I've never really figured out why aliens would be that interested in Earth. To put it into a pithy and snarky saying, "Earth is all about the sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll, but franky, the sex is awful, the drugs are weak, and the rock and roll is not harmonious on our biological communication frequencies."
Part of me wonders if aliens are watching us, stealthily observing us, like xenoanthropologists, but I can't really see them interacting with us. Take too much time and trouble.
There is the possibility that they find some resource on Earth they want, and in the process of acquiring it wipe us out, but all of these contact stories hinge on the alien races having some sort of analog to human morality and thinking processes. This is understandable, since humans are writing these stories and thus they are conceived through a human's lens, but in reality, would an alien have any sort of analog or connection to human morality? I think not. Thus we really cannot speculate on what first contact will be, at least not realistically
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I've never really figured out why aliens would be that interested in Earth.
They might not be interested in us or any aspect of our culture. But our planet? I could easily see them being interested in Earth, the asteroid belt, and Jupiter's moon Europa. All of these have resources that any starfaring civilization could use. And if their carbon-based lifeforms like we are, Earth might be an attractive piece of real estate in and of itself. They could homestead here...after they clear out certain annoying pests(us), of course.
This is understandable, since humans are writing these stories and thus they are conceived through a human's lens, but in reality, would an alien have any sort of analog or connection to human morality? I think not.
I must question what sort of resources Earth has to offer an interstellar species, other than I guess the basic volatiles, like oxygen. I also don't see them colonizing our planet; if they're so advanced they can travel between the stars, they could probably create artificial habitats to live in and not have any need for planets as real estate.
I've thought about the zoo hypothesis and the planetarium hypothesis before, and while the latter seems unlikely (going through all that trouble would take a large amount of energy and be really pointless) the former seems plausible, although unlikely.
I must question what sort of resources Earth has to offer an interstellar species, other than I guess the basic volatiles, like oxygen.
Well, that depends on how advanced they are. In fact, a civilization making the transition from Type II to Type III on the Kardashev Scale would of necessity milk this planet of every resource it has. Including plain old oxygen. Side Note: The mind boggles at a Type III civilization. We'd be like insects to them.
if they're so advanced they can travel between the stars, they could probably create artificial habitats to live in and not have any need for planets as real estate.
I sort of concede. A civilzation building a Dyson Sphere at say 51 Pegasi would be dismantling and processing every planet they could detect within several light years as raw materials for the prject. Including ours. That sort of civilization would'nt be coveting our world as real estate so much as it would be using Earth as caulking glue.
Part of me wonders if aliens are watching us, stealthily observing us, like xenoanthropologists, but I can't really see them interacting with us. Take too much time and trouble.
There is the possibility that they find some resource on Earth they want, and in the process of acquiring it wipe us out, but all of these contact stories hinge on the alien races having some sort of analog to human morality and thinking processes. This is understandable, since humans are writing these stories and thus they are conceived through a human's lens, but in reality, would an alien have any sort of analog or connection to human morality? I think not. Thus we really cannot speculate on what first contact will be, at least not realistically ( ... )
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They might not be interested in us or any aspect of our culture. But our planet? I could easily see them being interested in Earth, the asteroid belt, and Jupiter's moon Europa. All of these have resources that any starfaring civilization could use. And if their carbon-based lifeforms like we are, Earth might be an attractive piece of real estate in and of itself. They could homestead here...after they clear out certain annoying pests(us), of course.
This is understandable, since humans are writing these stories and thus they are conceived through a human's lens, but in reality, would an alien have any sort of analog or connection to human morality? I think not.
On this, I concur.
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I've thought about the zoo hypothesis and the planetarium hypothesis before, and while the latter seems unlikely (going through all that trouble would take a large amount of energy and be really pointless) the former seems plausible, although unlikely.
PS - Sorry for the multi-edits.
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Well, that depends on how advanced they are. In fact, a civilization making the transition from Type II to Type III on the Kardashev Scale would of necessity milk this planet of every resource it has. Including plain old oxygen. Side Note: The mind boggles at a Type III civilization. We'd be like insects to them.
if they're so advanced they can travel between the stars, they could probably create artificial habitats to live in and not have any need for planets as real estate.
I sort of concede. A civilzation building a Dyson Sphere at say 51 Pegasi would be dismantling and processing every planet they could detect within several light years as raw materials for the prject. Including ours. That sort of civilization would'nt be coveting our world as real estate so much as it would be using Earth as caulking glue.
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And I see how this topic fits in nicely with your username.
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