why can't aliens, if they exist at all, be primitive? why think that they should be techologically advanced?

Question

it will be better if i get some serious answers rather than some junk jokes please.

all answers are based on the assumption that aliens do exist. we do not know!!

Answer 1

First, none of these answers have anything to do with the question. The asker never said anything about the aliens reaching earth. We only assume aliens are technologiclly advanced IF they reach the earth. Maybe thats why we havn't been visited because of the fact that maybe they are primitive just like us, like the asker states. Or maybe the universe is just too big.

Even if traveling at lightspeed(184,000 miles a sec), it would take thousands of years to reach other galaxies.

Aliens I think are more likely going to be primitive for the simple fact that they havnt even visited us yet. Maybe we all got the same start(big bang), and there advancing like we are.

Aliens can very well be primitive, but if we are refering to the case that they can visit earth then everyones answer applys.

Maybe there SO advanced that they see us as merely a science project in a petre dish.

And to take the question even further they might not even be primitive, we could very well only find alien life as a bacteria only. But that alone still is huge because organisms evolve into primates.

I actually think the chances of aliens being primates is better then them being advanced.

Answer 2

We are the primitive ones. I doubt any alien that could travel light years is going to be less technological. Our computers for instance, just 10 years ago an awesome machine was maybe a 486 or Pentium with about 200 MHz clock speed. We are the planet of the apes. And have just crawled down from the trees. If you look at the long history of the planet where our entire history is represent by 24 hours. Mankind has showed up in the last minute or two (23:58 or 23:59). Sorry if you are insulted. But, think about the reality of your idea. Your assumptions seem to be questionable given the sophistication required by interstellar travelers. On the other hand, it is quite likely there are primitive life forms out there. They just don't do space travel.

Answer 3

There is no reason they would have to be more advanced. The problem here is when you say "aliens", most people think "aliens that have visited or are visiting the earth". Obviously if they visit here they are more advanced than we are since we don't have the ability to travel to other star systems.

If be "aliens" you mean life on other planets, then if it exists there is likely a whole range, from places with nothing but single-cell organisms up to races much more advanced than we are.

In the time scales of the universe, a million years is nothing. Can you imagine at the rate our technology is increasing where we could be in another million years? Others likely got started much earlier than we did.

Answer 4

The point of the search for alien civilizations is that if they're not technologically advanced, there's no way we could even tell if they exist, because there will no radiated evidence.

Additionally, if they're not technologically advanced, they have little in common with us and little that we would need or want from them.

So, the answer is yes, they probably exist, but we're not interested in meeting them, at least not now.

Once we develop, if ever, a timely means of transportation, we'd be interested in exploiting natural resources of any planet, populated or not. At that point, primitive inhabitants would be easier to deal with or exterminate.

Answer 5

Exactly.

So far we've seen no verifiable evidence of other sentient species. That said, I believe with some certainty that somewhere in our galaxy at some past, present, or future time, a sentient species did/does/will exist.

Why haven't we heard from them?

Perhaps they are not technologically advanced to be heard. They may be mastering stone knives right now, or experiencing their own Rennaisance.

Perhaps they are here right now. Any species sufficiently advanced to travel interstellar distances would be able to hide or masquerade with ease. That Boeing 737 that flew by may be a surveillance craft.

Perhaps they are so far away they will never notice us and vice versa.

Perhaps they existed a million years ago and died out.

Perhaps they will exist a million years from now.

It is really impossible to know for sure.

The Drake Equation suggests that there is sentient life out there. The Fermi Paradox casts doubt. Play around with the calculation form at the second link and see what you think.

Answer 6

i don't think anyone is saying that aliens can't be primitive compared to us. in fact, if there are aliens i would bet they come in the full range of technology from primitive to unimaginably advanced. it's just that we are not exactly concerned with those who are primitive as they pose no threat or curiosity even.

the aliens this culture is concerned with has to do with those that have the ability to reach us from far away which would make them highly advanced compared to us. they would have to be more advanced than us because they can do what we can not at this point in time.

im sure there are aliens out there somewhere because there are aliens on our planet to a degree. where scientists have studied planets that have supposedly uninhabitable environments, there are environments on this planet that are also considered uninhabitable, and similar to those planets, yet species of creatures still thrive in those areas.

even earth's own atmosphere was very different and considered uninhabitable in the time the first life form emerged. the theory of evolution, in my eyes, is proof enough that there are or at least can be aliens. organisms exist miles under water. the pressure alone makes it impossible for humans to even travel that far below but machines go down there and they find life. there are organisms that survive near volcanic vents and others that LIVE in nuclear reactors around lethal radioactivity. or at least lethal to about 99.9999....% of other creatures in the world.

so yes it's very possible to find primitive alien life outside of earth but over all we aren't concerned with them. we are intrigued by and drawn to the potential for advanced life.

Answer 7

Many planets contain primitive life forms, some of which have the potential to achieve sentience someday. Your planet is considered quite primitive in the galactic scope of things. Over the centuries, your planet was a curious place to visit once or twice and was not considered very interesting . Sure, your wars showed us how undeveloped you are as a species. Your infantile,(in cosmic terms) dependence on god concepts does not bode well for you and neither does your penchant to breed beyond your planet's ability to sustain you. We are now showing an interest in you because it is not often that we get to observe a species commit suicide. You are so close to maturing as a sentient species and it will be a shame to see you kill yourselves. There are just not enough of you becoming rational enough to force the issue. You let the least among you determine your fate, so be it.

Answer 8

For some background see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_life
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation

My personal idea is that the "Rare Earth Hypothesis" is likely true:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_Earth_hypothesis

Detection of aliens:
We can currently only detect alien civilizations with a level of development similar to our own.
The fact that we haven't detected any so far is yet another sign that any alien life that exists (if at all) is at best primitive.

Have (intelligent) aliens visited Earth?
(An answer of "yes" appears to be implicitly present in many of the preceding answers.)
-If they would have and do on a regular basis one would expect there to be conclusive evidence. Since that does not exist the most likely answer is: no.
-For members of an alien society to visit Earth they would have to be both scientificly developed and idiots. This hopefully rare combination is based on the reasoning that they would on the one hand have to master interstellar travel and on the other hand be crazy enough to expose themselves and us to each others (micro)-organisms, prions, etc. The disaster of that would probably dwarf the fate that befal the South-American indians after they were first visited by europeans. (Many of them died of diseases they had no resistance against.)
-Considering that the people of Earth definitely possess this combination of scientific development and idiocy the only logical conclusion for an alien society that could detect us would be to destroy us before we destroy them. The fact that we still exist is therefore yet another argument against the existance of technologically advanced aliens.
(Assuming they do not have some inside knowledge that http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1975354.stm will strike soon anyway.)

Answer 9

It's embedded in minds that aliens are more advanced than earthling because of movies. But recently some scientists have come up with prehistoric life on other planets. Though the life forms are considerably different they modeled their life styles with simular beasts alive today.
Until there is proof of any alien life whether intelligent or micro organism...people will be looking at those strange lights in the sky.

Answer 10

They might have to be somewhat technologically advanced for them to be able to travel this far, unless they have abilities that we don't that make it easier for them (like if their bodies could handle less oxygen, less food and zero gravity conditions better). But if they were on their own planet? Yeah, they could just be amoebas. LOL I think a lot of people also confuse technologically advanced with what we consider mentally or spiritually advanced, and THAT's a big mistake. Technical ingenuity does not equate emotional maturity.

If you think about it, because fungus spores can handle space travel, then they could be considerred alien life form. So when you eat mushrooms you could be eating creatures from another planet!