Hostile alien life, exercize caution

I've seen a lot about UFOs in teh news lately and i must say it troubles me because of the prospect that alien life could be hostile. If aliens do have such remarkable abilities to fly vast distances their technological skills would be so far advanced from ours we wouldn't stand a chance to defend ourselves if they wished us harm.

Do you guys tend to think aliens are just good natured observers who wish us no ill and await us to join some benevolent galactic empire. Does anybody recognize the possibility of total annihilation ?

[edit on 17-1-2008 by FullMentalJackpot]

[edit on 17-1-2008 by FullMentalJackpot]

Originally posted by FullMentalJackpot
Does anybody recognize the possibility of total annihilation ?

Considering there are enough weapons for total annihilation 10 times over on this planet right now, I fail to see how any of us have a choice in recognizing it.

Originally posted by merka

Originally posted by FullMentalJackpot
Does anybody recognize the possibility of total annihilation ?

Considering there are enough weapons for total annihilation 10 times over on this planet right now, I fail to see how any of us have a choice in recognizing it.

Well i didn't really make this thread to discuss weaponization of earth by humans or Global devastation from some natural ecological event. Those are certainly valid topics but divert the focus away from any preconceived notion of friendly aliens which, discussion of, was the original purpose of this thread.

I believe they are indeed evil.

I belive that if they were warlike in nature and pure evil like some think then instead of perfecting space travel they would have wiped themselves out of existance with ultra powerfull weapons.

Just like our own race is going to end if nothing changes..

i'd have to imagine some are helpful and some are not. i saw on this
site a thread that mentioned the possibility of a "council" of sorts.
that does in fact make sense because IF there are bad guys, there
must be a reason they haven't attacked, so i am left to assume they
cannot do anything horrifically violent because they are not "allowed"
to. to that i would add, that IF they've made agreements with a
particular government (abductees), thats another story.

I'm not afraid of death. Whether it be at the hands of an EBE or a human. We're all gonna die someday. It's part of the contract. If you think about it, from the minute you're born you begin dying because you age.

So I'd have to say, "No.". I wouldn't be terrified if they turned out to be crazy evil aliens. If that were the case, I'd probably take my own life before they got to me.

I would hope that if there are indeed Aliens from another planet they would have progeressed to a point of understanding and would not be hostile.

It does seem logical to me that if they were hostile they would have already attacked earth and taken what they wanted.

If they made an apperance on earth would our military and civilians shoot first and question later? Possibly the aliens fear our initail reaction and do not wish to engage us at this time.

reply to post by dizziedame
I agree with you. If aliens have the technology to get here, they would have the ability to destroy us if they were inclined to do so. I hate to bring up Star Trek again here (on ATS), but I would think they (the aliens) would have some sort of prime directive of non interference (that we know of) til we have the capibility of interstellar travel.

I believe we are getting close to that technology and they (the aliens) are making themselves known more and more because, they don't want us roaming the galaxy looking for a fight, which we would likely lose. Like it or not, we are but a speck of sand in the grand scheme of this galaxy, let alone the universe imho.

I tend to agree with the opinions of a few here (dizziedame and Thill). I have, in previous threads, argued the position that:

If sentient, intelligent beings exist and are participating on a galactic scale (that is, to interact and/or observe with other intelligent beings outside their own planet or star system) they would have to be, in my opinion, non-violant.

If you have some time to kill, you can read through my old thread on this topic and see what people have to say (mostly DarkSide and myself).

[edit on 1/17/0808 by spines]

It does seem reasonable to assert that if they were warlike or had the occasional conflict space travel would be impossible because of the perceived fragility of spacecraft ( as man makes them). If a system fails there is major potential for hazard of the human crew.

This assumes that alien space craft are fragile and have non-redundant engineering. It could be that an alien civilization have developed craft solely to endure mass amounts of damage and in the event something is broke a back up system kicks in. This is in a sense a tenant of biology where system failure is typically backed up by other redundant systems. Perhaps this hypothetical species has non-atmospheric rules of engagement, and they abide by them.

Also the argument that they would have wiped themselves out has yet to be seen as a comparison to humans. Humans have yet to wipe themselves out. There are a lot of prognostications of doom; Global warming, Nuclear apocalypse. None of these events have, as yet, manifested and there are many detractors to both theories that are very credible.

Also the suggestion of a council or a prime directive that limits maleveloent races and keeps them in check, or even the concept of fear are highly anthropomorphic concepts. I think this is where most people make the biggest mistakes when contemplating alien life. They base a lot of it on uniquely human behaviors , social structures , or values. These are hypothetical aliens after all.

It's possible that they have a biologically based caste system similiar to ants and on first contact they are offended by the very nature of species that has individuality. So offended they seek to erase us. They would not practice such hostility on themselves because their instinct would prevent individual thought or action.

Isn't also possible that there could be a unified consciousness that may be capable of duplicating itself to achieve certain tasks. It could potentially be immortal and have evolved no mechanisms to deal with social interaction other then its' own aggregates in a mechanical sense as you would move your arm or wiggle your toe. Our very presence to such a entity could, without any social instincts put us in a very risky position if it was more advanced as we wouldn't know how it could act. Some solitary organisms on earth are somewhat anti-social and even assault their partners while they mate with them.

What about a synthetic based intelligence. Non-organic ( a big computer). why would it grant us any measure of compassion if it wasn't programed or didnt' program itself for it. All it may know is survival and expansion. It might purge us just because we could potentially do minnute amounts of damage to it's exploratory probes.

How about a society of Human like organisms that transcended their biology , violently. As time progressed on their planet they were forced to struggle against bio-luddites for rights of clinical immortality, genetic engineering of their children, Bionic equality. Eventually their superiority through strength and mind led all to be converted lest the be obsolete or were forced to battle with the un-augmented for their right to live. By the time they arrive here they have transfered all their memories , their minds, to synthetic or cybernetic platforms. Our biological nature may offend or enrage them, an immortal population remembering the crimes biological entities committed on them in their past.

TBH if "they" were planning on wiping us out it would be over before we even knew about it

so dont worry

go have a beer

and relax

Yes i agree we wouldn't stand a ghost of a chance. Unless of coarse, we are more advanced then them!

[edit on 17-1-2008 by FullMentalJackpot]

Originally posted by FullMentalJackpot
Do you guys tend to think aliens are just good natured observers who wish us no ill and await us to join some benevolent galactic empire. Does anybody recognize the possibility of total annihilation ?

If there is life out there in the universe other than our own, and it's similar to our own and not some kind of intelligent crystal or slime mold or something, then it probably evolved in a competitive natural environment similar to our own here on Earth. What does that mean? Well, on Earth, that means living creatures are constantly killing and eating each other. We evolved the way we did as a way to help us avoid being eaten, and so we could eat other creatures and plants better. Simple as that.

Yeah, we have evolved complicated social rules to generally keep us from eating each other, but that's as far as the contract extends. Other people.

Making all of the above assumptions, it's reasonable to imagine that aliens will be just as distrustful and predatory and violent as we are, maybe moreso. Of course, they're just assumptions. At this point, we have absolutely no good proof that there is life anywhere but here on Earth.