Dean Watson Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 Not strictly speaking astronomy but indulge me... especially since my last bit of musing on guns in space seemed to generate some interest: Ok, here goes - Now, Arthur C C Clarke beloved of us all used to contend in much of his both his fiction and non fiction writing (as did many others of our ilk, Sagan, Moore etc) that any civilisation sufficiently advanced to be able to cross interstellar distances would by virtue of that have also reached a high degree of peaceful and enlightened civilisation and be nothing but benevolent. Now, conversely, my thesis would be thus - The entire history of Human civilisation has been one of superior technological civilisations dominating inferior ones (Native Americans, Native Australians, any number of island chains and dont get me started on Africa and much of the Middle East). Additionally, when one looks at evolution and applies it (broadly, I know the analogies are not exactly parallell) the superior adapted organism supercedes the inferior one in a given envionment (come to think of this, this applies in both a technolgical and population sense to our relatonship to many other non human organisms on this planet). Also, when we look at the history of Human exploration on this planet, it has ALWAYS (and you need to look into the historical imperatives to see it) been with the express purpose of exploiting new territories for, as they say in Jurassic Park (Dinosaur cloning could happen!!!! ;-) ) discovery and exploraton is a violent act. Therefore, if a non human civilisation were to visit us, their intentions MUST be regarded as hostile (either tacitly or otherwise) given that one does not go to the effort of interstellar travel (assuing its possible at all) for kicks. And of course not forgetting that a civilisation capable of doing this must by logical extension be our technological superiors. (not forgetting of course that the only bloodlines (assuming they have any - blood!) they have any loyalty to are their own, in fact so much so that they would have more in common with their own grass or whatever they use than with us. So I say, first sign of anything funny coming towards us, nuke first, ask questions later! Okay, send in the Christians and the lions...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 They could just be dropping in for a cuppa and a chat about telescopes........ Don't think I'd wanna nuke 'em outright lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Watson Posted May 5, 2016 Author Share Posted May 5, 2016 Nah! Nukem! See the kind of membership this forum is attracting these days! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stash Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 (edited) Look what happened in War of the Worlds when the yanks nuke'd em - they put up shields. If they can travel vast distances they must have incredible power sources so it would be a bit like Bows and arrows against Nukes - a bit one sided. I did read some serious scientists suggest maybe we should not be so quick to assume 'friendly' aliens and that we should use lasers to block our light(and other waves). Still I think they already here - look closely and Donald Trump's hair something fishy It was on CNN so must be true http://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/31/tech/lasers-hide-earth-aliens-astronomers-irpt/ Edited May 5, 2016 by stash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Watson Posted May 5, 2016 Author Share Posted May 5, 2016 I saw that.... mmm on 1st April as it happens...mmm....errr.... I think in the case of Trump, he is very probably Human (it takes people to come out with the kind of mendacious crap he does). His hair on the other hand could actually be the alien. I mean, no way is that real human hair. I can feel a David Icke coming on. Nurse! Time for my experimental medication! Im seeng lizard people again. But really, all the visionary types I mentioned first, whiile they are all to one extent or another heroes of mine, it amuses me how otherwise sane and rational scientists can think what seems to be a bit hippy dippy nonsense and not evidence based (i.e. how all species we know of behave and therefore by extension we can expect alien species to behave, not because of different biology but just through logic). Then again, Sagan did like amusement of the more herbal variety... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 How off-topic do you want to get? Brantuk and stash 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Watson Posted May 5, 2016 Author Share Posted May 5, 2016 He made a great stormtrooper though...She wouldnt be quite so good. tuckstar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stash Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 16 minutes ago, DeanWatson said: He made a great stormtrooper though...She wouldnt be quite so good. Trump could be a Wookie - he wouldn't need much make up. This is of course my opinion and I am in no way trying to influence my cousins but i bet he was picked on at school - he looks the type and this is his revenge - then his hair is phoning home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Watson Posted May 5, 2016 Author Share Posted May 5, 2016 The again wookiees are slightly more coherent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuckstar Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 Han shot first!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuckstar Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 3 hours ago, DeanWatson said: I saw that.... mmm on 1st April as it happens...mmm....errr.... I think in the case of Trump, he is very probably Human (it takes people to come out with the kind of mendacious crap he does). His hair on the other hand could actually be the alien. I mean, no way is that real human hair. His wigs are grown in a little place just out side Norway. No aliens here. Tweedledee, BAZ, Daz Type-R and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithysteve Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 (edited) Like us aliens are probably looking to find some new planets to move to - especially if things are starting to look a bit dodgy where they currently reside. What would we do if we were able to find a nice new place that already had a diversified system of life forms? Would we wipe the slate clean there ready to sow our Eco systems or would we conserve the life forms already there and stay clear so we don't contaminate it and just observe them? Or once aware of us, would they just nuke us if they are advanced enough? it could go either way... One day soon we might find out... Edited May 6, 2016 by Smithysteve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Watson Posted May 6, 2016 Author Share Posted May 6, 2016 Well, that's just the point, the sensible thing, the logical thing for any organism to do is to supercede (violently if necessary) the existing lifeforms. Selfish maybe, but after all they have no obligation to them. (yes, Sagan would talk about the sanctity of other life, but lets face it, what does our own experience as a species teach us - not how we would like to be of course but how we ARE) Incidentally, the movie Avatar I could have made a lot shorter and nastier. Consider, given that as a race we are now able to traverse interstellar distances, shunting asteroids, small moons around would be little or no problem. Lots of extraneous junk in the vicinity of and orbit of a gas giant. No problem whatsoever to drop a nice chunk onto Pandora and wipe out the Navi and all the other (from our point of view) nasties. Even, if you could be sure of getting the aim right have one of the starships fail in its deceleration phase (covert industrial sabotage on behalf of the company) and whack several hundred tons of matter into Pandora at relativistic velocities. Worried about the 'greens' back home? No worries, first it s a long way away, either could be made to look like an accident and after all theres little you can do in the event of a fait acompli. All this of course it should be pointed out would have little or no effect upon mining operations (could even conceivably help...) and would probably be cheaper in the long run anyway (maintaining security and whatnot/ anticipating the probable genuine loss of a starship at some point anyway for some other reasons, so this must be factored into overall operations). You really wouldn't want to live in my head... (or let me have access to a nuclear arsenal) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithysteve Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 If any aliens have read your last post Dean, then you are toast! ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now