Poll: First Contact - If Intelligent Aliens Arive, Would They Invade?

[KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime]

This is something that comes to mind to me from time to time. If extraterrestrials discover the Earth, do you think that they'll invade the planet?

Personally I'm rather optimistic on the subject, being of the mind that any species that can make interstellar travel won't really have an intention, or a reason to invade the planet. Partly because there's a chance that they won't been keen on the idea of disrupting a species that's barely space faring. There is also the thought that they'll be advanced enough that they won't need to invade the planet. If they need resources it'd be easier for them to take the materials from asteroids and other planets, probably avoiding human attention entirely. Even a species that travels long distances at speeds slower than light will more than likely have the ability to support themselves, with out need to exploit Earth.

So that brings up the question of first contact, will they come to invade us? I personally think that if an advanced species ever makes contact with us, before we get to any sort of interstellar travel, it'll be for different reasons. For instance humans as we are might be more creative at figuring out uses for technology, so first contact could come because they want us to develop new applications for their technology. It's also possible that some of the things that we've invented are things they haven't, leading them to want to trade technology.

Still we might be the only advanced civilization in our galactic neighborhood, if not the entire galaxy, so it's possible we'll go visit other civilizations before they can reach us. It's also possible we might be the only intelligent life in our area, or galaxy, in which case we'd have pretty much free reign.

So Escapists, what do you think?

 

[Thaluikhain]

While it is true that almost every resource can be collected easier without conquering the Earth, the Earth does have something rare, in the form of living things.

Want to wipe out everything that isn't you, or stick weird creatures in your alien zoo or whatnot, than the Earth is the place to visit.

Hell, for that matter, find a workforce, if the aliens are in a bad way.

 

[KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime]

While it is true that almost every resource can be collected easier without conquering the Earth, the Earth does have something rare, in the form of living things.

Want to wipe out everything that isn't you, or stick weird creatures in your alien zoo or whatnot, than the Earth is the place to visit.

Hell, for that matter, find a workforce, if the aliens are in a bad way.

Those are good points, but I think there are two things to consider. Any extraterrestrial species making interstellar trips can probably support the crew of a ship indefinitely with food. So that probably wouldn't be a reason to invade. Also getting examples of Earth life forms won't take a full invasion, just some covert snatching of specimens.

Wanting to wipe humanity out for reasons of xenophobia are quite possible, but equally possible is they wouldn't bother, because of not seeing us as a credible threat.

Slave labor, or some for of paid labor are possible, aliens might even want to employ us because we are capable of things that are physically impossible for them.

 

[stroopwafel]

Yeah, the aliens would just deplete the oceans to be converted as hydro fuel for their spaceships.

Seriously though it kind of depends how far advanced the aliens are. If they were able to make contact with us, I'd say very advanced. They'll probably view us the same way we do ants. In the most likely scenario we turn research objects to be thrown away.

The humans will probably do something stupid like fire a nuke at them though. Which will then most likely end up in some kind of time/space portal to be deflected back on earth.

 

[The Madman]

The only exceptional part of our planet is us being on it, us and the other life present on this rock. If there's a spacefaring species out there capable of traveling the vast expanses of space to reach us then they're very not not going to bother doing so just to attack and risk destroying the only thing that makes this rock special.

Y'know, unless they're giant colossal dicks I guess, which is theoretically an option as well.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Those are good points, but I think there are two things to consider. Any extraterrestrial species making interstellar trips can probably support the crew of a ship indefinitely with food. So that probably wouldn't be a reason to invade.

That's why I specified "in a bad way". Normally it'd not be an issue, yeah.

Wanting to wipe humanity out for reasons of xenophobia are quite possible, but equally possible is they wouldn't bother, because of not seeing us as a credible threat.

Sure, but then anything is "possible", given no parameters beyond "aliens that can reach Earth".

 

[Strazdas]

We depict alines as invaders because thats what we would do. history is full of "found new land, enslaved and exploited" and doesnt have any "found new land, gave gifts to natives and left them alone".

As for a reason why, well, resources can be found easier elsewhere. however, lifeforms does not. they also percieve us as a threat. we are capable of launching interstellar nuclear warheads. they may wipe us just for that. or so that we would never catch up to them in technology.

 

[Thaluikhain]

we are capable of launching interstellar nuclear warheads.

