Reaction to proof of life/no life elsewhere in the universe

[Aragorn]

There was really good discussion the last time I made a hypothetical topic like this, so let’s try another one.

How would humanity respond to definite proof that:

A) We are alone in the universe.

B) We are not alone so expect Star Trek in a few hundred years.

C) We are not alone but we are the top of the food chain, so Star Trek would be thousands of years off, but not guaranteed.

D) We are not alone but we are the bottom of the food chain and not invited to join Star Trek.

 

[XCV330]

It is empirically impossible to prove A
The most likely scenario: we find signs of life processes on a nearby world or in our own solar system which suggests life is common but by no means suggest spacefaring civilizations are common. Most likely we will be going it alone for the foreseeable future, or always.

 

[Kilana2]

My theory is: we are not alone. But the welcome ceremony for extraterrestic visitors is unfortunately blundered by Trump and his cronies. Everyone present is wiped out or turned into Smurfs.
So essentially we are top of the food chain. Only the strong survive.

 

[Butters]

My instinct is that the reaction to the discovery of extraterrestrial life will be as ground shattering as the discovery of gravity waves and the Higgs boson. Most will either shrug it off or raise an eyebrow, but ultimately it makes no difference.

The discovery of an extraterrestrial civilisation will crash the stock market, gold will sky rocket and currencies will fluctuate wildly for no real reason and popular culture will be saturated will alien inspired speculative fiction for a while. But a new series of Big Brother will usurp public attention and the world will spin on as it always has.

Visiting extraterrestrials will be treated with equal mistrust and opportunity mining, Some will attack them, some will rip em off, and others will sell us out.

 

[Kor]

This is why we need Men in Black.

Kor

 

[StarCruiser]

This is why we need Men in Black.

Kor

Who says we don't already have them? A neuralizer is good at hiding that...is it not?

 

[Delta Vega]

I think that we may be alone
It may be Earth's time for life to evolve and thrive, and then die out or destroy itself.
Once we've had our stint, life will evolve somewhere else in the depths of space and time
If we somehow DID discover life out there, there are so many zoomers on this planet of ours, who would not have the mental capacity to embrace our neighbours
If, on the other hand, WE are "discovered" first by an alien race, it's most likely we'd go the way of the Aztec, the Maya, or Native Americans for example.
Depressing isn't it ?

 

[auntiehill]

Who says we don't already have them? A neuralizer is good at hiding that...is it not?

What? I forgot what we were talking about.

 

[Delta Geminorum]

What would we have to do for the Vulcans to take an interest in us?

 

[BillJ]

There is intelligent life in the universe, we will never know due to distances involved.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

If we somehow knew for sure there was no alien life science fiction would change a lot. It might be interesting seeing more stories of humans leaving an unlivable Earth to try to find another home, less alien love affairs. Otherwise things wouldn’t change much.

If we found proof that aliens did exist, it would change things a lot. Tribe mentality I think actually would bring humanity together, against the aliens.

If the aliens were more advanced than us. Well, we’ll steal all their jobs, for way less than they’d have to pay an alien.

To me the most likely scenario is aliens exist but warp doesn’t exist so it’s too far away to expect to ever meet them.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

It's not enslavement if you sign up by choice and can walk away at will with no consequences.

And even if it was 'Enslavement', it's still humans doing the enslaving, the machines are just the tools. Shock videos also aren't really any worse than previous iterations of 'dumb stuff kids do', it's just faster and more in your face.

People are saying about social media now the same thing they said about television in previous generations, movies before that, or telephones even.

You need a cell phone to function, and you need access to the Internet. No specific brand and you don't need to use it any particular way.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

A cannot be proven.

 

[StarCruiser]

I think that we may be alone
It may be Earth's time for life to evolve and thrive, and then die out or destroy itself.
Once we've had our stint, life will evolve somewhere else in the depths of space and time
If we somehow DID discover life out there, there are so many zoomers on this planet of ours, who would not have the mental capacity to embrace our neighbours
If, on the other hand, WE are "discovered" first by an alien race, it's most likely we'd go the way of the Aztec, the Maya, or Native Americans for example.
Depressing isn't it ?

Yes, it is... (note my Avatar)

 

[StarCruiser]

We are staring into the face of our alien overlords right now. In part, the machines have already enslaved us. Have you ever seen people invisibly chained by the neck to their devices? It's called Screen Addiction. And it's a shame because in order to function, you almost have to have an iPhone. The machines are now capable of instantly recognizing us, listening to everything we say, pinpointing our exact location at all times, permanently recording every key stroke, picking up our images almost anywhere in public, and secretly encouraging us not to look away. What will happen when Artificial Intelligence leaves the nest?

We don't need the Borg to assimilate our children. The internet is already doing it with Social Media. I watched one of my niece's YouTube videos the other day. It looked innocent enough, but it was downright deranged. Those new "stars" have the attention spans of gnats. Another one had a woman swallowing spoonfuls of cinnamon. And that's the timid stuff!
I'm afraid those clips will turn their brains into the toxic slime they all love to make.

Anyway, we don't have to worry about scary creatures from above, they are hatching right here on earth. Perhaps we will pause a moment before releasing technology we can no longer control.

P.S. I should have said ticks, not gnats. How about them Plum Island Ticks?

Don't worry about the machines - there will be a "Jihad" against them at some point in the future (followed by a "new" Bible, and on and on...).

 

[BillJ]

(followed by a "new" Bible, and on and on...).

If it isn’t on my Kindle, I ain’t reading it!

 

[think]

it's life Jim but not as we know it

they say photons decide what direction to light things up ... so they are alive on some level maybe?

 

[publiusr]

If we are alone, trek is more do-able--because all aliens will have a human basis ( from something like Foundation) thus explaining the foreheads.

If we are not alone--it will be more like Babylon 5

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I agree more diverse aliens are more likely, and also it’s likely they can’t breathe the same air, eat the same food, etc.

But I think it’s very possible aliens will be similar general shape to us. Maybe our form is just the optimal form to evolve intelligence.

 

[Relayer1]

There is intelligent life in the universe, we will never know due to distances involved.

Quite possible. Given the various chains of calculations regarding numbers of stars, planets, habitable zones, meteor clearing moons etc. it seems unlikely that we are the only instance. Especially as developments in identifying exoplanets and understanding biochemistry seem to indicate we may have underestimated things.

The distances involved may be truly staggering and preclude contact or even spotting evidence, let alone travelling there, but there is another problem - deep time.

Looking at the immense past leading to now, there could have been many, many occurrences of life arising, each going through it's cycle and ending. Each separated by massive stretches of time, even if they were, relatively speaking, our neighbours.