You mean if we get in contact, right?
I think it's extremely possible that there is other life out there given the amount of stars I see on a clear night, then thinking about all the planets that must surround all those stars.
I would guess that life would form in a completely different way. In fact, it's possible that we have aliens on Earth right now, but just don't perceive them. Our perception is limited, right? There may just be living things beyond what we can currently perceive. Human vision is limited, hearing is limited, etc.
I would like us to find another species of life which is similar to ours though, that we could find a way of communicating with. This time I just hope we don't screw it up by making them our enemy.
I think of it like the Europeans coming over to North America, killing lots of Indians. They never knew those people even existed, then when they met them - well, you know the story.
Next time we've just got to take it slow. Sit down and smoke the peace pipe if it's offered. Be a little more social. Try learning something instead of freaking out and killing everyone.
2007-04-02 11:06:14
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answer #1
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answered by Anonymous
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Well...There are a lot of things that would happen if life forms were discovered elsewhere in the Universe.
The first thing that would happen is that reporters and news stations will go bonkers for about six weeks with the step by step reporting of the news event.
The second thing that would happen is that all history and science books will have to be rewritten to include this new discovery. that alone means that millions and millions of text books will be wrong and need correcting - updating. So, lots of ordinary people will become very busy for a while publishing this new information.
Now it is pretty much a no brainer that the folks on that distant planet do not speak English, Spanish, or Russian. So some kind of middle of the road language will have to be adapted for inter planetary space communication some how. And, since the nearest star which might have planets equivalent to Earth is roughly 4 Light Years from here, messages will take about 4 Years to get there and 4 years to come back to us with a reply. So round trip messaging like on EMail will be 8 years per message gram. Other stars with possible equivalent Earth like planets might be from 8 to 50 Light Years (or more) away. If our intelligent friends are on a planet circling one of those stars, messages might take 100 years to go round trip. So you might send a message, and have its answer come back to your child (if he or she were listening for it).
With the extreme distances involved I would not anticipate any travel out to those far flung places. Nor would I anticipate any visits here from them for the same reason. What would most likely happen is some kind of information exchange which began with the very simple, and progressed to increasingly complex subjects, concepts, and theories. Math
and physics are certain to play a large part of basic communications since they are the basis for most theoretical discussions.
Beyond that, who knows... Maybe tell a joke or two?
2007-04-02 19:10:51
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answer #2
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answered by zahbudar 6
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That depends, do you mean, is there life on other planets? Or do mean what will happen if we "discover" that there is life on another planet? I assume you mean the latter. In which case, probably not much will happen. If another planet has life, it may be too far away for us to reach it in one lifetime, even if we master traveling at near the speed of light. I'd be surprised if we manage to find the technology necessary to travel at warp speeds.
But lets assume we do have that tehcnology, we can either gain an ally or an enemy or slaves. If the people of this "new" world are techologically and intellectually superior (that's not even counting physically superior), they can chose to attempt to enslave the people of Earth. If they are our equal at least in technology and intelligence then it's a 50-50 shot that we'll be friends or go to war. If the people are "primitve" according to us, then whose to say some countries won't decide to transport some people over for cheap labor? Either way, think in this case, ignorance is bliss.
2007-04-02 18:12:16
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answer #3
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answered by Enchantress 3
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ETI will be millions or billions of years ahead of us, technologically and spiritually. They will be immortal and may no longer be flesh and blood; they may be totally AI or some mix of flesh and silicon AI. There is NOTHING on this little out of the way world that we can offer them that they cannot harvest much easier closer to where they live and for much less energy. We have nothing to fear from them, the only reason we might interest them is for study.
CONTACT with ETI; I just hope I'm alive to witness it. And I think that the movie of the same name is pretty much dead nuts on.
I'm not totally positive that we are "bound to make contact". But I think that we will detect... something, perhaps not directed radio signals, more likely leakage; perhaps Dyson Spheres or some other astro-engineering on a colossal scale (moving stars and clusters, etc).
The theory is that contact (lets say, an unquestionable intelligent stray radio signal detection) will rock our world for a while, months, and then fade away because it will take decades to decipher, but the long term effects (100 years) will overturn our civilization, especially when we figure out what they are gabbing about and can mainline the Encyclopedia Galactica, because they will be millions of years ahead of us, that's just the odds. Strong religions that can accept the new reality will thrive, sprituality will thrive.
2007-04-04 02:13:11
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answer #4
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answered by stargazergurl22 4
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Nothing would happen. We would fine out that we are not alone in the universe. I think it would be neat. I would hope that Earth would not start a war with another planet. But until we learn to live in Peach on Earth, its doubtful that we could get alone with another species from a different planet.
2007-04-02 18:03:32
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answer #5
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answered by Anonymous
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I assume you mean intelligent life. If a planet has a lower form of life, like bacteria for example, it's not nearly as earth-shattering as if intelligent life was found.
The odds of finding humanoid life on another planet is infinitesimally small. Consider the chances of there being life on another planet. Then think about the chances of that planet having intelligent life, say equivalent to a primate or higher. Then think about the chances of that planet's intelligent life forms having a form resembling humans. Lastly, of those few planets, out of the millions of billions of planets, imagine us Earthlings finding them.
Having said that - here's hoping they've put their intelligence to better use than we have.
2007-04-02 18:10:47
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answer #6
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answered by Just Me 4
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Things don't always work out well between partners. It's a fact.
One day or another their will be a war between two different worlds, or even galaxies.
don't worry, we wouldn't be alive to be killed by aliens.
2007-04-02 19:29:47
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answer #7
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answered by mostly_forfun 1
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Pat,
I totally agree with u man, ur one of the few ppl who actually has understood whats the other beings/creatures/lives are all about.
Its all about percepting.and yes we are very limited!
2007-04-02 18:15:53
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answer #8
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answered by shkumbin 1
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The only thing that would change is who we earthling's go to war against.
2007-04-02 18:01:59
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answer #9
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answered by Anonymous
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If in other solar systems, nothing. Distances are too great to ever meet.
2007-04-02 18:04:27
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answer #10
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answered by Anonymous
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