If we visit other planets?

Question

With technical advancement lets say we visit another planet having intelligent life and you are the Captain of the spaceship, how do you approach that planet?

1. Would you try to establish contact by means of electromagnetic communications OR by physical communication OR what else?

2. If attacked will you retreat or will you respond in kind?

3. will you try to capture some aliens to conduct experiment or try to be more ethical?

4. once a contact has been established, whats your first priority to "understand their scienctific knowledge" or "help them if they have any problems"

This would be interesting becuase i keep seeing question as to whether "aliens" visiting us would be friendly or hostile.

Lets just see if you were the captain how "hostile" or "friendly" you would be.....

Answer 1

1. Lots of observation before contact. For instance, you wouldn't try to use electromagnetic forms if they aren't broadcasting radio waves (Note to Sniper: radio IS electromagnetic, as are microwaves and every other form of light). Who knows, maybe they're telepathic, or blind. This would also give you some idea of their culture, their probably level of hostility. Something like the Prime Directive would probably be policy -- yes, remember the Indians (as in Native Americans).

2. The strategy and tactics if attacked would depend on the nature and force of the attack and whether or not your ship has weapons (don't forget that a reaction drive is also a weapon). How many attackers are there? Are their ships faster than yours (in which case, why aren't they contacting us?) Would fleeing send the wrong message to their culture (running from a Klingon is inviting conquest)? Where would you flee to? You wouldn't want to lead them back to Earth.

3. I agree with E Sir -- dead bodies would be OK. Of course, if you've got the technology to get to another inhabited world, your sensor devices might well make that unnecessary. Or you could deploy nano- and micro-bots to take biological samples

4. Assuming I'm allowed to initiate contact (and this requires FTL communications), I'd want to do both, as well as understand their culture and psychology and find a basis for trade.

As to aliens visiting us, it's hard to believe they would be intentionally hostile unless they considered us a threat. They can't want our resources, since it would be far easier to get what they need from nearer, uninhabited worlds. Then again, the problem with trying to predict the motivations of aliens is that they're... alien. Their thought processes and attitudes are likely to be shaped by entirely different forces than our own.

Answer 2

heh

1. I would try to contact them with EM (like radio) first because you can fit a lot into a message that way and can relay more quickly/ stay further away. Also it's less intimidating than sending something physical (human or not). It would be difficult enough to begin to understand one another. If they seemed friendly then I might send some humans out because it may be easier to communicate with some detail in person (as when in a place where you don't speak the language and must point to everything). As "Contact" suggests it would almost certainly start out with simple math and diagrams (we're from over here). Also if we know they are inteligent it's probably from their own EM transmissions which we picked up so it's a good bet that they will pick up and be able to work with ours.

2. Retreat, I don't want to destroy a civilization and it's possible that they far outpower us anyway.

3. Ethical of course! If I could communicate with them I would ask for information about their species and if there are any bodies, dead or alive that we can do tests that they approve of on (you don't know what their beliefs are).

4. Selfishly of course we want to exchange knowledge first. Hopefully that will help them and help us to defeat our problems.

Answer 3

1. Electromagnetic communication. You don't know what they can do to you.

2. Retreat! You need more than a spaceship in order to battle a planet of aliens.

3.Dead alien bodies would be ok.

4. Both.

Answer 4

I would first try Raido Transmission then electormagnetic communication. If attacked I would try a diplomatic soulution first and if all else failed I would call the republic fleet for reenforcements. (hopefully there would be ships with weapons of some kind at this point) I am naturally ethical so i would establish trade with them. Yes, priority 1 would be to help if they have problems then understand scientific knowledge.

Answer 5

1) I will try to talk to them using Yahoo Voicemail
2) I will refer them to Al-Qaida
3) yuck!!!
4) To know if they have space for our populus there.

Answer 6

You know what happened to Indians