ET

[TiberSeptimsGrandma]

Most every single star you look at when you look into the night sky is a sun, with the possibility of a solar system revolving around it like ours. And inversely, our sun is a star, and only a medium sized one at that. Life on our planet started out as a primordial ooze that just kinda chilled around, and one day a mutation formed and life came. What's to say that this hasn't already happened a hundred thousand years ago on a planet that's five hundred thousand light years away?

[Dark Spark]

Most every single star you look at when you look into the night sky is a sun, with the possibility of a solar system revolving around it like ours. And inversely, our sun is a star, and only a medium sized one at that. Life on our planet started out as a primordial ooze that just kinda chilled around, and one day a mutation formed and life came. What's to say that this hasn't already happened a hundred thousand years ago on a planet that's five hundred thousand light years away?

Fact is, any alien race advanced enough to reach our world would have the technology to wipe out a biosphere by pure accident— much less calculated design.

We'd be screwed if they showed up.

Conversely, if we ever broke out of Sol's well, the rest of the galaxy would be in grave danger. The only question left to be asked is if all those wondrous alien species are tasty when basted with barbecue sauce.

[Gideon Dragontongue]

We humans aren't to be trusted.

[Dark Spark]

Welcome to my conversation.

[TiberSeptimsGrandma]

Well if we ever did leave Sol, I highly doubt we'd find anything. We'd probably be out there looking for another place to live because we've already [&@%!] up this planet.

But if we were to find something, I don't think the president, or prime minister, or dictator, or whomever you want to associate extra terrestrial travel with, would think it wise to pick a fight with an advanced alien species.
That being said, I can't speak for the species were they to find us. Hopefully they would be a sentient, good natured species that were as dissimilar to the Krogan as possible.

[Gideon Dragontongue]

Earth needs to get itself sorted out before it goes contacting any extraterrestrials.

[Dark Spark]

Well if we ever did leave Sol, I highly doubt we'd find anything. We'd probably be out there looking for another place to live because we've already [&@%!] up this planet.

But if we were to find something, I don't think the president, or prime minister, or dictator, or whomever you want to associate extra terrestrial travel with, would think it wise to pick a fight with an advanced alien species.
That being said, I can't speak for the species were they to find us. Hopefully they would be a sentient, good natured species that were as dissimilar to the Krogan as possible.

Kid, we've hunted entire species to extinction purely by how tasty they were. We set off atomic fission weapons inside our own biosphere. We nailed our own god to a frickin' stick.

No one [&@%!] with Earthlings.

[TiberSeptimsGrandma]

Kid, we've hunted entire species to extinction purely by how tasty they were. We set off atomic fission weapons inside our own biosphere. We nailed our own god to a frickin' stick.

No one [&@%!] with Earthlings.

But we know now much more than we did then. And as for nailing god to a stick, the Romans did that who didn't believe in any religion that has survived today.

But if the same humans who did all that were to [&@%!] with ET species, then our race would have proven to be hot tempered and rash, and would end up decimating ourselves.

Humans are just flankholes. Doesn't mean other species won't [&@%!] with us.

[Dark Spark]

My greatest hope is that the others see the Gene Roddenberry in us before they figure we're a bunch of Jersey Shore fans.

[DorostheConqueror]

Of course there are aliens. My hometown is full of 'em, but most of them have their green cards so INS doesn't bother them too much.

As for little green men, what's the point in arguing over something we're never going to resolve? Oh, sure, it might be fun to speculate, but that's all it is: speculation. I can sit here and say, yeah! There are aliens! look how big the sky is! Gotta be some Klingons out there somewhere, right? But the truth is, we've got no more to go on than ancient mariners dreaming about far off lands populated by three-headed beasts who danced around in rivers of gold and jewels. I'd be more interested to know, say, how common "potentially" habitable planets are in our immediate galactic vicinity, or even if they're at all common within binary and trinary star systems. Hell, forget the life AND the planets, let's just get to better understanding the bigger crap first, like stars and black holes and dark matter.

