So, let's say we get visitors from another planet...

[cynatnite]

What do you suppose what would happen?

14 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	They'd suck all the resources from the planet and toss us aside like we're waste
	0 (0%)
	It'd be like the Vulcans...friendly,sharing technology, etc
	1 (7%)
	They'd see us as the bugs beneath their feet and use a big can of Raid
	0 (0%)
	We'd be interesting for about a month and then they'd move on
	1 (7%)
	They're too technologically advanced to give a rat's butt about primitives such as us
	7 (50%)
	Their planet is gone and they'd settle down on the planet with us
	1 (7%)
	They would take over the planet and we'd be the slaves to do all the heavy lifting
	1 (7%)
	They'd see us as unable to take care of ourselves and they'd do it themselves
	0 (0%)
	They would view us as too dangerous to live because of how we've treated our planet and each other.
	2 (14%)
	They wouldn't give us the time of day.
	1 (7%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[tjwash]

1. They already have

[MineralMan]

2. I can't vote, 'cause my username would show up.

It frightens me so. Oh...wait...never mind.

[cynatnite]

3. Yeah, I deserve that...

[MineralMan]

23. Impossible to resist...

[cynatnite]

26. I honestly don't blame you :) n/t

[independentpiney]

4. They would want to serve us nt

[Blue_Tires]

5. You left out "Lots and lots of freaky alien sex"

Hey, it worked for Captain Kirk...

[RKP5637]

10. Cool! I want that choice!!!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

6. We'd be like the most inane sitcom for them, silly humor, unbelievable results,

craziness abounding.

[mucifer]

7. It's a cookbook!!

[dimbear]

8. They would reintroduce predators and restore the balance of nature.

Paradise for the survivors.

[Kaleva]

12. Predators like T-Rex

[RKP5637]

9. It seems I read or heard once that there's a good probability they could

be about one billion years ahead of us. To me, they've already been here, are here or frankly have observed us and have no interest. What I always find funny is when some folks think their technology would be something like ours. IMO they would be using folded space and bridging distances would be child's play. And, with/if a multidimensional universe, maybe we have a zillion plus with us now!

Anyway, that's why I picked, "They're too technologically advanced to give a rat's butt about primitives such as us."

[LadyHawkAZ]

11. "Their world is full of Maple Streets.

We'll go from one to the other and let them destroy themselves"

[sakabatou]

13. They would either be conquerers or benevolent (like the Vulcans)

Most people, as far as what I've seen on TV, say it's the former.

[rocktivity]

14. Other

They'd make us the subject of a cookbook.


rocktivity

[frankroberts]

15. would we?

If we found out that they tasted like bacon would we eat them?

[wandy]

16. They would run like hell and want nothing to do with us.

I believe Gene Roddenberry was right. If a race commands enough technology to cross vast distances they would most likely be peacefully. This is because were they, not they would have used that tech to commit suicide. Something we forever seem to be on the brink of.
They would take one look at us and determine we are too dangerous to mess with.
For what it's worth they probably made that decision from 70 light years away.
The closer they came, the worse we would look.

[Warren DeMontague]

17. ***

[Zorra]

18. Have you ever read "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert Heinlein?

It's a fun read.

Stranger in a Strange Land

Stranger in a Strange Land is a 1961 science fiction novel by American author Robert A. Heinlein. It tells the story of Valentine Michael Smith, a human who comes to Earth in early adulthood after being born on the planet Mars and raised by Martians. The novel explores his interaction with—and eventual transformation of—terrestrial culture. The title seems an allusion to the phrase in Exodus 2:22 (in the Biblical Book of Exodus).[1] According to Heinlein, the novel's working title was The Heretic. Several later editions of the book have promoted it as "The most famous Science Fiction Novel ever written".[2]

When Heinlein first wrote Stranger in a Strange Land, his editors at Putnam required him to drastically cut its original 220,000-word length down to 160,067 words. In 1962, this version received the Hugo Award for Best Novel.[3] After Heinlein's death in 1988, his wife Virginia arranged to have the original manuscript published in 1991. Critics disagree[citation needed] over which is superior: Heinlein's preferred original manuscript or the heavily-edited version which was initially published. There is similar contention over the two versions of Heinlein's Podkayne of Mars.

While initially a success among science fiction readers, over the following years word-of-mouth caused sales to build, requiring numerous subsequent printings of the first Putnam edition. Eventually Stranger in a Strange Land became a cult classic.

Or "The Mote in God's Eye" by Larry Niven or Jerry Pournelle?

