be enough room or resources. So the more intelligent, advanced species is going to be smart enough (not necessarily immoral enough) to decide whether he wants his species to survive or not... this could end up an extermination. By either side. At the very least, it would be war.

~~TumorAttitude~~ · 04-25-2010, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurent Quinn Proper

Those who kill another human are those whom are unfit in some way or another. Whether it be psychically, psychologically, or morally and so they hardly represent every one of us. These people wouldn't govern a civilization with the sufficient power brain to develop space crafts and telecommunication devices that could travel the light-years warrant to cause bodily harm to another civilization.

The resources needed to travel and then destroy a civilization are far too vast and irreplaceable for someone looking to "kill annoyances".

Bro, don't they want our planet or are we just not a threat to them? I have no idea how it compares to the planets where the aliens are from but compared to the planets in our solar system, ours is the most livable by far....

Laurent Quinn Proper · 04-25-2010, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

What if their home planet was on the verge of collapse and they needed a new one or their entire species would be gone? You think humans would politely move over to accommodate an entire alien race along the side of us? Not only that, but there probably wouldn't be enough room or resources. So the more intelligent, advanced species is going to be smart enough (not necessarily immoral enough) to decide whether he wants his species to survive or not... this could end up an extermination. By either side. At the very least, it would be war.

Still, a civilization so advance would be able to decode the early warning signs that their planet is on the verge of ruin. And take the appropriate action to preserve their existence. Hell, we are smart enough to understand global warming and thus we're making subtle changes to ensure our species flourishes instead of perishes. Even if they couldn't reverse the affect, the travel time would be so great they would probably be ash by the time they are anywhere near us.

Laurent Quinn Proper · 04-25-2010, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TumorAttitude

Bro, don't they want our planet or are we just not a threat to them? I have no idea how it compares to the planets where the aliens are from but compared to the planets in our solar system, ours is the most livable by far....

As a whole, we are hardly a treat to anyone or anything outside our planet. This is way it is hard to believe another civilization would destroy us for the lulz.

~~CAPTAIN CAVEMAN~~ · 04-25-2010, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurent Quinn Proper

Believing another intelligent civilization millions upon millions of light-years away would come all the way to our planet simply to destroy us is completely ludicrous to me. A civilization that intelligent and advance would have no need for violence and would almost certainly not have someone so reckless and barbarian represent their existence. Instead I imagine they are looking for other intelligent life to learn from one another. Acknowledging that we are not alone in this vast and seemingly endless universe seems much more important that conquering at this point.

are you ever out of touch with reality.

1. you assume in their space travel they are specifically planning to come here. did columbus plan "oh, i'm going to go to the new world and kill all the annoying indians"? no. explorers venture into uknown territory, thats what exploring is. an alien species may have no idea who or what lives on earth before coming near it. that said, they might, (i would think they would scout it out from afar first, though most likely not from their home planet, all things considered...) we don't know any of this because we've never met any extraterrestrial species.

2. you improperly assume that there is a correlation between technological advancement and morality. the examples i can use to enforce this are myriad because we have such little knowledge about extraterrestrial species. an extraterrestial species could have achieved heightened technological advancement within (or even because of) what we see as an immoral or amoral system. as i have already said, perhaps the moral system of our visitors would call for our destruction, to protect our planet. as well as i have already said, it is also improper to assume that all members of an extraterrestrial species share the same moral system, if any at all. are we meeting scientists? traders? military? a combination? slavers? an amoral predator species hidden among our own? the possibilities are endless and there is no reason for you to assume level of technological advancement is intrinsically correlated to a moral system.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurent Quinn Proper

Those who kill another human are those whom are unfit in some way or another. Whether it be psychically, psychologically, or morally and so they hardly represent every one of us.

really? i'm sure somewhere in your ancestry there is an individual who fought and killed in some conflict. was he mentally unfit? if a man kills his child's killer is he mentally unfit? why does killing a human make one unfit, but killing animals doesn't? to that point - man may be animal to an extraterrestrial species. to claim that all who have taken lives are in some way unfit is not accurate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurent Quinn Proper

These people wouldn't govern a civilization with the sufficient power brain to develop space crafts and telecommunication devices that could travel the light-years warrant to cause bodily harm to another civilization.

The resources needed to travel and then destroy a civilization are far too vast and irreplaceable for someone looking to "kill annoyances".

the rest of my post already covered this.

Freebase Dali · 04-25-2010, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurent Quinn Proper

Still, a civilization so advance would be able to decode the early warning signs that their planet is on the verge of ruin. And take the appropriate action to preserve their existence. Hell, we are smart enough to understand global warming and thus we're making subtle changes to ensure our species flourishes instead of perishes. Even if they couldn't reverse the affect, the travel time would be so great they would probably be ash by the time they are anywhere near us.

