Hawking warns not to talk to aliens

[Silba]

So you think we are the only planet with intelligent life?

[El Mamerro]

I find it very hard to believe that a spacefaring species would not have the insight and means to learn of every possible risk involved in making contact/engaging in war with humans. I mean, we humans, who cannot travel through space, already have that insight (we would study the shit out of anything we were to find before we made actual contact), so to think aliens wouldn't think of it as well is absurd to me.

 

This is the reason I always found the ending of War of the Worlds (and Signs) pretty stupid.

[iloveboxcars]

That would be absurd if their intentions weren't our destruction. It just seems to me, if they were out to destroy other worlds, came along ours and wanted to use whatever resources they could find, they wouldn't bother with years of study to be sure that their weapons don't react in some strange way with the elements on this planet. I could be wrong.

 

 

 

I haven't watched either of those.

[fiddly.bits]

I can't prop Mar, but damn straight he deserves it. Had me laughing for ages. Lol.

 

Also I concur with the idea that it would be game over before we saw aliens..

 

Good thread.

 

Anyone know about Stephen Hawkings kids (he has 3 I think and none of them have a wikipedia page :P).

[EastHastings]

aliens exist, and there is no doubt. to think otherwise is complete and absolute ignorance. as for a synonymous or even superior intelligent alien existence to us, we have no intention to harvest the benefits of another planet. just discovery and exploration of the final frontier. what odd variable seperates these two?

[!@#$%]

So you think we are the only planet with intelligent life?

 

we're a planet with a shitload of stupid life.

i'm sure there are more intelligent beings out there.

it is possible after all, that humans aren't even the most intelligent species on this damn planet.

and as i said, sheer mathematical probability points to the existence of life out there

and surely some of it is what we call intelligent

some of it is prolly even smarter

[EastHastings]

I hope you're referring to the "stupid life" as other animals besides humans. We all share similar mental capacity vastly exceeding that of primitive beings and inferior life. Whether or not the individual uses it is another story.

[Decyferon]

That would be absurd if their intentions weren't our destruction. It just seems to me, if they were out to destroy other worlds, came along ours and wanted to use whatever resources they could find, they wouldn't bother with years of study to be sure that their weapons don't react in some strange way with the elements on this planet. I could be wrong.

 

 

 

I haven't watched either of those.

 

With the level of technology that they would have advanced to inorder to travel across galaxies, I am pretty sure they would size us up in a quick scan and be done with it, no need to study us for years, our weapons aren't advanced at all in comparison to space travel.

 

As said before Physics isn't going to change in the universe, it is a universal law, I am sure they would have a very strong understanding of the atomic and sub atomic levels, so nuclear weapons would be pointless against them, just from being able to build ship to withhold space collisions and the level of space travel to travel galaxies then I am sure a nuclear war head wouldn't even dent their ships.

[cunt sauce]

I hope you're referring to the "stupid life" as other animals besides humans. We all share similar mental capacity vastly exceeding that of primitive beings and inferior life. Whether or not the individual uses it is another story.

 

how do you determine intelligence and superiority though? a wolf for example might not be considered intelligent in the setting of a physics class, but i don't think the average physics student is intelligent enough to survive in the wild for longer than a couple seasons. If anything we are the stupid life because we haven't found a sustainable way to survive yet. our entire food system is dependent on petroleum in the forms of transportation and synthetic fertilizers and that's going to run out within the next 100 years. i think the only humans that had it right were the indigenous people of the world.

[lord_casek]

With the level of technology that they would have advanced to inorder to travel across galaxies, I am pretty sure they would size us up in a quick scan and be done with it, no need to study us for years, our weapons aren't advanced at all in comparison to space travel.

 

As said before Physics isn't going to change in the universe, it is a universal law, I am sure they would have a very strong understanding of the atomic and sub atomic levels, so nuclear weapons would be pointless against them, just from being able to build ship to withhold space collisions and the level of space travel to travel galaxies then I am sure a nuclear war head wouldn't even dent their ships.

 

I always found this interesting. Especially where it was (the base and what they have there)

and the testimony of the servicemen that encountered whatever it was.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendlesham_Forest_incident

[fat ralphy]

This was something I found pretty interesting totally relevant to this discussion.

 

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=RhNdxdveK7c

[Stotter]

http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/stephen-hawkings-universe-fear-the-aliens.html

[likeaninja]

OMG!! Aliens are gonna steal the sun!!

[ILOTSMYBRAIN]

What is also funny to me is the reason as to why these aliens would become nomads.

 

It is the exact scenario that is being pushed here on Earth. They used up all of their resources.

 

Wouldn't the logic of how intelligent a species is, if they were smart enough to travel thought space, wouldn't they be smart enough to solve the resource problem created on their own world?

 

Did that answer come about too late?

 

I don't know. Whatever. Just thought that was interesting.

