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Will aliens be friendly or hostile?

Will aliens be hostile or friendly

  • Friendly

    Votes: 31 53.4%
  • Hostile

    Votes: 18 31.0%
  • We are alone

    Votes: 9 15.5%

  • Total voters
    58
  • Poll closed .
Do you actually believe that humans could pose a credible threat to beings who can travel amongst the galaxies? Do you imagine that they had not considered primitive hostility and neglected to devise a benign means of defense? Do you believe that beings who have developed intergalactic travel have any need of human bondage or require possession of our meagher resources?

I'm dumbfounded :shock:

We have Jeff Goldblum, they don't.
 
Logic would dictate that any alien beings with the ability to traverse intergalactic space would be very advanced technologically. Logic would also suggest that such beings would send surrogate investigators rather than engage in travel themselves.

If our own experiences with knowledge and technology is indicative, such beings would also have had to have learned how to survive the pitfalls of advanced knowledge and technology. I suspect that they would therefore be friendly and inquisitive generally and perhaps even ambivalent, but not intrinsically violent and destructive.

I think its quite impossible to say. Since we have no interactions with alien lifeforms, its been up to our imaginations as to what the interaction would be like. If there is one alien culture out there, it stands to reason there would also be many more and any number of scenarios could play themselves out, from a friendly encounter with the "Vulcans" to assimilation into the Borg. I see no reason to believe we should expect one over the other.
 
Do you actually believe that humans could pose a credible threat to beings who can travel amongst the galaxies? Do you imagine that they had not considered primitive hostility and neglected to devise a benign means of defense? Do you believe that beings who have developed intergalactic travel have any need of human bondage or require possession of our meagher resources?

I'm dumbfounded :shock:

While aliens may be more advanced technologically, I doubt they could be omniscient. After all, they are still exploring. They have figured out more than us, not everything. They may have figured out something we haven't. Some things are best left alone.

We would be exposed to their technology and would use it. This puts us at less of a disadvantage. If we are controlled, we would fight. While it may be futile to do so, we would. Now if the aliens realize this and still introduce themselves, ultimately it must be for our resources. If they somehow render us incapable of fighting, we will be enslaved.

I wish it wasn't this way. I am giving them credit for being more advanced than us. Maybe all they need to know is that there is danger in this hornet's nest.
 
While aliens may be more advanced technologically, I doubt they could be omniscient. After all, they are still exploring. They have figured out more than us, not everything. They may have figured out something we haven't. Some things are best left alone.

We would be exposed to their technology and would use it. This puts us at less of a disadvantage. If we are controlled, we would fight. While it may be futile to do so, we would. Now if the aliens realize this and still introduce themselves, ultimately it must be for our resources. If they somehow render us incapable of fighting, we will be enslaved.
I would suggest looking into the alien-contact psychological essays of exobiology.
 
I just ask a few simple questions, myself.

The first of such is "what can a being do on its own and what requires cooperation with fellow beings?". Does the creation of interstellar spaceships indicate a being more or less prone to cooperation than a less advanced species? If the being in question has developed vast and sometimes terrible technologies, what sort of nature is being revealed by the fact it is traversing the enormous distances between stars rather than blowing up its fellow beings?

If such an alien were to show up one day, the ONLY valid approach would be to treat it as friendly. If it wasn't friendly, game over for us. If it was friendly and our own xenophobia led to us being hostile, though, our loss. I dunno. I see it a bit like Pascals wager in regards to the existance of God in terms of the logic involved.
 
I would suggest looking into the alien-contact psychological essays of exobiology.

Tashah, the most educated sage of exobiology is still speculating about something he's never seen. Educated speculation, perhaps, but speculation nonetheless.

The whole planet-search, which is a recent phenomenon, has blown many theories about how solar systems form right out of the cosmos. Astrophysicists were stunned to find giant Jovian planets orbiting their stars at radii less than Mercury's orbit; it was considered impossible. Other results have been totally opposite what we expected...many systems do not seem to follow the same "rules" as ours in terms of orbits, planet types, etc.

See, we were speculating about other solar systems, but until the past 15 years we'd never seen one. A lot of our speculation turned out flat wrong.

I think that with aliens it may well be the same. Speculation can be useful, as it can propose many thought-models, some of which might be in the ballpark...but it isn't knowing.

Two centuries ago, the idea that we would be able not only to split the atom, but to harness its power within a concrete building and produce energy with it, was virtually inconcievable to the educated public. Men flying by mechanical means was a belly-laugh to most people. We had not yet harnessed electricity. To a person of the year 1809, the technologies we take for granted today would seem almost miraculous.

Yet, our society and our human nature has not changed nearly as dramatically. We still make war; some societies still enslave; individuals still commit crimes against others. A person of 1809 would certainly be surprised at some aspect of our social order, but would soon recognize that human nature itself has not significantly changed.

In theory, aliens might have a civilization a billion years old; those who believe this tend to all but deify aliens and assume they are beyond our comprehension but benevolent. However, some scientists doubt that any civilization can endure so long without collapsing back into barbarism, probably several times in cycles of rising and falling. Our own planet has seen this several times, the most dramatic example being Rome and the Dark Ages that followed its collapse.

If we can go from horse-and-buggy to nuclear power and space shuttles in 200 years, can we be so certain that another 200 years will not see us developing a means of crossing the stars? Right now most existing theories say no...but 200 years ago there was no theory of nuclear power either. Yet in 200 years, do you think human nature will change significantly? I don't. There's little evidence of it.

Aliens could be no more socially or psychologically advanced than we are, and only moderately higher in technology. The assumption that they would be peaceful, benevolent demi-gods is merely speculation with no basis in fact. It isn't even certain that their homewold would have a singular government, or that they would have ceased warring on each other.