Planets don't last forever. Nor do the sun(s) around them. The ingredients that make life possible are not infinite, so it stands to reason that if a civilization is as advanced as we're theorizing, they've been there long enough for their planet to be, for lack of a better phrase, dying of natural causes.

As far as travel time being too great, you're assuming they wouldn't be advanced enough to have gotten around that little problem. I assure you that if we were visited by an alien race, they obviously did.

**Janszoon** · 04-25-2010, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurent Quinn Proper

You mean to tell me you actually believe they are willingly to travel such great distances and exhaust so many resources just to not have mercy on those inferior to them? I would imagine locating the biggest and most important discovery of anybody's generation would be a celebration and not an apocalypse.

Sure, just like Columbus coming to the Americas.

Laurent Quinn Proper · 04-25-2010, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CAPTAIN CAVEMAN

are you ever out of touch with reality.

1. you assume in their space travel they are specifically planning to come here. did columbus plan "oh, i'm going to go to the new world and kill all the annoying indians"? no. explorers venture into uknown territory, thats what exploring is. an alien species may have no idea who or what lives on earth before coming near it. that said, they might, (i would think they would scout it out from afar first, though most likely not from their home planet, all things considered...) we don't know any of this because we've never met any extraterrestrial species.

2. you improperly assume that there is a correlation between technological advancement and morality. the examples i can use to enforce this are myriad because we have such little knowledge about extraterrestrial species. an extraterrestial species could have achieved heightened technological advancement within (or even because of) what we see as an immoral or amoral system. as i have already said, perhaps the moral system of our visitors would call for our destruction, to protect our planet. as well as i have already said, it is also improper to assume that all members of an extraterrestrial species share the same moral system, if any at all. are we meeting scientists? traders? military? a combination? slavers? an amoral predator species hidden among our own? the possibilities are endless and there is no reason for you to assume level of technological advancement is intrinsically correlated to a moral system.

really? i'm sure somewhere in your ancestry there is an individual who fought and killed in some conflict. was he mentally unfit? if a man kills his child's killer is he mentally unfit? why does killing a human make one unfit, but killing animals doesn't? to that point - man may be animal to an extraterrestrial species. to claim that all who have taken lives are in some way unfit is not accurate.

the rest of my post already covered this.

Saying an alien would just set out on an adventure to discover new territory a la Christopher Columbus is completely laughable. Have you no sense of the distances and time involved in just randomly setting out on an intergalactic voyage without a fixed point of destination? You'd have to be a complete moron to say, "I feel like discovering new land in this endless universe!" Not only is it stupid but it would cost you the rest of your life. Secondly, the expenses would be in the trillions upon trillions for intergalactic space travel and so setting out for a random "voyage" would be out of the question without first establishing contact with another intelligent civilization. Even then, it would seems almost unlikely.
Did we not develop a sense of morality from our prehistoric days? And with such development of the brain came the knowledge to comprehend that violence does not equal success. If anything, it often means the contrary. A la Adolf Hitler, he may have arose to power but fell because of his brutish policies. Usually technological advances come through studies and not brute strength. There is no reason to believe another civilization able to progress into the "genius" would still use violence to "protect" our planet. If you think about, violence often correlates to the weak.
This paragraph may be the truest. Yes, killing someone in a war doesn't necessarily mean the person is unfit. However a person who has been in a war often comes out of war unfit or traumatize. And basically only proves that violence isn't the key to ensure the nourishment of a civilization. Killing another human being isn't beneficial to anybody regardless of situation. The best way to reassure your existence isn't limited isn't by violence but by using one's brain.

Laurent Quinn Proper · 04-25-2010, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

Planets don't last forever. Nor do the sun(s) around them. The ingredients that make life possible are not infinite, so it stands to reason that if a civilization is as advanced as we're theorizing, they've been there long enough for their planet to be, for lack of a better phrase, dying of natural causes.

As far as travel time being too great, you're assuming they wouldn't be advanced enough to have gotten around that little problem. I assure you that if we were visited by an alien race, they obviously did.

If this were the case, the civilization would still be doomed. Either because of the tremendous amount of time needed to establish a connection to another planet or because of the tremendous amount of time need to travel to said planet.

Even if the civilization had some kind of "new" space travel method, the distance and time would still be immense. It isn't like cutting a few hours off of a road trip. Instead, it would be like cutting a few million years off of a billion year travel time.

boo boo · 04-25-2010, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TumorAttitude

I figure they'll kill us all really, really quickly so misery isn't a problem.

That's not what I mean.

I think there's enough decent people in the world to warrant mankind's existence.

And the assh*les just make it a little interesting.