 

My personal believe is that their has to be alien life around. It is also very likely that they're will be various forms. Of course more intelligent life forms should exist. The Universe has existed for billions of years.

 

Would the more intelligent forms of life be aggressive towards humans when/if contact is ever made? Well that's a coin toss. I would have to tend to agree with Hawking though. Being cautious, and concerned with the threat of violence should be pretty high on the agenda.

[Zig]

i don't agree very much with this hawkings guy, but i do have a belief in other life forms in the universe. i have somewhat of a belief in angels and demons, and i would see that as being an alien life form. there is also the possibility of different dimensions, etc. there are even writings within scriptures from what i understand referring to alien life forms, and worm-holes, so i don't necessarily see it as far-fetched.

 

imagining that aliens are roaming space and looting / harvesting planets is a little too sci fi for me. but hey, anything is possible i guess.

[Mercer]

I hope one day we become the race of intergalactic space resource pirates, that would solve our energy problems and bring in vast quantities of unobtainium.

[iloveboxcars]

edit - nevermind, i hate how i worded this.

[fat ralphy]

What is that dialogue from at the top of the page? Seems like a good movie, or book...

[iloveboxcars]

its a sort of short story by terry bisson.

[!@#$%]

I hope you're referring to the "stupid life" as other animals besides humans. We all share similar mental capacity vastly exceeding that of primitive beings and inferior life. Whether or not the individual uses it is another story.

 

 

oh fuck no.

humans are fucking complete idiots.

 

i work in a lab so i'm not trying to get into some actual discussion about the relative intelligence of species.

i know enough about evolutionary biology and i don't want to discuss it. humans are fucking dumb.

our anthropomorphism places us at the top of our own pyramid.

of course a giraffe isn't going to do theoretical physics, but it's also not going to become a religious extremist.

like i said, i'm not trying to have some discussion about intelligence.

i'm a misanthrope.

 

also, calling life forms "inferior" because of their supposed lack of intelligence doesn't prove anything to me. we aren't superior because we invented algebra, imo. we just may not have been able to ascertain the means by which other species use intelligence, like dolphins.

 

anyway, one look at the San Jose threads in brickslayers is proof enough fo rme of how dumb people are. not even to get into how we have ass raped our planet into destruction

[iloveboxcars]

 

anyway, one look at the San Jose threads in brickslayers is proof enough fo rme of how dumb people are.

 

:lol::lol:

[EastHastings]

I agree with you though. Personally, I do not place some sort of unseen class system on every species on the Earth based solely on intelligence, or at all for that matter. But, I wouldn't go as far as saying humans are a stupid species. I tend to ween out the ignorant and ill-informed and replace them with the "intelligent" ones to further define our species.

 

Aliens exist. But, what are the odds of them discovering us when we finally recognize e.t.? Unless, they are watching me type this.

[El Mamerro]

Humans aren't dumb, we just haven't completely mastered our brains enough to solve all the problems we have made for ourselves (like long term ones that affect us on the species level) while fantastically solving other problems (short term ones that affect us on the organism level). Many inherent behavioral factors unrelated to intelligence stand in the way of realizing our potential as well.

 

We're smart cookies, we just cant help but act dumb a lot of the time.

 

Also, intelligent ≠ wise.

[Spring Break '92]

I watched that Hawking Discovery Channel show and that shit was alright, it was alright. But there's more John Blaze shit than that. Did any of you watch The Fourth Kind? I know, it was alright, but there's more John Blaze shit than that too. Supposedly it was a true occurance in Alaska, and in the movie there was actual video footage of the one dude offing some people and then himself. Anyone know anything else about the supposed true story? I've always been really into alien abduction stories, read lots of books, watched the TV shows. Shit flipped me the fuck out as a youth and I would lay awake in bed shook as fuck after watching them shows. Ive read all types of things about the greys, the reptoids, and nordics, etc. Listened to Art Bell and Whitley Strieber (who sounds like he's full of shit). Those are the topics I want to discuss.

[!@#$%]

i have to admit, alien abduction doesn't interest me. i dunno. i don't care about it. i'm not that interested in aliens either. we have some amazing shit on this planet we know nothing about, in the oceans for example.

mamerro i do appreciate your positivity. you have a much more optimistic viewpoint on people, society, religion.. i'm one of those people who thinks that at their core, humans are harbingers of destruction. we're technologically advanced, maybe more so than ever, but at what costs? and take a look around at out population problem. i'm getting sidetracked, but i still think people are inherently dumb and even worse, mistakenly believe we're awesome. (even outside of the whole wisdom v intelligence argument)

[MAR]

A person can be smart I think people will always be dumb.

[BORN+DEAD]

I think people or the human race needs to stop being so selfish. If we are so intelligent why do we continue on a way of life that effects the earths life forms negatively. When it is the very same life forms that support our life. Humans are so full of them self's that We think we are the only intelligent life on this planet. Who's to say a cat or a dolphin is not intelligent?

