Stephen Hawking says beware intelligent aliens.

[Urien]

"Our weapons are useless" is often the Earthers' cry when faced with hostile intelligent aliens. In the following article in the Times Stephen Hawking reckons aliens are out there but we should be wary of inviting a smart ET home to tea. He likens it to Europeans landing in North America in the 15th century.


Don’t talk to aliens, warns Stephen Hawking - Times Online


Is it likely a species more advanced than us would want to mistreat or colonise us? It's impossible to know; we as a species (in my view) are becoming steadily more enlightened. However, with a different species (alien and therefore unknowable) their advancement might lead them to believe...

"See those stars Zog'wi'haf?"
"Yep Darg'therat."
"Time to colour them therelian."

 

[chopper]

Cautiously going where no man etc etc etc

 

[Ursa major]

"Don't talk to aliens?"


When they've arrived in their great big, unbelievably advanced and powerful star ship, what else would one do but talk? Make rude gestures? Moon at them?


(And if they are just moving from world to world, strip-mining them as they go, they won't need us to tell them our world's here to be stripped: they'll already be on their way if they're coming this way at all.)

 

[Urien]

Aliens in giant space ships? No problem... I'd just use an ipad to upload a virus into their primative computer. Job done.

 

[Moonbat]

It is a tricky one, how to measure the benevolence of a yet unknown species far more advanced than ourselves. Some of us would no doubt want to resort to violence at the start, a pre-emptive strike, you may as well not take the risk that they might be peaceful and strike first. If they are peaceful they might forgive us if we did Nuke them as soon as they arrived, on the other hand if they aren't peaceful then we've just saved ourselves a load of bother.

Hmmm.

If Aliens were to land they would be so much more advanced than us that our weapons (even a nuclear strike or an EMP) would be useless against them, if they wanted to conquer us they could, any effort to fight would be futile, on the otherhand if they only wanted to help us or trade in materials and/or knowledge then what better way to start than to teach them a lesson in humanity. Shoot first and ask questions later.

It seems like a pointless thing to say from Hawking, as Ursa said if Aliens did visit us we would talk to them rather than just ignore them. If they weren't interested in talking then what does it matter.

 

[Ursa major]

We could always sell them the Moon and use the money to tide us over if they decided to take it with them....

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Offer them a nice cup of tea. That always works.

 

[HareBrain]

If the aliens had been picking up any Eastenders transmissions, it's likely they'd exterminate us to put us out of our misery.

 

[Ursa major]

I forgot!


If they landed here in the UK, wouldn't they have to be have ID cards?

So in addition to:

● The National Identity Card, which is lilac and salmon in colour, is issued to British citizens only. It contains the text "British Citizen" and is a valid travel document for entry into any EEA state and Switzerland (see below for others).

● The Identification Card, which is turquoise and green in colour and does not mention the holder's nationality, is issued to EU, EEA and Swiss citizens living in the UK (including Irish citizens living in Northern Ireland). It is also issued to certain family members of EU/EEA citizens, to British citizens to whom certain conditions or restrictions apply, and as an additional card to a person living in two gender roles.

● The Identity Card for Foreign Nationals, which is blue and pink in colour, is issued to certain categories of immigrants from non-EU/EEA countries.

we'd have to invent a new one. And we can't choose the colours yet, in case the newcomers find them offensive.

Administratively, this could turn out to be a real disaster.

 

[skeptical]

Hawking is working from the fact that we have no data on aliens. So aliens might be friendly, or they might not. We simply do not know.

A big question is the Fermi Paradox.
Fermi paradox - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Basically, this says, "Where the hell are those aliens?"
After all, over the time period aliens might evolve and thrive - billions of years - even at sub-light speeds, there is plenty of time for an alien species to over-run the Milky Way galaxy.

It may be that aliens are so rare that it never happened. However, another possible explanation is that aliens are utterly hostile and have routinely, every few million years, travelled round the galaxy wiping out any and all intelligent life other than themselves.

Quite simply, we do not know. We haven't got a freakin' clue!

It is unlikely to the point of almost impossible, that an alien species will detect our presense through our radio and TV broadcasts, since the energy density of those radio waves, after a few light years, will be so miniscule that it would take an aerial half the size of our solar system even to detect them. A strong beamed signal is a different story. There are lots of people who want to beam messages of good will out into the galaxy, and make contact. Hawking is warning, quite rightly, that this is a very, very stupid idea!

