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If ET Calls, Who Speaks For Humanity?
EagleHasLanded writes "Who speaks for humankind if ET calls on us? Paul Davies, chairman of the SETI Post-Detection Taskgroup, is a likely ambassador. But Allen Tough founded the Invitation to ETI Web site, which encourages ET to make contact via email (and also strongly discourages humans from impersonating ET). But an individual in the UK got over some of the hurdles designed to weed out hoaxers, before finally throwing in the towel."
Our TV broadcasts have already spoken for us, and it wasn't a good message.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
It would be Prez Obama, whether that's right or wrong who knows, but that's what would happen.
~don't feel threatened by my pineal~
Morgan Freeman.
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
Obviously, there's no good answer to this question. No matter who was picked, by whatever process, some group on the planet would resent it.
Personally I think Sagan had it right - we pick someone who doesn't have a religious or political agenda, is broadly educated especially in sciences, and
would be willing to perform the task.*
(Hmm... Richard Dawkins? *g*)
* No, really:
1) No religious agenda - doesn't matter whether or not the aliens have religion. If they don't, they'll likely think us backward. If they do, it's possible they will be offended by our version(s) - and it's certain that picking anyone who professes one major religion would piss off the other major religions.
2) No political agenda. I doubt I need to explain this one; the person will be speaking for ALL HUMANITY.
3) Broadly educated - in trying to understand a totally alien viewpoint, experience in many different fields would be essential.
4) ... especially in the sciences - because it's likely anyone who *could* contact us would be extremely far along in the sciences. Unless they're doing it with telepathy...
5) Volunteer, of course.
SB
It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
An Alien first need to understand our tcp/ip packets. Imagine if they have their own computer system. They need to decode our internet traffic. Okey it's only a bunch of zeros and ones. But how is disposed here on Earth is completely different what is disposed for an Alien system. So is necessary to convert our tcp/ip to a protocol understand for the aliens. Then the IANA didn't allocate any ipv4 for UFOS. So, the only possibility is hack some ISP to join the internet, open an Gmail ou any free email account for sending a message. That's will not be easy because they need to understand and study our language. The satellites are there transmitting all kind of TV programs still in a analogic. If an alian decode it, they will study and learn any earth language.
Any way if they send a email, our researches will think that is a hoax. I think that the best way is fly to a TV station and shows everyone that they are there. So there will be no doubt about intelligence outside our solar system.
wouldn't you smile before a good firm handshake and slap on the back.
Oh yeah, bear your teeth, seize their forelimb, then strike them between the main arm joints. That'll give them a warm reception. Or make them shit right on the landing ramp...
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Why do we need someone to speak for humanity as a whole? Why do we assume the aliens will have a single government? Why can't we communicate nation-to-nation?
I mean... we have the UN right? so wouldnt' Ban Kyi Moon be the appropriate choice?
No one speaks for "humanity." Everyone speaks for themselves. But, I suppose that won't stop some sleazebag politician from claiming to speak for a few million or billion other people...
Liberty in your lifetime
But in other cases, baring your teeth is a sign that you're planning to bite down on their neck.
Humans smile to relax each other. Some animals use it are a threat. We wouldn't know what showing teeth means in an alien's culture.
So, you assume that atheists are correct and that aliens, assuming they even exist would be atheists?
Personally, I suspect that's true, but I don't know. However, I see three possibilities:
Now, of those, do you really think #2 is likely? (If you do, you probably should investigate how religion arose on this planet.)
No, the likelier possibilities are option #1, in which case, any religious individual would make us seem backwards and primitive; or #3, in which case, any religion we choose to represent would likely be weird and possibly offensive to them.
Who would you suggest? An obnoxious pompous prick like Dawkins?
Funny... when I believed, I thought the same way you did. About Randi, also.
Eventually, I realized that what I saw as "arrogance" was merely the courage to stand up to popular dogmas. They were attacking things I held dear, and that made me defensive, so of course I saw them as arrogant and disruptive.
real science, rather than trying to prove the non-existence of god.
Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist, and you might notice he's also written several books about that. If you investigate what he actually does with his time, you'll probably find he spends far more time doing exactly that -- real science.
You seem to be confused into thinking that all atheists are necessarily "militant atheists", and that this would be the first thing on their minds when they encounter an alien being. That's not the concern at all. The concern is that the last thing we want is to be trying to tell an alien the "good news".
