What does discovery of alien life mean to the average person?

Originally posted by cruzion
reply to post by dampnickers

 

Firstly, NASA is a government funded institution. It has nothing to do with the public. Where did you get the idea it was a publicly funded institute?

Um, who do you think funds the government so that they can fund NASA?

I speculate that the secret missions are most probably putting up military equipment.

Agreed. The military presence is always the first thing, no? Is that a good or bad thing, though?

Also, previously someone questioned what would be their intentions toward humans; I propose what are our intentions toward them? I contend that there would be as many agendas as there are ... stars in the sky? Some good, some not so good. Perhaps we should examine our own intentions before such time arrives?

I myself do not know whether I'd be excited, afraid or just plain amused to see human reaction to such an event occuring. I am impatient for it, like most here seem to be. However, my entire life has been spent wondering how much longer it would take for something to happen on this subject. The older I get the more I realize that it's probably not going to happen in my lifetime and this makes me angry and sad at the same time. Eventually it must come about, but only after quite the wait, it seems.

I believe disclosure will take the slow and painful route. First we'll hear about the microbial life, then some time for people to go back to life as we know it, then some other small life form, and eventually - after long term conditioning, intelligent life. By then, no one may care. Heck, apparently they don't care now, as no one I know has the slightest interest whatsoever. Sad really.

Originally posted by Annoyed

Originally posted by cruzion
reply to post by dampnickers

 

Firstly, NASA is a government funded institution. It has nothing to do with the public. Where did you get the idea it was a publicly funded institute?

Um, who do you think funds the government so that they can fund NASA?

Well, if that's your logic, the public also funds Microsoft. I mean, it's the publics money that goes to them, just like the government, right? We should have some say in Microsofts dealings, and they should open up their secrets...no.
Look, once the money goes to the gov't, it is the gov'ts money, not ours.
The gov't funds what it sees fit. Not the public. NASA doesn't have to answer anything to the public, just to gov't. And I'm pretty certain NASA won't release anything about exspensive research and development, or aquired data. Knowledge is power, why would they just give it to the competition???

Originally posted by cruzion

Originally posted by Annoyed

Originally posted by cruzion
reply to post by dampnickers

 

Firstly, NASA is a government funded institution. It has nothing to do with the public. Where did you get the idea it was a publicly funded institute?

Um, who do you think funds the government so that they can fund NASA?

Well, if that's your logic, the public also funds Microsoft. I mean, it's the publics money that goes to them, just like the government, right? We should have some say in Microsofts dealings, and they should open up their secrets...no.

Excuse me, but please do not put words in my mouth, I said nothing about anyone having to tell us anything because the public funds them. That's not MY logic you're talking about there. Is it yours? I simply clarified the fact that the public does indeedfund them.

Please don't jump to conclusions, it's not the best form of exercise.

reply to post by Annoyed


The public doesn't fund them, the government does. Once the government has the publics money, it's not really public money anymore - it's the governments. You can't give money to the government and tell them what to do with it, can you? So what makes you think anyone else can? Once that money has gone through that transition, it's gone. It's not yours, it belongs to government. Yes, the gov't is supposed to be working in your interest, but public really has very limited effect or say on what happens to it.
I had you confused with the OP, about the 'secrets' aspect

Originally posted by cruzion
reply to post by Annoyed

 

The public doesn't fund them, the government does. Once the government has the publics money, it's not really public money anymore - it's the governments. You can't give money to the government and tell them what to do with it, can you? So what makes you think anyone else can? Once that money has gone through that transition, it's gone. It's not yours, it belongs to government. Yes, the gov't is supposed to be working in your interest, but public really has very limited effect or say on what happens to it.

Well, in actuality, no we cannot tell the government how to spend our funds. We should be able to, but they obviously don't listen when we do try. However, I reiterate that I did not advocate that the government is required to make public any and all information.

Also, please consider that too many instances are covered by the "National Security" blanket, which could become another "Boy That Cried Wolf" situation. Kind of equates to the "Nothing to see here, move along" mentality.

In this case the discussion is about NASA and what they know as compared to what they should and do disclose to the public which provides the funding for their knowledge. I, like many others here, inquire that if there should be some threat to Earth, do we not have a right to know about it? And if the subject is life in general, rather than an actual threat, then where's the security breach in that situation?

Tell us this: How much do you think the government should be required to tell us and how much should not be disclosed? We aren't the ones to judge that, it's true, but I am simply asking your opinion because it seems that you are saying they shouldn't have to tell us much, if anything.

Would you agree to that situation were they your employees? Your representatives? They would be allowed secrecy from you, their provider?

