What intentions might a spacefaring extraterrestrial civilization have if visiting Earth?

Question

I ask this question seriously. I am a big fan of the now departed Carl Sagan but wonder if his 'noble' view of possible spacefaring extraterrestrials was a bit too hopeful. Certainly, I hope we can someday develop interstellar travel and visit Earth-like worlds - in large part, because we may need to live there - meaning - we as humans would plan to invade. What is your opinion????

Answer 1

Hi Bryan!

It stands to reason that evolution and the competition it implies must be a constant throughout the universe (otherwise the advanced creatures would never have survived in the first place).

Therefore, it is more likely than not that any other civilization would have many of the same motivations that earthly ones do: self-preservation, gathering resources and gaining an advantage over others. It seems difficult to believe that these civilizations would invest the resources needed for spacefaring if there were "nothing in it for them."

You understand, I'm sure, that the Einsteinian limitations on spacefaring, such as the absolute limit of the speed of light and the physical impossibility of matter achieving it, would make it as difficult for extraterrestrials to reach us as it is for us to reach them.

I'm afraid that the absolutely stupendous amounts of energy required for interstellar travel would make it utterly impractical to transport even the tiniest fraction of our population, assuming that suitable planets can be found. If we can somehow get our fingers on power of this magnitude, I expect we'd first use it to solve our problems on earth.

Answer 2

The alien craft is only a delusion, only element that ever visited earth have been the meteorites. interior the destiny we ought to verify extraterrestrials visitting earth, yet those extraterrestrials are the consequence of human creation. The scienstists had test with distinctive form of specimens and positioned them interior the area. some day those specimens will quickly advance and grow to be the existence of its very own and discover that's earlier to earth....

Answer 3

Think about it logically. I have little confidence in the fact that extra-terrestrial visitors will be peaceful, placid beings. The reality is, if a civilization would put in the effort to visit us, I very much doubt it will be for tea and biscuits.

To be honest, I very much doubt we will ever come to know our galactic neighbors. Either they will be far too advanced to even bother communicating or they will be primitive organism barely out of the primordial soup.

However, let's say we were able to travel between these earth-like worlds. If this were the case, I would pray that humans (for once) might finally be able to establish peace because a conflict with other advanced beings could mean complete human specicide.

Answer 4

Short of discovering some type of new physics, colonizing other planets is never going to be a viable method of reducing the world's population. Given the world's current birth rate, in the time it took you to build and launch a colony ship the world's population would have increased through births more than enough to fill it, so no net population decrease.

Given this, the only real reason to explore space is for the intrinsic worth of exploration. Sagan's argument is that anyone willing to do this would have no need to invade once they got to a destination.

Answer 5

I think their primary motivation would be just to find out what we are like compared to them. Wouldn't that be our attitude during our own explorations?

We will never be able to relocate to another world without some sort of astonishing discovery being made as far as getting from one place to another in space. I'm not holding my breath. I think we're stuck here on the earth and we have to make the best of it.

Answer 6

why would WE do it? why would we travel that far? Are we just curios?

Do we treasure life that much that we'd go investigate against the odds and expenses?(probes first. they're cheaper and safer) Or is it that we need to leave the earth?
if we do, we're living on our ship for hundreds of years why go and immediately kill a civilization, why not say for example. bargain.....by sharing knowledge. Knowledge IS POWER ya know?
Refuel for the time being, recharge and live on the ship again in search for an empty world if it doesn't work out?

Also think about what kind of energy can get us there? powerful tech! as we've moved on through manipulating matter/energy we've found some cool and evil powers

like hmmm nuclear fusion (orion project) http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/O/OrionProj.html

we harnessed that kind of power and didn't kill our selves in the cold war with nuclear bombs. If a race was so violent that it couldn't do what we did then it probably won't exist long enough to get smart enough to get out into space. So I don't think they'd be a threat. (unless we landed on that planet)

as we move on through tech, we start talking about building worm holes and manipulating time and space all to be able to move faster than light. This is really the way to get around as a space faring race, you could send HUGE mining fleets instantly and cheaply to sweep star clusters and all their planets, or for what ever reason.

BUT WHY?
tied into getting around like this is the learning or quantum mechanics, and attempting to controlling matter/energy in its most basic form. who needs to go mining, or killing or pillaging? or even gather in groups?

knowledge! thats the only thing I think draws civilizations off their planets (sometime necessity) but over all, the knowledge got them off the planet and will stay with them to keep the ship moving.

its a strong force that CAN connect itself over light years.

Answer 7

Well, they could be seeking peace/trade, they could be in the midst of a war and need our support, they could need more land to sustain their growing population in which they could either ask us nicely and pay us in a way or obliterate us. They could also be searching for signs of intelligent life.