Extraterrestrial Beings

[Fool]

If aliens exist and they are intelligently advanced, would that be a threat to the less learned earthlings?

 

[Terese]

Potentially. If highly advanced beyond current human technology, there's no doubt we would be unable to stop their advances if they took a militaristic approach or deemed us inferior (perhaps technologically and biologically)

 

[SalixIncendium]

If aliens exist and they are intelligently advanced, would that be a threat to the less learned earthlings?

In my opinion, they would only be a threat by way of provocation through our own ignorance...

...which would make them not a threat to us, but would render us a threat to ourselves.​

 

[socharlie]

If aliens exist and they are intelligently advanced, would that be a threat to the less learned earthlings?

we may be under control of those you mentioned and may have been for sometime...

 

[Kilgore Trout]

If there's anything we can learn from TV shows and movies, it's that no matter how advanced an alien species is, humans will always defeat them in the end. So, I'm not worried.

 

[ajay0]

If aliens exist and they are intelligently advanced, would that be a threat to the less learned earthlings?

It is a potential threat, and this could perhaps be the reason why Stephen Hawking is not enthusiastic about or does not endorse attempts to contact extraterrestrial civilizations.

On a positive note, an alien invasion can perhaps unify the diverse earth much better than any humanistic philosophies or international institutions working for world harmony and cooperation.

 

[Polymath257]

Clearly, it depends on the level of advancement and the degree of interaction.

If the aliens are so far advanced that we are like ants to them, we could survive as long as we don't become a nuisance and they don't call in 'pest control'. Otherwise, we would likely simply be ignored (nobody worries about that ant colony that isn't near anyones home, work, or fun).

A less advanced alien race might want to compete for resources and that could lead to conflict and that would go poorly for us (depending again, on the relative levels). Of course, if they have the capability of interstellar travel, they could find resources much easier on planets that are not inhabited. So why bother with us? Unless, of course, they need slave labor. That would be bad for us.

But don't forget that interstellar distances are *large*, so unless they have found something like wormhole technology or such, we would only have to deal with scouts. True interstellar war just isn't practical.

Now, the other view is that because of the distances, etc, it is much more likely that any aliens are more interested in discovery and we might be able to share their technology. That would be a *huge* help to us, at least potentially, if we can establish reliable communication.

And don't forget that our first contact might be robotic probes of some sort and not the biological aliens that sent the probe. In that case, the threat level decreases significantly again.

 

[Guy Threepwood]

If aliens exist and they are intelligently advanced, would that be a threat to the less learned earthlings?

Hawking uses the analogy of Europeans coming to the Americas- saying 'we know how it worked out for the natives'

So I think he's saying that aliens will ultimately bring us superior technology, standards of living, and exclusive rights to hunting, fishing and running casinos?

But my money would be on us being alone, I think the universe would have to be much larger than we currently guesstimate, to make another Earth/ race of sentient/ technological beings likely

 

[Nakosis]

If aliens exist and they are intelligently advanced, would that be a threat to the less learned earthlings?

I suspect that if we ever get to the point of going out into space, it'd probably be looking for additional resources. If we come across some lifeform we view as primitive, little more than animals really, we're likely to decide we have the right to take those resources.

Alien life may see us as little more than cattle or a virus on the planet. If they do, they probably wouldn't think twice about absconding off with all our resources.