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Contact = Wishful Thinking?


Missile Punch

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I was just curious, and was looking for some input. Do many of you believe that Extraterrestrial contact is never likely to happen? That it's just a lot of hopes that will ultimately be shot down? Although there have been many, many claims of all kinds that ET is not only out there, but here on Earth, there has never been any solid evidence brought forth. I myself believe that there is life out there, but I find myself discouraged, and I think that even if there is life out there, we'll probably never be able to prove it. Mind you, I'm talking specifically about intelligent life.

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I really think that if we are lucky enough to see any sort of "first contact" in this generation that it will be communications. It just makes sense to me to call ahead before blasting your way across the Universe as the Universe is a very dangerous place. Communications are cheaper, easier, no risk to life, and quick. It would be interesting to send out something like the Voyager robes, but set up as a signal repeater permanently pointed at earth.

Or maybe some cameras and radios on the next comet that passes through the system, when it gets back in a hundred years or so, we will have much downloaded data and pics to look at :D

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I really think that if we are lucky enough to see any sort of "first contact" in this generation that it will be communications. It just makes sense to me to call ahead before blasting your way across the Universe as the Universe is a very dangerous place. Communications are cheaper, easier, no risk to life, and quick. It would be interesting to send out something like the Voyager robes, but set up as a signal repeater permanently pointed at earth.

Or maybe some cameras and radios on the next comet that passes through the system, when it gets back in a hundred years or so, we will have much downloaded data and pics to look at :D

Hey, I agree with you completely. Definitely a better choice to call before showing up on the front door. I just wish that we didn't have to wait so long for a (hopefully positive) response!

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Hey, I agree with you completely. Definitely a better choice to call before showing up on the front door. I just wish that we didn't have to wait so long for a (hopefully positive) response!

Indeed I am with you on that one, lets hope we get another WOW! Signal that we are able to respond to.

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Be careful what you wish for.

The Onion, a satirical news-site, notice the SATIRICAL, recently offered what might happen when we contact a superior civilization:

Intelligent, Condescending Life Discovered In Distant Galaxy

February 6, 2012 | ISSUE 48•06

HOUSTON—Marking a momentous leap forward in humankind's understanding of the universe, NASA scientists announced today they had received a radio transmission confirming the existence of intelligent, extremely condescending life in a galaxy nearly 13.8 billion light-years away.

According to officials at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, the message arrived several days after researchers sent a signal to the recently discovered URFy-32924369 galaxy. Members of a highly arrogant alien species responded, saying it was "nice to finally hear from [our] quaint planet" and that it "certainly took [humanity] long enough."

The extraterrestrials explained they had intercepted NASA's transmission using their "far superior technology," because they did not want to "wait the intervening billions of years to receive a simple message from a species working within the laughable constraints of the speed of light."

"We were extremely excited to have made contact with this highly advanced form of life, but it quickly became clear they're pretty big jerks," said NASA scientist Raymond Morrison, referring frequently to a 24-page transcript of the interstellar transmission filled with patronizing language and backhanded compliments. "After telling us they hadn't exactly been holding their breath waiting for us to figure out how to make contact with our 'charmingly simplistic devices,' they informed us they had studied our planet millennia ago but decided it was 'too hopelessly primitive to be worthwhile.'"

According to NASA, the alien species described Earth's 78-percent nitrogen atmosphere as a "decent start," and said mankind had "come a long way in the past century, relatively speaking, considering it took [humans] a full 4 million years to walk upright."

Scientists have expressed mix feelings about the landmark event, noting that while the thrilling discovery of intelligent alien life signals the dawning of a new age in our ability to answer fundamental questions about the very nature of existence, they had not expected an extraterrestrial species to be so dismissive of virtually every aspect of human life.

"We sent them very peaceful, welcoming messages, and they responded by saying it was 'marvelous' that the human race had managed to sustain itself for so long without having made any noteworthy advances of any kind," Morrison said of the aliens, who described the physical appearance of humans with the phrase "interesting-looking, would be the most polite way to put it." "I mean, they weren't threatening us in any way, but they didn't have to be such pricks about everything."

The contemptuous transmission casually discounts centuries of human achievement, with the aliens saying they could not believe mankind still deals with issues of disease and overpopulation. The message then goes on to openly mock humans' "pathetically short life spans."

