Will aliens look like us?

[Abramelin]

Just now, jmccr8 said:

Hi Rob

But wouldn't they need fingers and opposable thumbs to make something to plug the eel into?

Have you ever seen what an octopus is capable of, and without fingers or opposable thumbs.

You all think too narrow, lol.

[psyche101]

17 minutes ago, Abramelin said:

Have you ever seen what an octopus is capable of, and without fingers or opposable thumbs.

You all think too narrow, lol.

In water.

Not quite so agile out of water. Slow moving easy prey.

[jmccr8]

12 minutes ago, Abramelin said:

Have you ever seen what an octopus is capable of, and without fingers or opposable thumbs.

You all think too narrow, lol.

Hi Rob

I was half kidding when I made that comment and have known farmers that were missing fingers and or thumbs who did all their own fabrication and mechanical maintenance on equipment so yes there is room for variation, it just might take them(aliens) longer to develop tech to compensate for making things like computer chips.

I have seen women tie a cherry stem into a knot with their tongue so who knows.

[psyche101]

28 minutes ago, Abramelin said:

You seem absolutely sure aliens must be humanoid in shape.

I've thought about it quite a bit 

Yes because evolution follows the easiest path. It's produced around fifty billion shapes of life on the planet. Only one shape is suited to intelligence.

28 minutes ago, Abramelin said:

But all know of is life on this rock. After we've visited many new worlds, and hopefully many alien life forms, only thèn can we start about things like convergent evolution.

What about our examples? Like the laryngeal nerve of the giraffe? Tasmanian tigers, the list is very extensive. It proves life finds a niche. Life requires a certain set of parameters to exist, or we would see abundant life on many of our moons and planets. 

28 minutes ago, Abramelin said:

Maybe there is an intelligent race that never needed fire to start what we call civilization. They may have discovered electricity the 'natural way' (think electric eels).

Not so much electricity, there's steps to an industrial revolution that have to precede that, like our stone age and bronze ages. 

[psyche101]

31 minutes ago, Abramelin said:

If ants/termites were able to grow to our size, and built their nests likewise larger, things would look more impressive.

I really don't think so. Lungs and brains just aren't there for larger sizes of the species. Because our brains got bored, they adapted methodologies. Ants have been doing the same thing for millions of years because that's as far as their physiology demands for survival. 

Like sharks or crocodiles. They haven't changed much over the millennia because they fit their niche perfectly. No need to adapt further. 

[Abramelin]

Let's contue with this discussion as soon as we've discovered an alien civilization.

[psyche101]

13 hours ago, Abramelin said:

Let's contue with this discussion as soon as we've discovered an alien civilization.

If your interested here's an interesting read on convergent evolution. Aliens are considered.

https://academic.oup.com/astrogeo/article/46/4/4.24/274550

 

[Abramelin]

10 hours ago, psyche101 said:

If your interested here's an interesting read on convergent evolution. Aliens are considered.

https://academic.oup.com/astrogeo/article/46/4/4.24/274550

 

Never expected that crows would show up!

Of course thàt was the animal I thought of first when we were asked how an intelligent alien might look like. But people here know me by know, so I chose to mention ants or octopuses instead.

[quillius]

On 1/17/2022 at 12:50 AM, psyche101 said:

I've thought about it quite a bit 

Yes because evolution follows the easiest path. It's produced around fifty billion shapes of life on the planet. Only one shape is suited to intelligence.

What about our examples? Like the laryngeal nerve of the giraffe? Tasmanian tigers, the list is very extensive. It proves life finds a niche. Life requires a certain set of parameters to exist, or we would see abundant life on many of our moons and planets. 

Not so much electricity, there's steps to an industrial revolution that have to precede that, like our stone age and bronze ages. 

you have indeed my old friend. I remember when I thought it was a ridiculous idea that other intelligent lifeforms would be humanoid in shape. I then had a long discussion with you and Lost Shaman......I then changed my position to agreeing with you both

[Earl.Of.Trumps]

@quillius, good to see you again. long time between drinks,

[psyche101]

14 hours ago, quillius said:

you have indeed my old friend. I remember when I thought it was a ridiculous idea that other intelligent lifeforms would be humanoid in shape. I then had a long discussion with you and Lost Shaman......I then changed my position to agreeing with you both

Gidday mate

All the best for the new year! 

I've had my mind changed by members too. Haven't seen Mattshark in forever. It's a good thing about this place.

We miss your input. Hope your Christmas was awesome.

[psyche101]

On 1/18/2022 at 10:05 PM, Abramelin said:

Never expected that crows would show up!

Of course thàt was the animal I thought of first when we were asked how an intelligent alien might look like. But people here know me by know, so I chose to mention ants or octopuses instead.

I remember posting a hypothetical idea someone came up with of what an intelligent bipedal corvid might look like. Wish I could remember who it was. Quite a good read from memory..