Now, don't get me wrong. Just because I'm totally ambivalent about the question of extraterrestrial life doesn't mean I don't help out, I just don't see the point in speculating on a subject that not one of us has any expertise in and which we're all going to get completely wrong anyway.

My greatest hope is that the others see the Gene Roddenberry in us before they figure we're a bunch of Jersey Shore fans.

Oh, God no. They'll either see the Gorn or Deanna Troi, and then our species is toast.

Frankly, I'd rather we put on a tough face and scare the anaerobic crap out of the slant-eyed bug creatures. Give 'em a taste of Starship Troopers and we'll be all set.

[Dark Lord Cam]

No! bad idea!

They'll think that the entire sum of our military might and tactical ability is worth absolutely little consideration.

[DorostheConqueror]

No, they'd be intimidated beyond all sense of reason by our Mobile Infantry and alien-killing gatling guns. And that's the way we should treat aliens; with menace and calculating aggression. As Machiavelli said: "it is far safer to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both".

But if all else fails, there's always Denise Richards.



Fear, or love. Either way we win.

[Dark Lord Cam]

Yeah, no. Did you say the movie?

The "mobile Infantry" in that movie is barely comparable to untrained militia armed with machine guns. The aliens would see a weak military force incapable of even killing a single cockroach without spraying lead everywhere but the target. We'd be invaded the next day.

[DorostheConqueror]

Who won in the end? The aliens? I don't think so. Any "subpar" performance by certain members of the mobile infantry (and I've gotta question whether you or anyone else here could have done better against asteroid-dwelling insects the size of a house) can be chalked up to one of two things:

The director's desire to create dramatic tension.
The director's desire to subtly subvert the jingoistic quasi-fascism of the book.

Now granted, assuming the aliens are even capable of processing thought at a higher level of syntax, the cultural subtexts and unwritten understandings would be totally lost on them. But still, the overall message of the film is: humans are violent. Humans kick ass and conquer stuff. Humans win in the end. Your resources are ours, give up and run while you still have a chance.

[Dark Lord Cam]

I simply think you're choosing the wrong film.

I instead recommend we send war footage from every recent war in the 20 century and onward.

[Will Zurmacht]

Oh, sure, it might be fun to speculate, but that's all it is: speculation. I can sit here and say, yeah! There are aliens! look how big the sky is! Gotta be some Klingons out there somewhere, right?

Let the master tell it.

Re: UFO Defense. Even if our home planet is assaulted by aggressive hyper-advanced cosmic marauders, there are several effective means of self-defense, most prominently:

1) Convince an old drunk that the best way to redeem himself is to kamikaze his F-15 into the alien starship's phase-a-tron while it's powering up.
2) Give the alien mothership a "cold" using a satellite dish and a few lines of Javascript.

--

Longer term, I think the best way to meet the threats of the wider cosmos is to focus on our own species' development. We need a few centuries of elective eugenics (genetic modification); the fusion of man and machine; advanced artificial intelligences that can push us (and them) toward the technological singularity; of harnessing Dyson equipment, which would provide the energy for grandiose projects like planetary terraforming and megascale engineering.

A few centuries, dear friends! Then we can give those xenos a run for their money!

[Stormborn]

I suppose it is entirely possible that Aliens are out there. However, it is likely that they would scout us out by watching our communications and media before making first contact. Given how much crap we put out(strictly, xfactor, 'stenders etc.) have to think they would either wipe us out (go team green) or interdict the solar system.

[Gideon Dragontongue]

I simply think you're choosing the wrong film.

I instead recommend we send war footage from every recent war in the 20 century and onward.

That sounds like a good plan. Focus on Hiroshima and the atomic bomb.

[MARS]

I am confident that sentient life exists somewhere. Other than that, I know nothing.

*covers third eye with hair*

[Generalno1]

Honestly, it's ridiculous to even assume these aliens even have a military, or anything even remotely human in nature.
We don't know how these hypothetical aliens are wired. They could a completely different way of thinking and functioning than humans. They might not even have our way of life, since we know nothing about where they came from.
Probability says that aliens should exist somewhere, so i suppose so.