 

Let's take a closer look at a dolphin. They have been on this planet way longer than us. For their environment they are perfectly adapted. They do communicate with one another and even us. That is the dolphin can understand our means to communicate but we can not understand them. Even sharks are afraid of dolphin as they work together to protect their kind. Not only does the dolphin strive in its natural environment but it is at peace with it. they are smart enough to understand there place on this planet.

 

In fact people are so narcissistic that we claim we are the only intelligent life on this planet? thats like someone saying that they are the best graffiti writer on 12 oz. For if someone made that claim about them self's here on the forums we would probity ban the dick head or we would think he is over egotistical. right? Even if there's other life out there, will we be able to comprehend it? We cant even understand life on this planet or even our own brains?

 

I think what Hawkings was getting at is, It is in our best interest to avoid other life forms. When you stack up the odds of all that could go wrong from such a contact. As Newton put it, what can go wrong will go wrong.

If we do make contact with aliens what about diseases? Think about it for a minute. When the Europeans settled the Americas they brought disease with them that killed off more than half of the native Americans. We are talking about a species on a planet traveling from one land mass to another here. Thinks about 2 alien life forms making contact from alien worlds. We could be talking complete death of all life forms on Earth. We are always focused on what if the aliens try and control us or destroy us that we forget about one of the simplest life forms can be the most damaging. H.G Wells War of the Worlds ends in such a way.

[twonpoo]

Perhaps some beings that people have encountered via abduction are not extraterrestrials, but ultraterrestrials. Meaning, they exist in this planet maybe in a parallel dimension, or in our own. We do not operate on the level of consciousness required to be aware of said beings. Its almost certain that human consciousness only operates on certain planes and we are not aware of everything in our dimension. We can not even see the entire spectrum of light from a visual standpoint! That is not to mention that we can only hear within a spectrum of sound without the aid of technology. A monkey sees an airplane, and knows that he sees the airplane, but has not even a beginning of an idea as to the true nature of the airplane. This can be related to us whenever someone speaks of some type of alien encounter, or seeing a UFO. I think Hawking is right, it probably is not a good idea to make contact with a race of beings from beyond our world who are more advanced than us. To them our weapons are akin to a monkey smashing a rock over a crab or small animal, primitive.

 

and that would be our Einstein. lol.

[twonpoo]

I think people or the human race needs to stop being so selfish. If we are so intelligent why do we continue on a way of life that effects the earths life forms negatively. When it is the very same life forms that support our life. Humans are so full of them self's that We think we are the only intelligent life on this planet. Who's to say a cat or a dolphin is not intelligent?

 

Let's take a closer look at a dolphin. They have been on this planet way longer than us. For their environment they are perfectly adapted. They do communicate with one another and even us. That is the dolphin can understand our means to communicate but we can not understand them. Even sharks are afraid of dolphin as they work together to protect their kind. Not only does the dolphin strive in its natural environment but it is at peace with it. they are smart enough to understand there place on this planet.

 

In fact people are so narcissistic that we claim we are the only intelligent life on this planet? thats like someone saying that they are the best graffiti writer on 12 oz. For if someone made that claim about them self's here on the forums we would probity ban the dick head or we would think he is over egotistical. right? Even if there's other life out there, will we be able to comprehend it? We cant even understand life on this planet or even our own brains?

 

I think what Hawkings was getting at is, It is in our best interest to avoid other life forms. When you stack up the odds of all that could go wrong from such a contact. As Newton put it, what can go wrong will go wrong.

If we do make contact with aliens what about diseases? Think about it for a minute. When the Europeans settled the Americas they brought disease with them that killed off more than half of the native Americans. We are talking about a species on a planet traveling from one land mass to another here. Thinks about 2 alien life forms making contact from alien worlds. We could be talking complete death of all life forms on Earth. We are always focused on what if the aliens try and control us or destroy us that we forget about one of the simplest life forms can be the most damaging. H.G Wells War of the Worlds ends in such a way.

 

 

yet sometimes they beach themselves in mass numbers for no apparent reason. Mass suicide, an advanced "quit while youre ahead" concept? lol

[Spring Break '92]

Personally Ive never seen a UFO. My mom and aunt did once, also a couple of friends of mine. My two friends went out to the mountains one night on a whim, just to camp out for the night and drive back. They were on the main gravel road, driving down a hill looking for a place to set up. Where they were there is nothing for miles and miles, just mountains surrounded by woods. They said that they saw lights on the ground off in the distance. They at first thought it looked like a house with the lights on, but it could not have been a house, because it was not there before and no one would be able to/have the desire to build a house in that desolate area. Being that this is a camping area. They stopped closer towards the lights to try to get a better view for what seemed to be about 15 minutes. When they checked the time after getting back in the truck, an hour and a half had gone by.