When I pay an employee for their time, what they do with their pay is their business, true. However, the funds I provide for their use as my representative is another matter, entirely. That should be accounted for, every dime, and I want to know the results of that representation, as well.

reply to post by Annoyed


Being an institution like NASA, where you're on a technological front, and having to invest millions in research and development, and employment of exeptionally talented minds, secrecy is a must. I would asume that it is fairly common knowledge that NASA is involved with multiple aspects of military projects, and is privvy to a lot of classified data. NASA is just the space exploration and research arm of the government. The military and it's branches are just another arm of the government. They're just apendages of the same central body. I'm sure they swap research and development data all the time. It would be a sad affair if they didn't.
If it were the case that everyone in the country was loyal, then there wouldn't be a need to keep secrets. But that's not the case.
Your analogy to keeping watch on your employees can't stretch on such a basic level to adequately encompass the behemoth that is the American government. You have offices inside department, inside institutions, inside departments, inside administrations. I would agree that its structure, the way it is, it is difficult to account for every dollar. Perhaps it is deliberately so - so external entities can't snoop and gather data on spending patterns and allocation. But even if I had a business with a small number of employees, I wouldn't micromanage it to the last dollar. And by the same token, there would be business affairs that I wouldn't be making common knowledge within the company, that's for sure.

reply to post by cruzion


I agree that you have a point. However, I don't want to hijack this thread, as we're just a bit off topic.

The OP wants to know how such an announcement would change our lives ...

IMHO it won't even be noticed by most.

Originally posted by xXMakaXx
A very good reason to care would be for our own safety.I think what people need to realize is that with any species be it animal,human,alien etc there is good and bad.What if the bad has every intention on attacking or even wiping us out?

I think the most important thing that we need to find out about the other life forms is what their intentions are with us.The problem with this world and us as a species is the "i don't care" attitude.You really should care because things could turn very serious very fast.

Wouldn't it possible for the alien race to be more advanced to the point that they don't destroy anything, only create. Maybe they surpassed evil, and realised it's a waste of time.

reply to post by EternalThought


What if they are like animals, and have no construct of good and evil? That's a more realistic scenario. Nature over nurture.

reply to post by cruzion


I have never seen an animal build a spaceship. That is if they come to us, now if we find them, they i totally agree, they might be very primitive.

To the average person it would probably mean a great deal.

The likely technological benefits could be enormous alone.

If it also turns out that our view of time can be manipulated or that the soul can indeed survive outside the physical body....

What if we were to find out life on earth was artificially created or that mankind was the offspring of ET.

At the very least it gives the average person great hope (by average I assume you mean impoverished and malnutritioned with daily existence threatened by war and disease - or were you referring to the average wealthy first world citizen).

Life may not be the same at Wisteria Lame.

Originally posted by Anonymous ATS
reply to post by amongus

 

That's sad that you can't converse with your spouse on such a subject.

She's distracted anyways. Just remember to bring home a paycheck and remember..."The best things in life aren't things!"

It's not that she ridicules me for having a fascination with it, its just not a topic she is really interested in. . therefore I keep my "knowings" to myself. If there is a story in the news about a UFO, or a program on she'll bring it to my attention. Its just that its not her thing, no matter how hard I try to make her interested in it.

It IS frustrating that people choose to ridicule us for believing in something that has more probability of existing (alien life) than the existance of a God, which we have NO scientific proof though.

[edit on 26-5-2008 by amongus]

I think the most important thing that we need to find out about the other life forms is what their intentions are with us.

EXACTLY.
I believe that outside Earth it is similar as on Earth - there are good guys and there are bad guys. People mostly think of aliens as one species, one kind of people, and rarely admit that there can be more kinds of them, and thus, specific kinds would have specific intentions with us.
I believe that the bad ones' intentions is to enslave us (which is already going on - we think we are free but we are not) and make us work for them, which would surely be better for them than to simply destroy us all.
Then I believe there are other races, who are here to help us but we do not CARE. I'll talk about the good ones because it is better than to talk about the others: People often say that the reason aliens did not came and show up to us, is that they are obviously not ready for that. But I am asking - are WE ready for that?? Perhaps you and me are, but what about those 6 billions of other people here? If half of them believe in aliens, how would the other half react? I think these reactions are unpredictable, and people generally do not CARE about aliens. So I think, aliens might say - well, if they do not want us, we will let them alone.
There were so many cases when people had a chance to massively start cooperation with good aliens. Look Adamski, or Billy Meier. Billy's thousands of photographs were proven as authentic, and how much did that change the world? Yes it did, somehow, at least some people started thinking about it, but I think mankind should react better.
SADLY, mankind blindly believes that governments are taking care of us, that they do the best they can. Fortunately, more and more people are starting to falsify this myth.

There is a huge source of information - universe-people.com . There are thousands of pages about the "good" aliens - Angels. There are also information on the others and how do they control the world. A little studying of these materials would open your mind, just as it opened mine.
I FELT that it is true, but now i KNOW it and am SURE about it.
Check for yourself.

So far I must have been extremely "lucky" to have not met an average person who would not be touched to their core. My entire family, including my 87 year old grandmother my friends, my children, and their friends are extremely interested in all things et, so to speak. So, hundreds and hundreds of the non-average, I guess. Wow. If everyone knew about alien activity on earth, and knew about the governments secrets, so to speak, the political changes they may effect would have lasting impact on the entire world, like perhaps save millions of lives in Africa. There would be political upheaval. No employer class, citizens, want to be treated like mindless serfs, or lied to by their employees. Hell no they wouldn't, and they would begin to dig deep into foreign policies as well. Of course, if such a disclosure of alien existence appeared to have the manipulative outcome of herding us into fema camps and microchipping us, then we would have to question the whole discovery.

I do agree that there is definitely life out there, but not in our solar system. maybe not even in our local star cluster, or even supercluster, maybe not even in our GALAXY. But there is another planet out there which has a sustainable atmosphere.