First contact with aliens

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Distances mean nothing because velocity shrinks the universe.

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Tobruk wrote:

Distances mean nothing because velocity shrinks the universe.

The tiny little problem with your statement, is that this happens to a useful degree only close to the speed of light, which is about 670 million miles an hour. We can't come close to one one hundredth of 1% of this. Therefore, distances mean something, and, as I said correctly, the technological difficulties inherent in practical interstellar travel seem insurmountable simply because of the distances.

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neil wrote:

....Being all powerful, God can make such adjustments as necessary to make what seems impossible to humans practical....

Hmmm.....thought this was the science board.

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Was I talking about us?

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Tobruk wrote:

Was I talking about us?

I don't know. I said, the distances involved seem to us to pose an insurmountable barrier, and then you said distances mean nothing because the universe shrinks. Then, I said, distances mean quite a lot because we aren't near achieving that kind of speed. If what you said wasn't a response to what I had said, it sure seems like a coincidence. If it wasn't, then what did you mean?

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I think the jury is still out on whether the universe is shrinking or expanding.

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cavfancier wrote:

I think the jury is still out on whether the universe is shrinking or expanding.

I think he was talking about the relativistic length contraction that occurs near the speed of light.

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Ahh...

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Instead of asking what humanity would do at first contact with aliens, perhaps we should ask, "what would you do?"

Personally, I would be completely mesmerized by the event, and probably unable to think of anything else for days. I would probably take time off work and sit in front of the TV waiting for coverage, and I would be web browsing NASA links like crazy looking for any updates.

I would want to know the following things first:

* What technology did they use to travel here?
* What do they look like?
* Are they biological or mechanical or both?
* How do their physical processes work?
* Do they know of any other aliens out there?
* What are their intentions now that they are here?

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rosborne979 wrote:

Instead of asking what humanity would do at first contact with aliens, perhaps we should ask, "what would you do?"

Personally, I would be completely mesmerized by the event, and probably unable to think of anything else for days. I would probably take time off work and sit in front of the TV waiting for coverage, and I would be web browsing NASA links like crazy looking for any updates.

I would want to know the following things first:

* What technology did they use to travel here?
* What do they look like?
* Are they biological or mechanical or both?
* How do their physical processes work?
* Do they know of any other aliens out there?
* What are their intentions now that they are here?

I would also want to know how they compared to us in technology and in intelligence. What would it be like to be visited by aliens who were millenia ahead of us in science and technology, but less intelligent than we? What if they tried to force some really dumb religion down our throats and had the muscle to do so?

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Brandon9000 wrote:

I would also want to know how they compared to us in technology and in intelligence.

Yeh, and did they discover their own technology, or find it? And how long has their species been around?

Brandon9000 wrote:

What would it be like to be visited by aliens who were millenia ahead of us in science and technology, but less intelligent than we? What if they tried to force some really dumb religion down our throats and had the muscle to do so?

That would suck. Smile

First contact with aliens

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