Sure, it'd just take the odd hundred millenia to get to the target.

We depict alines as invaders because thats what we would do. history is full of "found new land, enslaved and exploited" and doesnt have any "found new land, gave gifts to natives and left them alone".

While this is true, other humans already had taken all the best places for newly arriving humans, this isn't the case compared to aliens.

OTOH, we'd likely invade them for religious or political reasons.

 

[KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime]

We depict alines as invaders because thats what we would do. history is full of "found new land, enslaved and exploited" and doesnt have any "found new land, gave gifts to natives and left them alone".

As for a reason why, well, resources can be found easier elsewhere. however, lifeforms does not. they also percieve us as a threat. we are capable of launching interstellar nuclear warheads. they may wipe us just for that. or so that we would never catch up to them in technology.

We can't divine their intentions until, or unless they actually arrive in our solar system and make contact. We also can't assign human thought processes to lifeforms we haven't yet met, we can make guesses, but their culture could be radically different to our own.

Also sending nuclear warheads over interstellar distances is quite a stretch, we can't be sure how gravity is actually going to effect things we launch in to trans-stellar deep space. Besides anything we launch will probably take decades, or centuries to reach our nearest stellar neighbor, with a extreme likelihood that they'll fail long before they ever reach a target. It also assumes that our tech levels would be within shouting distance of theirs, for us to actually be a threat to an interstellar species, which is extremely unlikely.

 

[the December King]

I would rather see them exterminate our presence upon finding us an ultimately destructive, poisonous and selfish species, but I suspect that that is the influence of many horror and action movies during my formative years.

I still can't accept that the aliens lost in Independence Day.

Ugh, just thinking about it makes me mad.

But on the other hand, maybe they would turn out to be some sort of TNG- like ball of energy entity that can barely relate to matter in general, and yet want to strike up a conversation with us simply to make contact... that sure sounds nice.

I just hope they don't have to, like, impregnate a woman, have the child rapidly gestate, then talk with us for a brief while before dying, every time they need to answer a question on our plane of existence, or something.

I think that was a thing that happened to Troi in TNG, anyways.

But maybe they'll just turn out to be some kinda big lizards.

EDIT: I'd also like to think that they'd be smarter then the aliens from Signs, because our own invasion plans don't normally consist of traveling to a planet made of acid or poison and beaming down naked to attempt to scratch the locals with our nails (All joking aside, in hindsight, I can think of a few loose reasons why the invaders there might have wanted to come here, but since there is no confirmation either way, they could also sadly be seen as idiots).

 

[Thaluikhain]

Also sending nuclear warheads over interstellar distances is quite a stretch, we can't be sure how gravity is actually going to effect things we launch in to trans-stellar deep space.

Er, that one isn't that difficult. Though, nobody has done it for real, might be something unexpected, yeah.

Besides anything we launch will probably take decades, or centuries to reach our nearest stellar neighbor

Try several times the length of recorded history. It took the New Horizons probe 9.5 years just to reach Pluto. As an aside, Pluto was a planet when it was launched.

with a extreme likelihood that they'll fail long before they ever reach a target.

A certainty for nuclear devices, the fissile material will degrade before the weapon reaches where the target used to be. I mean, you could probably hit the right part of a given planet more or less fine, but no guarantee it'd be an important part of the whatever culture has taken the place of the one that existed when you launched, if any.

It also assumes that our tech levels would be within shouting distance of theirs, for us to actually be a threat to an interstellar species, which is extremely unlikely.

Define "threat", though. People get mauled by bears.

 

[Necron_warrior]

If I recall correctly, there was a thorough thought experiment done on the matter, and two of the most likely reasons for any lifeform to attempt such long distance space travel was that they were either 1) running from something, or 2) leaving a dying planet. And if they were technologically advanced and needing a new gon, I doubt wed stand much chance.

 

[Strazdas]

we are capable of launching interstellar nuclear warheads.

Sure, it'd just take the odd hundred millenia to get to the target.

Does it matter to a race thats been around for quite a long time to find us to begin with? its still a potential danger. even the runaway nukes floating around space could be considered a danger.

A certainty for nuclear devices, the fissile material will degrade before the weapon reaches where the target used to be.

Depends on material used. for example Uranium that was used in Chernobyl nuclear plan has a half-life 3.5 billion years. Though yes, pretty much 99.9% of current nuclear weapons would degrade before reaching the target. But one should never forget a dirty bomb.