"When we sent them examples of our very best cultural offerings, they said they 'rather enjoyed the amusing little tinklings' of Mozart and the 'adorable scribblings' of Rembrandt,'" said Morrison, adding that his team will no longer transmit samples of music and art for the aliens to belittle. "They then said they could completely understand how our incredibly low intelligence and level of evolutionary development would allow us to enjoy such 'low-caliber' sensory stimuli."

"They were absolutely relentless," Morrison continued. "I personally feel pretty terrible about myself right now."

The NASA scientists noted, however, that the tone of the discourse changed dramatically after the aliens were sent images of a man jumping from ramps while riding a Kawasaki Jet Ski.

"For some reason, when they saw this footage, we received a barrage of messages saying 'Hold on a second, what is that ?' and 'Please, tell us everything about this Jet Ski,'" said Morrison, later reading several more excerpts from the transmission, among them, "How fast can the Jet Ski go?" and "Is the man riding the Jet Ski a king on your planet?" "They are evidently completely mesmerized by Jet Skis, and have offered us anything we want in exchange for the technology."

At press time, NASA had received a transmission from the alien species in which they apologized for their earlier messages, saying they had "greatly underestimated the Keepers of the Jet Ski."

http://www.theonion.com/articles/intelligent-condescending-life-discovered-in-dista,27276/

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On the other hand, you could argue that it is rather silly to send out probes with information as to where in this galaxy we can be found. We dont know whether any intelligent life out there would be friendly or hostile.

I know that if ET landed here, not everyone would greet them with open arms. Major governments around the world would be very wary of any first contact and their (ET's) intentions. . That's if we didnt shoot them out of the sky before they were able to land.

Just a thought :)

edit,,,was typing as above poster typed but more or less along the same lines lol

Edited by Englishgent
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And you two know that because you have a 4th eyes in the back of your head but unfortunately you wear a cap? :innocent: :innocent: Now I don't particularly believe in ET the Yeti Small foot or anythin because I don't have any proofs but the same goes for the contrary I don't have any proofs either. Do you seriously think that an entity who could built a mean of transportation going at incredible speed would attempt to talk to us? Of there might a Dian Fossey or a Jane Goodal among them but our mind wouldn't be able to understand it.

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Be careful what you wish for.

The Onion, a satirical news-site, notice the SATIRICAL, recently offered what might happen when we contact a superior civilization:

Intelligent, Condescending Life Discovered In Distant Galaxy

February 6, 2012 | ISSUE 48•06

**SNIP**

"For some reason, when they saw this footage, we received a barrage of messages saying 'Hold on a second, what is that ?' and 'Please, tell us everything about this Jet Ski,'" said Morrison, later reading several more excerpts from the transmission, among them, "How fast can the Jet Ski go?" and "Is the man riding the Jet Ski a king on your planet?" "They are evidently completely mesmerized by Jet Skis, and have offered us anything we want in exchange for the technology."

At press time, NASA had received a transmission from the alien species in which they apologized for their earlier messages, saying they had "greatly underestimated the Keepers of the Jet Ski."

http://www.theonion.com/articles/intelligent-condescending-life-discovered-in-dista,27276/

:w00t: That is freaking awesome :D Cheers for that, I rather enjoyed the chuckle!

Edited by psyche101
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On the other hand, you could argue that it is rather silly to send out probes with information as to where in this galaxy we can be found. We dont know whether any intelligent life out there would be friendly or hostile.

I know that if ET landed here, not everyone would greet them with open arms. Major governments around the world would be very wary of any first contact and their (ET's) intentions. . That's if we didnt shoot them out of the sky before they were able to land.

Just a thought :)

edit,,,was typing as above poster typed but more or less along the same lines lol

You could argue that, and professor Hawking has echoed somewhat similar sentiments, but I think if we do not try, we will never know. I guess it depends on how much we want to know. I think ET is bound by the same restraints we are - distance, so I really think Communications is a valuable first step.

Edited by psyche101
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And you two know that because you have a 4th eyes in the back of your head but unfortunately you wear a cap? :innocent: :innocent: Now I don't particularly believe in ET the Yeti Small foot or anythin because I don't have any proofs but the same goes for the contrary I don't have any proofs either. Do you seriously think that an entity who could built a mean of transportation going at incredible speed would attempt to talk to us? Of there might a Dian Fossey or a Jane Goodal among them but our mind wouldn't be able to understand it.

Why must a species be highly advanced to cross space?

LINK - Orion Project

Edited by psyche101
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Indeed I am with you on that one, lets hope we get another WOW! Signal that we are able to respond to.