"The Mote in God's Eye"

The Mote in God's Eye is a science fiction novel by American writers Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, first published in 1974. The story is set in the distant future of Pournelle's CoDominium universe, and charts the first contact between humanity and an alien species. The title of the novel is a wordplay on Luke 6:41–42 and Matthew 7:3–5. The Mote in God's Eye was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula and Locus Awards in 1975.[1] Robert A. Heinlein, who gave the authors extensive advice on the novel, blurbed the story as "possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read".

[Motown_Johnny]

31. I Grok

but not fully

[stevenleser]

19. I think any culture scientifically advanced enough to conquer the light speed barrier...

assuming it is conquerable, would have evolved enough to be respectful of all intelligent life.

We are hundreds of years away from doing that ourselves, again if it is doable. In 300-400 years I think we will have no more war, full equality for all, have tons of fully renewable energy and generally be living in a progressive paradise. If we encountered another planet after that time, we would treat intelligent indigenous life with respect.

[3waygeek]

24. But to such a culture...

we probably wouldn't be considered intelligent life. Especially if they've been monitoring AM talk radio.

[muriel_volestrangler]

38. That's a bit anti-Vulcanist, isn't it?

You see being friends with them as a Bad Thing?

[Turbineguy]

22. Definitely not choice one.

They'd have to be republicans.

[slackmaster]

25. Our pervasive rhinovirus would kill them

[TheKentuckian]

27. I voted they'd have no interest in us.

Folks with that level of technology would need nothing we have to offer unless there is some undiscovered/misunderstood resource here that is rare throughout the galaxy or even the Universe. Any resources as we understand them would be passed a thousand times over in transit and probably would be able to manufacture them from the atomic or sub-atomic level.

The secondary possibility is some form of outreach/mentoring. I think the invasion fantasies are humanistic and silly but if such a thing were to happen we'd be in no better position than an ant against a carrier group.

I'd tend to welcome our alien overlords, odds are high their intent would be better than our own.

[pscot]

28. You left out the one where we

filet them, stirfry them and eat them with noodles.

[HappyMe]

29. They wouldn't give us the time of day.

They might stick around for a little while just to make fun of us.

[Motown_Johnny]

30. You are assuming the visitors are superior to us.

It is entirely possible that the creatures on the ship are simply an alien version of our unmanned probes. Using something that is breed for the task may be more efficient than machines.

If we assume that the builders of the craft are not on board and do not visit us then the answer should be that they don't give us the time of day and/or we are interesting for about a month.

Personally I consider this the most likely option. Any species capable of interstellar travel should be smart enough to gather information without risking their own lives (or spending that amount of time in space).

I guess I should mention that I don't think the speed of light can be broken so any trip like this would take a long time.

[Skip Intro]

32. Could be a return visit.

Decided: I will watch Ancient Aliens tonight!

[IDemo]

33. Other - They tend to experience a technological singularity

Humanity may be approaching a "singularity" according to Raymond Kurzweil; a point where technology has transformed the human brain and body, "enabling Humanity to transcend its biological limitations". Alien civilizations thousands or millions of years more advanced may have experienced multiple such singularities (multiplicities?), making any scenario of contact completely unimaginable.

From the Fermi Paradox Wiki (if they're out there, how come they haven't dropped by?):

Another possibility is that technological civilizations invariably experience a technological singularity and attain a posthuman (or more properly, post-biological) character. Theoretical civilizations of this sort may have advanced drastically enough to render communication impossible. The intelligences of a post-singularity civilization might require more information exchange than is possible through interstellar communication, for example. Or perhaps any information humanity might provide would appear elementary, and thus they do not try to communicate, any more than human beings attempt to talk to ants—even though we do ascribe a form of intelligence to them. For example, a superintelligent civilization might consist of an advanced megastructure such as a Matrioshka brain or a black hole and communicate using neutrinos or by gamma-ray bursts at bandwidths that exceed our receiving capabilities.

[xfundy]

34. Didn't I warn ye?

[RobertEarl]

35. Let us pray

That our planet is not in the way of their new inter-galactic highway and we have to be 'moved' much the same way we humans move things out of our way.

[Egalitarian Thug]

36. Hyper-spatial bypass...

[Egalitarian Thug]

37. A month? I don't think so. A day or two just to confirm that animals

too stupid to understand the most basic concept of self-preservation could really make the clever stuff we have.

Of course, this supposes a similar concept and perception of time...

[Blue_In_AK]

40. It depends

on which ones.