 

[jojajihisc]

A big question is the Fermi Paradox.
Fermi paradox - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Basically, this says, "Where the hell are those aliens?"
After all, over the time period aliens might evolve and thrive - billions of years - even at sub-light speeds, there is plenty of time for an alien species to over-run the Milky Way galaxy.

Even at light speed, and the physical limitations that go along with accomplishing that, the distances are just too overwhelming. Not to mention distances in time. Over four years from the nearest star system? Let alone traveling at whatever percentage of light speed. Separation by both distance and position in time makes contact with aliens seem remote.

 

[Vladd67]

It all boils down to one question
Vulcans or Romulans?

 

[Boneman]

Stephen Hawking is an Intelligent Alien, and (ouch) look how difficult it is to talk to him... that's really mean... but I couldn't resist.... must be in a bad mood... maybe the mods should remove it...!

 

[skeptical]

joja

Assuming a speed between stars of 0.1c, and acceleration/deceleration of 10 years from zip to that velocity, it is possible to travel between Earth and Alpha Centauri in 55 years. The whole galaxy would be visitable within 700,000 years. This time period is minimal compared to the 6 to 8 billion years our galaxy has been in existence. When you are talking of what a whole species can do, rather than individuals, those time periods are quite possible.

 

[Dave]

Setting aside the Fermi Paradox for a moment - maybe the aliens appear out of some wormhole from the far side of the Universe, another Universe, or some past or future time.

Also setting aside the fact that they will know everything about us from watching TV broadcasts - East Enders, Jeremy Kyle, and Jerry Springer - in which case they will probably invite us to a home-cooked dinner, make suggestions on improving our houses and gardens, audition for an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical and then ask us out for a date!

I think we are in danger of imposing our own characteristics on them. It is us that are the aggressive, blood-thirsty imperialists. We have no idea if they would have long ago outgrown such expansionist systems of colonisation, or whether they even ever had them at all. They could well just be coming for a cup of tea (or a three course meal with points out of ten.)

It is US they need to be worried about. We kill Dolphins. We kill Chimpanzees. Just look at Urien - he's already planning to down their spacecraft with his uploaded ipad computer virus before they have even arrived!

 

[J-WO]

Then there's always the possibility that an intelligent species eventually creates technology far more interesting than the universe around it. Could it be no ones contacted us because they have virtual realities that far exceed anything reality offers? A somewhat depressing thought but there it is.

 

[Ursa major]

As long as they don't see the Matrix and assume that human bodies are somehow perfect for powering VR systems.

 

[jojajihisc]

joja

Assuming a speed between stars of 0.1c, and acceleration/deceleration of 10 years from zip to that velocity, it is possible to travel between Earth and Alpha Centauri in 55 years. The whole galaxy would be visitable within 700,000 years. This time period is minimal compared to the 6 to 8 billion years our galaxy has been in existence. When you are talking of what a whole species can do, rather than individuals, those time periods are quite possible.

If one could achieve such a velocity and then overcome the myriad other problems space travel presents then, yes, it is possible. 700,000 years does seem small compared to stellar time scales, but for human civilization, which has only made a bit more than 1/100 of that, it is an enormous amount of time. There's just too many leaps of faith for me given present levels of technology and the relatively delicate nature of intelligent life for space travel. But I do hope we make it another 680,000+ years!

 

[skeptical]

joja

Just indulging in a bit of speculation.

There is no reason in theory why an interstellar probe should not be 'manned' by computers and robots fully capable of surviving 700,000 years or more. After all, for most of that time period they will be essentially shut down.

Such a probe fired at the opposite end of the Milky Way could carry frozen embryos. On arrival, the robots thaw them, incubate them, and then educate the new offspring. Obviously I am talking of an advanced technology. However, it is entirely possible that humans will be able to do that within 1,000 years.

A time period of 700,000 years is pretty much without meaning, when those who travel are not actually 'born' until arrival.

 

[jojajihisc]

I have to admit I wasn't considering unmanned probes, robots and cryogenic technology. And that's a fair point. Perhaps once the singularity occurs that could even be us that does it. And if Vernor Vinge is right it might very well be in this century!