How do you think society would respond to first contact with extraterrestrials?

[similar.squirrel]

Religions won't have any problem with revising their basic tenets. I mean, it's either that or lose your congregation. Catholic Church has future-proofed already.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Most people would be skeptical some would think its a miracle and scientists would try and prove it one way or the other.

 

[A Weakgeek]

We would probably start negoating first, but then USA will start firing the nukes.

 

[xdom125x]

I shall present the aliens with a book I wrote called "To Serve Alien" and they won't know my true plan until it's too late.

But seriously: We would probably start a world destroying conflict with them over a misunderstanding.


captcha: ernala long-term

 

[Doclector]

There will be violence. Humanity has killed or enslaved almost every new culture it has come across on earth, why should aliens be different?

 

[meece]

Nothing - world goes on same old, some old.

 

[Boom129]

I've thought of it in sociological perspective..

there will be an end, or the very least, a massive decline in racism. when people feel connected to one another and see each other as the same, rather than different, it will be a very beautiful thing.

ye good call. there would be much talk of "humanity" as a collective just as there was at the key points in the "space race" but on a far wider and more effecting scale.

Ha! I laugh at your wide eyed idealism! Though there would be an absolutely colossal "humans first" (speciast?) movement

wide eyed idealism ? did you read the post i made before hand where i agreed with Stephen Hawking when it comes to extraterrestrial life ?

as far as i'm concerned any aliens are going to view us in much the same way as white europeans saw the native americans. ie "nice planet you have there..."

if they can get here (from any other star system) were basically dead meat because to expect them to be friendly runs contrary to everything we know about life as a system and technologically they will literally light years ahead of us.

the sad fact is all our science, and all we have learned of the process of life at a fundamental level tells us that basic alien motivation of Independence Day is a far, far more likely that the alien benevolance of Close Encounters...

ideas that we would heroically fight back or something are utter fantasy. we stuff sitting in labs that could wipe out every living human on the planet but OUR government's won't ever use them because of human morality. aliens ? they could metaphorically drop a pill in the ocean and kill everyone on the planet if that's what their aim was. they don't need space lazers or the ability to be impervious to bullets or nukes. hell the could fire a probe from outside the orbit of Pluto and we'd never even know what was happening.

no i'm quite far from "wide eyed idealism" tyvm. all i said was if contact was made we'd start talking about humanity as collective group. i never said it would lead utopia or last long for that matter.

Exactly! I just meant the racism bit

 

[Impluse_101]

Only if it doesn't affect our fox humanoid alien friends.

.....Oh my!

Spoiler: It's cuddly!

 

[Chogg Van Helsing]

Well, it'll happen sorta like this:

A single, unnamed hero will rise to lead humanity. Let's call him 'Emperor'. The Emperor will create 20 super warriors from his own flesh to try and conquer the galaxy. They will idsappear under mysterious circumstances and so the Emperor will recreate them, but weaker, in their thousands. With this army of super soldiers he will take the galaxy in a storm of war that none could oppose. Then the original super soldiers will be found and given command on a legion of 'lesser' super warriors. Then one gets power hungry, half them turn against the Emperor, Emperor's forces win, Emperor dies, but live on some life support system thing and is hailed as the new God.

Then the traitor legions will return along with all the aliens to try kill man coz humans are bitches and try to kill anything not human. Que eternity of war

That's what'll prob happen.

 

[Monkfish Acc.]

Well, I know William Shatner is probably going to try and fuck it.

But really, it'd be much as you'd expect. Barely surpressed widespread excitement/hysteria, with a sprinkle of disbelief here and there. All of which slowly morphs into distrust the more contact we have.

Eventually the vast majority of humans is uneasy about the new life, as likely the new life is about us. It takes a very long time before both species' are comfortable with each other, and even then there is some pretty rampant bigotry on both sides.

And this is being optimistic. Worst case scenario, everyone flips out and an interplanetary war happens.

 

[Aur0ra145]

This would give me a perfectly reasonable excuse to buy a .50 BMG.

 

[Chefodeath]

Like this


HOLY FUCKING SHIT CHRIST **** ASS COCK AND TITS!!! FUCKING ALIENS!!!

 

[Chefodeath]

Well, I know William Shatner is probably going to try and fuck it.

But really, it'd be much as you'd expect. Barely surpressed widespread excitement/hysteria, with a sprinkle of disbelief here and there. All of which slowly morphs into distrust the more contact we have.

Eventually the vast majority of humans is uneasy about the new life, as likely the new life is about us. It takes a very long time before both species' are comfortable with each other, and even then there is some pretty rampant bigotry on both sides.

And this is being optimistic. Worst case scenario, everyone flips out and an interplanetary war happens.

You're making the aliens too anthropomorphic. For all you know, they are incapable of bigotry.

For all you know, they are plant people who just want to catch a few rays from our little star.

 

[Drummie666]

I'm just going to say this.

Humans will be humans and react in strange, irrational ways. There'd probably be people attacking the aliens and a whole lot of religious people yelling "Devils!"

Right now, we just aren't ready for first contact. Let's hope they show up after we stop killing each other.

 

[HellbirdIV]

"Oh shit oh shit oh shit aliens KILL THEM KILL THEM NOOOOWWWW!!"

Too much Science Fiction depicting aliens as evil critters to various degrees and a long, long, long, loooooong history of violence towards that which is foreign to us leads me to believe it would take a little while before things could be considered "smooth".

 

[Angilion]

If it's just proof they exist, I think it'll be pandemonium for a couple of weeks and then replaced by someone famous getting married or splitting up, or a sports competition, i.e. business as usual for almost everyone. Some of the nuttier theists would kill themselves and/or other people, some people would start a new religion worshipping the aliens, some people would make up conspiracy theories about the aliens and governments...but most people would soon return to normality.

If it's giving us information (e.g. an unmanned probe carrying details of their civilisations), realtime communication and especially if it's meeting (i.e. they come here), I think it'll ruin humanity even if the aliens don't intend it. Their technology and knowledge would be so spectacularly superior to ours that too much of ours would be instantly obsolete. It would be worse, much worse, than examples from human history in which a more technologically advanced society has encountered a less technologically advanced one. Much worse because the differences would be much greater. All outr technology, all our knowledge, all our employment, would become even more obsolete than flint knapping is now. Humans are very adaptable but I think they're not adpatable enough for that. Maybe a number of generations after the collapse, but not straight away.

 

[JasonKaotic]

As long as we have military, society will react violently. One of the reasons I hate the military is how goddamn trigger-happy they are.

 

[nugarin]

Well, I know William Shatner is probably going to try and fuck it.

But really, it'd be much as you'd expect. Barely surpressed widespread excitement/hysteria, with a sprinkle of disbelief here and there. All of which slowly morphs into distrust the more contact we have.

Eventually the vast majority of humans is uneasy about the new life, as likely the new life is about us. It takes a very long time before both species' are comfortable with each other, and even then there is some pretty rampant bigotry on both sides.

And this is being optimistic. Worst case scenario, everyone flips out and an interplanetary war happens.

You're making the aliens too anthropomorphic. For all you know, they are incapable of bigotry.

For all you know, they are plant people who just want to catch a few rays from our little star.

Somehow I doubt that anything but a carnivore has a drive to actually climb out of stone age and get to the stars So, plant people initiating a contact with us is improbable.