I've heard about the "Wow" signal before, but I just barely read up more about it on another thread (which I'm sure you read). Very interesting! And I agree! It would be great if we could pinpoint the source if another signal were detected!

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And you two know that because you have a 4th eyes in the back of your head but unfortunately you wear a cap? :innocent: :innocent: Now I don't particularly believe in ET the Yeti Small foot or anythin because I don't have any proofs but the same goes for the contrary I don't have any proofs either. Do you seriously think that an entity who could built a mean of transportation going at incredible speed would attempt to talk to us? Of there might a Dian Fossey or a Jane Goodal among them but our mind wouldn't be able to understand it.

I never claimed to "know" anything. I said that I BELIEVE that there is life out there. There is a serious difference between the two. I respect you skeptical view, but I expect you to respect mine as well.

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One thing I do know is that if there actually ever is, or already has been, any Extraterrestrial hardware that ever does, or has, visited this Planet, then I wouln't mind betting it'd be a robotic probe rather than a manned (or alienned) Craft. It might not even have any means of, or it may have no interest in, communicating with us; it may be just looking.

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One thing I do know is that if there actually ever is, or already has been, any Extraterrestrial hardware that ever does, or has, visited this Planet, then I wouln't mind betting it'd be a robotic probe rather than a manned (or alienned) Craft. It might not even have any means of, or it may have no interest in, communicating with us; it may be just looking.

I think that sounds logical. If I wanted to spy on an alien race (especially one with violent tendencies) I'd prefer to do it remotely, by using robots or drones.

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I think it's extremely unlikely that we'll ever receive a radio message that we'll be certain came from another civilization but it's not bad science to point large directional antennas and powerful receivers at distant stars to find out what RF energy they're emitting.

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Do many of you believe that Extraterrestrial contact is never likely to happen? That it's just a lot of hopes that will ultimately be shot down?

I think contact is definitely possible, every day of the year. But it also depends on how long we're "open" and if we will "grow" anywhere in space or stay on this planet. If we manage to avoid, say, a nuclear war and if we will have any resources left to actually go into space, then the chance of contact will of course become greater. Now I don't think doomsday will happen anytime soon, but we do live on a finite planet, and we have yet to build a permanent base.

I myself believe that there is life out there, but I find myself discouraged, and I think that even if there is life out there, we'll probably never be able to prove it.

I've always had this secret thought that either China or Russia, or any other nation should load a rocket with modified bacteria and launch at Mars. A decade later - aliens! :)

In any case, time will tell.

On the other hand, you could argue that it is rather silly to send out probes with information as to where in this galaxy we can be found. We dont know whether any intelligent life out there would be friendly or hostile.

I'm beginning to wonder if it really is possible to travel in space as a hostile alien. At best I would say "indifferent". They've colonized/sucked up the resources of our neighbouring planet, and now it's our turn, not unlike our own oil drilling and tree cutting industries. I don't understand what they would be afraid of, or why they would hate us. There's already been discussions about need for resources and/or medical experiments, but I don't buy that.

That's if we didnt shoot them out of the sky before they were able to land.

Then those aliens wouldn't be very intelligent. You don't engage in contact unless you're desperate or really prepared. Especially on another planet.

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I Think Authorities Are Slowly Starting To Introduce People To Believe ETs Exist .. We Are Constantly Being Bombarded With News, Movies, Videos And The Likes About Aliens .. In My Opinion They Are Preparing Us For Something Big That Is About To Happen (Which They Have Known About For Ages, But Have Kept It Secret From People) .. Probably Not In Our Lifetime .. Maybe Our Grandchildren Will Experience Something On A Greater Scale .. I Hope So ..

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I Think Authorities Are Slowly Starting To Introduce People To Believe ETs Exist .. We Are Constantly Being Bombarded With News, Movies, Videos And The Likes About Aliens .. In My Opinion They Are Preparing Us For Something Big That Is About To Happen (Which They Have Known About For Ages, But Have Kept It Secret From People) .. Probably Not In Our Lifetime .. Maybe Our Grandchildren Will Experience Something On A Greater Scale .. I Hope So ..

I Believe The First Alien Message Will Have Every Word Capitalized. That Is How We Will Know It Came From Another Civilization.

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It's certainly something I'd love to see happen, as long as of course the Aliens are of the 'Close Encounters' friendly variety...there is probably at least as much chance that they would be malevolent I guess...in which case it would be better they don't pay us a visit.

I feel disappointed by the rate our space exploration has gone, I thought we would have explored our solar system more thoroughly by now, and perhaps in doing so already found life.