[quillius]

17 hours ago, Earl.Of.Trumps said:

@quillius, good to see you again. long time between drinks,

thanks Earl

8 hours ago, psyche101 said:

Gidday mate

All the best for the new year! 

I've had my mind changed by members too. Haven't seen Mattshark in forever. It's a good thing about this place.

We miss your input. Hope your Christmas was awesome.

Happy New Year to you also. 

I have been following many threads but havent had the time to provide input ( or get into a long winded ding dong)....lots of family tragedy and illness in the last two years has swallowed up my time and energy.

[Abramelin]

8 hours ago, psyche101 said:

I remember posting a hypothetical idea someone came up with of what an intelligent bipedal corvid might look like. Wish I could remember who it was. Quite a good read from memory..

There was once a website called "Shiveria" or something. Shiveria was some kind of alternative earth. Parrots and crows had evolved into the dominant species. The crow kind were called 'megacrow', and one was being depicted holding/leaning on a spear with one of its claws.

But the last time I visited that site was more than a decade ago.

Edited to add:

There appears to be only one species, aside of humans, that handles and uses fire: crows. I have posted about that several times in the past. One guy actually wrote a book about it: Maurice Burton, "Phoenix Reborn".

Edited January 20, 2022 by Abramelin

[Abramelin]

8 hours ago, Abramelin said:

There was once a website called "Shiveria" or something. Shiveria was some kind of alternative earth. Parrots and crows had evolved into the dominant species. The crow kind were called 'megacrow', and one was being depicted holding/leaning on a spear with one of its claws.

But the last time I visited that site was more than a decade ago.

I am home now, and here's the link:

http://www.worlddreambank.org/S/SHIVERIA.HTM

And here a post from 2013:

https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/topic/240741-t-rex-of-the-seas-called-first-top-killer/#comment-4614254

 

Edited January 20, 2022 by Abramelin

[+Hammerclaw]

We want to picture aliens as something like us, no matter how outlandish and/or unhuman their appearance. Something close enough, socially and technologically that we could understand.  The truth is, we don't know what kind of entities we might encounter. There could be species that have continued to evolve for millions or tens of millions of years after reaching our current technological level. Couple that with their outré appearance and alien culture and psychology and means of communication about which we'll know nothing....well you can picture the problem first contact presents.

[Golden Duck]

14 hours ago, Abramelin said:

There was once a website called "Shiveria" or something. Shiveria was some kind of alternative earth. Parrots and crows had evolved into the dominant species. The crow kind were called 'megacrow', and one was being depicted holding/leaning on a spear with one of its claws.

But the last time I visited that site was more than a decade ago.

Edited to add:

There appears to be only one species, aside of humans, that handles and uses fire: crows. I have posted about that several times in the past. One guy actually wrote a book about it: Maurice Burton, "Phoenix Reborn".

Quote

As it turns out, there are three "fire-foraging raptors" who demonstrate this diabolical arsonist behaviour, being the black kite, the whistling kite and the brown falcon.

https://nine.com.au/entertainment/viral/australian-birds-spreading-fire-catch-prey/a6f2efdc-25b1-4ff9-b50e-5b9a79ef86a3

[psyche101]

1 hour ago, Golden Duck said:

https://nine.com.au/entertainment/viral/australian-birds-spreading-fire-catch-prey/a6f2efdc-25b1-4ff9-b50e-5b9a79ef86a3

Beat me to it. Exactly the same thing came to my mind. 

[psyche101]

16 hours ago, CigaretteSmokingMan said:

Get a room

Someone jelly?

[psyche101]

16 hours ago, Abramelin said:

There was once a website called "Shiveria" or something. Shiveria was some kind of alternative earth. Parrots and crows had evolved into the dominant species. The crow kind were called 'megacrow', and one was being depicted holding/leaning on a spear with one of its claws.

But the last time I visited that site was more than a decade ago.

Edited to add:

There appears to be only one species, aside of humans, that handles and uses fire: crows. I have posted about that several times in the past. One guy actually wrote a book about it: Maurice Burton, "Phoenix Reborn".

Found mine too.

Darren Naish is who I was thinking of. Intelligent dinosaurs.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07x0q10

 

[quiXilver]

On 1/16/2022 at 3:14 PM, psyche101 said:

They aren't really prepared to take on more predatory species like sharks.

It's far from a given that sharks kill octopi. 

 

[psyche101]

1 hour ago, quiXilver said:

It's far from a given that sharks kill octopi. 

 

Which species had dominance in the ocean? 

[+Hammerclaw]

[jmccr8]

[Golden Duck]

1 hour ago, psyche101 said:

Which species had dominance in the ocean? 

Hearing some of stories about how dolphins ruin fishing, or orcas seeking revenge on sharks, I'm going for something mammalian.

Edited January 21, 2022 by Golden Duck