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
any aliens with the technology to travel across interstellar space would have to have some pretty phenomenal computer technology
The only thing safe to assume about aliens is that they will be ALIEN. As in, completely unlike us in every way. It's a mistake to terrestrialize ETs, let alone anthropomorphize them. Their concept of 'communication', let alone their culture and motivations, will likely be be so wildly different than ours as to be beyond our ability to even conceive of it. Hell, we have a hard enough time understanding and communicating with other HUMAN cultures. Aliens, especially aliens sophisticated enough to cross interstellar distances? Forget about it.
Why is it that the proponents of "one nation under God" are so eager to get rid of "liberty and justice for all"?
I would hope that an alien species capable of something as ordinary as intergalactic travel would also have spent some time thinking this through and determined that our customs and social cues may not necessarily directly correlate to their own.
not much, just being forced to manually insert line breaks into my comment
Someone mod the parent up.
Is there any particular reason an alien species would be any nicer to other species than we are to other species?
Actually, I would disagree that there is a conflict between science and religion... well... the scientists don't think so, at least. The scientists: "We know the following stuff about how the world works - here's what our experiments tell us." The religious: "Scientists aren't agreeing with us on everything! They're a threat to us and they must be stopped!" Is it possible to have a conflict where really only one side is trying to 'beat' the other?
Is Richard Dawkins up to snuff with his science? I don't know - I'm not an evolutionary biologist. Is there a conflict between science and religion? No, not really, but the religious folks out there seem to be making capital out of the idea that there might be.
As a robotics research engineer very little of my science has anything to do with religion. I have, however, attempted to create the robot devil with so far inconclusive results. The prototype can fiddle, but hasn't yet bought a soul.
Scientists point out problems, engineers fix them
altslashdot.org: The future of slashdot.
> "Not exactly rigorous"... it doesn't withstand two seconds of critical thought.
Are you sure? Have you tried it?
what are suggesting?
...that plants are sentient, or that they flail like crazy and try to get away?
Whoever picks up the phone. Hopefully it will not be one of our "leaders".
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
I see your point, but if there are aliens who are capable of traveling across interstellar space and navigating it without computer technology of some sort, there will likely never EVER be any common ground with us to communicate thru.
We rely on our technology for communications, more and more so the more technically advanced we get. Any form of communication has to have some sort of symbolic nature, otherwise it's not communication.
Like I said elsewhere, unless they communicate via telepathy, there has to be at least some common ground, technology wise. However, just because WE can't understand THEM, doesn't mean that THEY won't be able to understand US.
At the risk of providing fodder for fruitcakes, technically they could already be living amongst us, and we'd never know they were there. I am familiar with Clarke's Law wrt advanced technology...
I think it much more likely that any aliens who would go to the trouble of trying to contact us - as a species - via a means we are familiar with would use the means of communication we are capable of detecting.
Otherwise there wouldn't be much point in attempting to do so.
SB
It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
Ditto.
Let's hope that they won't judge us on that. If they do, we're pretty well screwed.
“You are capable of such wonderful dreams,and such terrible nightmares.”
Hell, we can't even treat other members of our OWN species decently, as a whole, much less other species.
Some say we're in our adolescence, I'd argue we're still in the terrible two's" stage, where, as a species, we haven't developed a learned sense of ethics...
SB
It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
We regularly leave our planet by use of technology and have harnessed the power of the atom?
That's not to say it's enough, but those are at least two things that would probably differentiate us quite a bit.
But if we're not 6-dimensional beings and don't *smell* the *pretty* colors, we might seem like a talking dog or a counting horse. They might be amazed by the dog (but will never consider it an equal), but they'll only be temporarily amused by the horse until they wanted to ride somewhere, make some glue, or eat horse-chops.
Strange magical physics don't even have to be in play; the aliens only have to believe that quality X is more important than intelligence (or that quality X denotes intelligence), and if we don't have it, then we're defacto non-intelligent.
*shrug* I've been atheist since about '78,79, somewhere there. Can't say, didn't wake up one day and say "There is no dog" or anything like that. Raised Lutheran, just didn't take; as Carlin said, I "reached the age of reason". People who believe in tarot cards, or any other form of superstition or mysticism, are not atheists. I don't know where you get that definition from, but it isn't accurate. They may say they are, but they aren't. I'll agree that atheism, by itself, is not necessarily rational. But most people who admit to being atheist are rational. We could play statistical quote-me back and forth for weeks, tho. If it comes down to talking to aliens, tho, I suspect that scientific rationalism - and probably anarchic scientific rationalism - will win the day. I have to crash, have to work tomorrow. I'd love to debate this more with you, but sleep demands me. What would an alien species that doesn't sleep think of that? *g* later SB
It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
Nice to meet you. Would you kindly take me to your leader?
So it's 1620 all over again, but this time we're all Red Indians and the pilgrims are green?
Watch out for the blankets.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."