We can't divine their intentions until, or unless they actually arrive in our solar system and make contact. We also can't assign human thought processes to lifeforms we haven't yet met, we can make guesses, but their culture could be radically different to our own.

Also sending nuclear warheads over interstellar distances is quite a stretch, we can't be sure how gravity is actually going to effect things we launch in to trans-stellar deep space. Besides anything we launch will probably take decades, or centuries to reach our nearest stellar neighbor, with a extreme likelihood that they'll fail long before they ever reach a target. It also assumes that our tech levels would be within shouting distance of theirs, for us to actually be a threat to an interstellar species, which is extremely unlikely.

Sure, like i once said aliens could be thinking rocks that take a million years to communicate what we consider a sentence. but these depictions we have in fiction are those guesses we make, and as i said, we make them because thats what we done in the past when we found new areas. Sure, they could be radically different, but so far we got nothing to base our understanding of that. we certainly cant base it of anything on our planet and we simply know too little of other planets. so we base them off ourselves.

you dont have to be on same technological level to be a threat. cocroaches can be stamped on easily, but we still consider them a threat when we find one. they may not be able to destroy humans, but they are still a nuisance. as a result, we have invented and used variuos ways of killing them and we keep devising more and more efficient ways to do it. somone else made an allusion to aliens seeing us as "ants". we have killed forests ants so much that they are not considered endangered species. i wouldnt want to be an ant in a human world.

 

[Zontar]

They'd probably exterminate us, not because our world is anything special, but because we are dangerous. Anything which learns how to build a ship that can travel 10% of the speed of light has access to weaponry that is planet-killing, and is undetectable. A ship the mass of the space shuttle travelling only 10% of light will kill all life on a planet and cannot be detected as by the time you realize it's coming there is too little time to react.

 

[flying_whimsy]

I suspect it's pretty much 50/50 odds on whether they'd come at us in peace or in war. I think it really depends on why they set out into deep space in the first place: if they needed resources they would likely invade, if they were exploring they'd probably be peaceful, or if they set out to be conquerors and build an empire we'd probably be enslaved.

I never liked the idea that we're so dangerous an alien race would automatically wipe us out: odds are they've been through all the same stuff we're going through and would we more sympathetic than anything else.

 

[I can't enter my old name]

Well, if we encounter something like the Tyranids, whose its sole purpose is to spread itself much like the lifeforms on earth, then we are pretty much screwed. If interstellar travel is biological, and the individual is not important as the whole, then there is no need for intelligence thought, just killing. They might even be intelligent, but still colonize for the swarm.

So basically we cannot assume that space-faring aliens are similar to humans in behavior. They may have different thought processes which may seem irrational to us, and vastly different cultures. Hopefully they don't believe in xenophobia, because if we are left alone for long enough, we may pose a threat. We are advancing in technology pretty quickly. In 50,000 years who knows how advanced we will become.

 

[the_dramatica]

They wouldn't invade for several reasons.

1. In order to match humanities perception of intelligence, something must look at its options and play it's best hand.

2. With it's surplus in hydrogen the milky way is not the worst possible hand, although it's not the most spectacular either, with some other galaxies giving giggawats of radiation off in solar energy.

I'd like to mention that traveling is extremely difficult/expensive for beings intending to hold their matter together and remain sentient, and travelling from anywhere to the milky way is extremely hard. Even travelling to our solar system. Any life form will have to think of it's options. It's extremely unlikely that other life exists in the milky way, going off what planets we know and then applying that probability to the rest of the galaxy.

 

[Seraj33]

My thought about this has always been that if aliens were ever to reach the technological and social level to be able to space travel, they would have to have ascended all the negative sides to humanity. They must have learned not to war and therefor reached world peace. They must have learned to maintain their own planet and resources. If they are waring and throwing their own planet into the garbage bin like we are doing, they will never EVER have reached the point of intergalactic space travel.
Which is also why I believe we will never be able to either.

And by this logic. They would not hold a hostile position towards us as they would understand the consequenses of war.

 

[CaitSeith]

Let me think what would be more practical: to obtain resources from asteroids and other inhabitable environments? Or to slave the humanity and make us exploit Earth's vastly more abundant resources for them? Yeah, I can't say I share your optimism of being more advanced means being more peaceful or being absent of greed.