Aliens, eh!

[Permalost]

Modern warfare is mostly achieved through moving objects (bombs, missiles, bullets, sharp objects, eventually directed energy) from point A to point B (the target). An alien species capable of reaching Earth would necessarily be masters of moving matter from point A to B, most likely at extremely high speeds. If you can travel between galaxies, you can war.

[dwkfym]

I would also like to point out that the technology to travel doesn't equate to the technology to blow shit up. Just because we have been at war for a few thousand years doesn't mean that an alien species would be the same as us in that department.

Uh, my money is on that if they have the tech to travel intergalactic distances, they have the tech to make weapons at least as good as ours. but probably way better.

not that it means they'll be willing to use it.

Based on the best knowledge of sentient beings that we have, it is more reasonable to believe that they will have weapons and are willing to use them than not.

[Mister]

Space alien from space is not amused.

[theAsthmatic]

It's actually pretty clear they are already among us.

[goodlun]

expect for real-estate.

Honestly what most wars have really been fought over

[Kovacs]

I'm down with that. If they had the tech to cross space efficiently then there's probably not a lot that we could offer them expect for real-estate.

[elipson]

A couple of things to consider. Scarcity and Darwinism.

I cannot conceive of a world where scarcity did not exist. Limited resources would lead to competition, just the same as it does in our world. Such competition leads to darwinism, with more aggressive species becoming dominant.

While it is possible that a free energy source like cold fusion or something else would elimiate this scarcity, any species advanced enough to get there would have to spend millions of years developing as competitors before they reached the point of not needing to compete. Which means they are going to be competitive and expansionary.


Also, they wouldn't take over earth for resources. They would take it over to live. Rare minerals are easy to find in the solar system without having to kill anyone to get them. But not many places are capable of sustaining life indefinitely. If they come it'll be to set up a colony where they can live. That, or they will be studying us simply for curiousities sake (I prefer this outcome!).

It's also possible that they come here as a last resort. Fleeing some catastrophe and hoping to colonize earth as a last resort. ie: Defiance or District 9.

[itwasntme]

If we were to inhabit another planet, would we then become the aliens??

[W. Rabbit]

Maybe they're Chaotic-Evil.

My personal theory about the interests of extraterrestrials in Earth is that they could be space vampires, which would require they search out life to consume, namely ours.

Fuck Zombie apocalypse. Unless you're religiously inclined, it's hard to believe the dead rising from their graves is MORE likely than space vampires showing up to eat us and move on.

All you need is one giant space tick impervious to the void that sniffs out the Earth and we're all fucked.

[itwasntme]

If you have the ability to cross the universe I don't think it would be worth the effort to destroy an indigenous population for natural resources when mathematically there are probably vastly more unpopulated planets to mine....

Maybe they're Chaotic-Evil.

[Permalost]

Yes "if" they can. But until it is proven that they have in fact done that its a moot discussion.

Its a speculative discussion, cause its about space aliens.

I would also like to point out that the technology to travel doesn't equate to the technology to blow shit up. Just because we have been at war for a few thousand years doesn't mean that an alien species would be the same as us in that department.

The technology to take a craft of considerable mass and move it from one star to the other implies a civilization advanced enough to create devastating weapons, even if they just started tomorrow, since interstellar travel theoretically involves manipulating large amounts of energy. If you can build a spacecraft, you should understand the concept of missiles, because a spacecraft is one. If you can build a spacecraft, you have the tools needed to cut and shape spaceworthy materials. You should understand containment of volatile energy sources, which are a very obvious weapon source as soon as you accidentally discharge one. You can understand logistics, which is the real backbone of warfare. You can understand how to harness energy, and in learning to harness energy you learn that its power can easily be converted into destructive force (even if you're a peaceful society, you'll learn this through accidents and safety protocols). The production of sophisticated technology in general uses methods that create and methods that destroy in order to end up with a finished product. A utilitarian approach, using advanced fabrication methods, could be used to convert humans into buckets of useful animal slurry, without what humans would call "bloodlust" or "aggression", just like a human hunter-gatherer picking resources and grinding them into food with no ill will or malice.

If you have the ability to cross the universe I don't think it would be worth the effort to destroy an indigenous population for natural resources when mathematically there are probably vastly more unpopulated planets to mine....

Using current understanding of science, Earth does not have the resources to make a single trip to another solar system, so yeah. But we're sort of assuming that if we're receiving multiple visitors from other worlds, conventional understanding doesn't apply and perhaps the resources are something we wouldn't think of.

[tgace]

If you have the ability to cross the universe I don't think it would be worth the effort to destroy an indigenous population for natural resources when mathematically there are probably vastly more unpopulated planets to mine....

[itwasntme]

Well, I am being sort of based on life as we know, but here goes. Living things spread out and try to get more and more turf, to survive and pass on their genes. Whatever gets to the top of the food chain, tends to eat what it wants until it starves or moves on. While we are used to being told in grade school that explorers were "discoverers", like a scientist looking for a cure, they have been interested in finding a better deal on what they want to consume or own. If the aliens can bend space and time, I would think they would hold us in about the same regard as the ones in Prometheus, which was a pretty goofy movie, but had a point. If they are much more advanced, they will see us as pesky tribesmen in a rain forest, or ants. And if we have a shot at them militarily, they would probably see us as competition. Do you think all the free market capital types that fund an exploration would do so just to advance knowledge? Doubtful. Same would probably go for them. But who can say, maybe they are benevolent Vulcans that would obey the prime directive. Or maybe they just want to give us the anal probe.

Assuming they have the tech to reach us, war and other atrocities are far from out of the question. Just look at what happened to PLENTY of cultures and people who had less advanced technology and social structure; many were enslaved or taken over. It would boil down to whether or not they felt we were worth the effort, as an asset, to attain.

[legomepanda]

Here's a reasonable and respected person talking about life outside Earth.

I hate it when ideas get discounted because crazy people talk fervently about them. Aliens aren't so ridiculous. But because the guy with messed up hair and crazy eyes word-vomits all over a history channel show, aliens can't exist.

[new2bjj]