Interstellar travel could be only one Einsteinian-level "Eureka!" away. Or it might be forever impractical...we don't know.
 
Tashah, the most educated sage of exobiology is still speculating about something he's never seen. Educated speculation, perhaps, but speculation nonetheless.

The whole planet-search, which is a recent phenomenon, has blown many theories about how solar systems form right out of the cosmos. Astrophysicists were stunned to find giant Jovian planets orbiting their stars at radii less than Mercury's orbit; it was considered impossible. Other results have been totally opposite what we expected...many systems do not seem to follow the same "rules" as ours in terms of orbits, planet types, etc.

See, we were speculating about other solar systems, but until the past 15 years we'd never seen one. A lot of our speculation turned out flat wrong.

I think that with aliens it may well be the same. Speculation can be useful, as it can propose many thought-models, some of which might be in the ballpark...but it isn't knowing.

Two centuries ago, the idea that we would be able not only to split the atom, but to harness its power within a concrete building and produce energy with it, was virtually inconcievable to the educated public. Men flying by mechanical means was a belly-laugh to most people. We had not yet harnessed electricity. To a person of the year 1809, the technologies we take for granted today would seem almost miraculous.

Yet, our society and our human nature has not changed nearly as dramatically. We still make war; some societies still enslave; individuals still commit crimes against others. A person of 1809 would certainly be surprised at some aspect of our social order, but would soon recognize that human nature itself has not significantly changed.

In theory, aliens might have a civilization a billion years old; those who believe this tend to all but deify aliens and assume they are beyond our comprehension but benevolent. However, some scientists doubt that any civilization can endure so long without collapsing back into barbarism, probably several times in cycles of rising and falling. Our own planet has seen this several times, the most dramatic example being Rome and the Dark Ages that followed its collapse.

If we can go from horse-and-buggy to nuclear power and space shuttles in 200 years, can we be so certain that another 200 years will not see us developing a means of crossing the stars? Right now most existing theories say no...but 200 years ago there was no theory of nuclear power either. Yet in 200 years, do you think human nature will change significantly? I don't. There's little evidence of it.

Aliens could be no more socially or psychologically advanced than we are, and only moderately higher in technology. The assumption that they would be peaceful, benevolent demi-gods is merely speculation with no basis in fact. It isn't even certain that their homewold would have a singular government, or that they would have ceased warring on each other.

Interstellar travel could be only one Einsteinian-level "Eureka!" away. Or it might be forever impractical...we don't know.
:doh Now I remember why this is always a bad idea. Lectures. Ugh. The ubiquitous pebble in my shoe.
 
I thought about this a bit more and, sci-fi fantasy aside, the most likely "visitation" would be a space probe, not a physical being. It could be a simple fly-by probe or something like our Mars lander.

Thinking really far out there, and since we have yet to explain the beginning of life here, who's to say some "seed pod" didn't land here with a few single-cell organisms billions of years ago?

Our "God" may some ancient alien's 5th grade science fair project. ;)
 
Thinking really far out there, and since we have yet to explain the beginning of life here, who's to say some "seed pod" didn't land here with a few single-cell organisms billions of years ago? Our "God" may some ancient alien's 5th grade science fair project. ;)
This concept is known as Panspermia.

:doh Ooops, I did it again.
 
This concept is known as Panspermia.

:doh Ooops, I did it again.

Thanks, I knew it wasn't an original thought, I've read different twists on it, didn't know it had it's own word though. ;)
 
It is my personal belief that it is as simple as supply and demand for resources to determine how friendly they will be.

Chances are they would be sending out scouts searching for more resources and once they find them they will come in great masses

we are nothing but a bunch of cows....
 
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:doh Now I remember why this is always a bad idea. Lectures. Ugh. The ubiquitous pebble in my shoe.

Sorry, didn't mean to come across like that. :mrgreen:


Some things are hard to say without getting a bit wordy.
 
I just ask a few simple questions, myself.

The first of such is "what can a being do on its own and what requires cooperation with fellow beings?". Does the creation of interstellar spaceships indicate a being more or less prone to cooperation than a less advanced species? If the being in question has developed vast and sometimes terrible technologies, what sort of nature is being revealed by the fact it is traversing the enormous distances between stars rather than blowing up its fellow beings?

If such an alien were to show up one day, the ONLY valid approach would be to treat it as friendly. If it wasn't friendly, game over for us. If it was friendly and our own xenophobia led to us being hostile, though, our loss. I dunno. I see it a bit like Pascals wager in regards to the existance of God in terms of the logic involved.

You should read Footfall by Niven and Pournelle.

Or Protector, by Niven.
 
Logic would dictate that any alien beings with the ability to traverse intergalactic space would be very advanced technologically.

Not really.

Depends on how long they're willing to spend on the trip, or how short the trip must be, given the limits imposed by relativity. Also depends on how long they live and their metabolism.

We could be traversing interstellar space within 200 years, with relatively modest extrapolations from our present knowledge.
 
I have no idea. Let's ask them when they get here :confused:

(I haven't read through this entire thread, so I don't know if anyone already said that :shrug:)
 
I have no idea. Let's ask them when they get here :confused:

(I haven't read through this entire thread, so I don't know if anyone already said that :shrug:)

If it was brought to light that it is likely they would be hostile do you think we need to take steps for worldly self defense?
 
Looking at all living creatures on our own planet almost everything alive attacks and kills. (Even many plants somehow developed different defense mechanisms). So it is my belief that the highest probability is that aliens wont be a bit friendly.

Likely not in our lifetime but future generations may see this as a reality.

I would like to hear if it's yes or no or we are alone from you and logical reasons.:)

If they had to abandon their home planet and their masses moved on in need of a new one, this could pose a threat to all of mankind.
 
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