If we found life on a neighboring planet, or moon then I think it would make it a statistical certainty that there are advanced civilizations elsewhere.

The evidence of them already visiting here mostly seems unreliable, except perhaps some of the accounts by professional pilots.

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It's certainly something I'd love to see happen, as long as of course the Aliens are of the 'Close Encounters' friendly variety...there is probably at least as much chance that they would be malevolent I guess...in which case it would be better they don't pay us a visit.

I think everyone would like to such an amazing event, I guess that is why so many people wish for it to happen.

I feel disappointed by the rate our space exploration has gone, I thought we would have explored our solar system more thoroughly by now, and perhaps in doing so already found life.

That is a shame, billions of dollars have been spent, lives have been lost, and those that risked lives and have come back. I thought it was quite an achievement. Money and distance is some key factors keeping the space race at the current pace. Personally, I am pretty proud of the achievement's we have made to date. And we do have a pretty decent understanding of our Solar System. We have sent probes to most planets, some moons, comets and asteroids as well. We only got into space about 40 years ago, have some patience.

If we found life on a neighboring planet, or moon then I think it would make it a statistical certainty that there are advanced civilizations elsewhere.

Not at all, there is a possibility that basic life on one of our planets might have come from earth via Panspermia, or life may have propagated this solar system with one event. Unless the life form has a distinct genetic makeup, it might still be something distantly related to us. And a find of basic life forms does not guarantee that we will find intelligent life within a traversable distance.

The evidence of them already visiting here mostly seems unreliable, except perhaps some of the accounts by professional pilots.

Pilots are no better than you or I as a witness with regards to fallibility and honesty.

I Think Authorities Are Slowly Starting To Introduce People To Believe ETs Exist .. We Are Constantly Being Bombarded With News, Movies, Videos And The Likes About Aliens .. In My Opinion They Are Preparing Us For Something Big That Is About To Happen (Which They Have Known About For Ages, But Have Kept It Secret From People) .. Probably Not In Our Lifetime .. Maybe Our Grandchildren Will Experience Something On A Greater Scale .. I Hope So ..

No.

Edited by psyche101
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We get 'bombarded' with alien movies because its popular culture now. We're tired of movies were the bad guys are Russian or the stereotypical well spoken English evil genius.

Besides how many alien 'bad guy' movies are there, compared with the other genres? I'd say we're bombarded more with cringe-worthy horrible rom-coms.

Obviously I would think it would be wonderful to know there is at least one other intelligent species out there - I just don't submit to the idea that our governments are keeping this information from us...to do so would credit them with being much more intelligent and resourceful than they appear to be.

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...I just don't submit to the idea that our governments are keeping this information from us...to do so would credit them with being much more intelligent and resourceful than they appear to be.

I have to agree, the notion that the government could keep such information secret is like saying a sieve could hold water, it's just not possible. :no:

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That is a shame, billions of dollars have been spent, lives have been lost, and those that risked lives and have come back. I thought it was quite an achievement. Money and distance is some key factors keeping the space race at the current pace.

About the money. NASA bet everything on the Space Shuttle. They lost. Now they're a flailing organization with no focus other than the ISS which was oddly placed in a polar orbit so it couldn't be used to launch anything at planets. The American public hasn't been less interested in space exploration since the day before Sputnik.

Personally, I am pretty proud of the achievement's we have made to date. And we do have a pretty decent understanding of our Solar System. We have sent probes to most planets, some moons, comets and asteroids as well. We only got into space about 40 years ago, have some patience.

The attitude I get about space probes from most people I know is that they're sooooo boooooring! They don't care about spending millions of dollars to send metal cans and remote controlled cars full of electronics to planets just to get back a bunch of stupid pictures. They want to see spectacles like loud Space Shuttle launches with big explosions and brave people risking their lives. That's what space exploration is all about!

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Are we absolutely sure that if an extraterrestrial intelligence were to make contact with earth that humans would be the recipients of this exchange.From what I've read the Blue Whale has an extremely complicated language.Maybe that would appeal more to an advanced civilization.Just a thought.

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This is a really interesting, classical discussion. I don't really know what to think about extra terrestrial life. All I can say is that I think it would be very sad if we actually were all alone in the universe. Especially since we don't really take care of what we have. Being alone is the worst thing that can happen to a person. For humanity as a specie, to be alone, can be just as terrifying. Hoping is one thing, knowing is something entirely different. I do hope there is life outside of this planet.

Edited by Sebastian_
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