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[KevinKeene]

Since racism is all the rage, I thought up of this question/scenario. I guess technically the term would be 'speciist'. Whatever:

Aliens make contact with us. To everybody's surprise, they don't kill mankind, mankind doesn't kill them (for now). After an initial phase of shock and awe, members of the aliens (and let's assume they're humanoid, no freaky tentacles, although they're different enough to be spotted instantly) start living amonst us. They're at least as smart as ourselves and the can communicate with us.

Here's the question: Would you be able to fully accept these aliens as equal to yourself and other human beings? Or would you treat them more like a very intelligent pet? If there's ever an emergency, would you put preference on saving a fellow human over a member of the aliens? How far would you go to fight for their rights, or adversely fight them, fullstop?

Personally, I think that it's our intelligence that matters, not our bodies, so as long as any extraterrestrials are reasonably intelligent, I don't see why I wouldn't accept them fully. But then again movies often paint a different picture. What's your stance?

 

[Corrik]

Kind of a silly question because we would have no choice to accept them as they could probably destroy us at any moment if that far advanced than us.

 

[Dice]

If they could travel to us, they'd clearly be superior.

 

[Basoes]

I mean if aliens did exist they wouldn't come here as friends but beings looking for a labor force so yea I'd be mildly racist to say the least

 

[Dice]

I mean if aliens did exist they wouldn't come here as friends but beings looking for a labor force so yea I'd be mildly racist to say the least

Traveling here from another system kind of inherently demonstrates possession of technology that has made labor forces irrelevant.

 

[TheChewyWaffles]

Isn’t that xenophobia

 

[Basoes]

Traveling here from another system kind of inherently demonstrates possession of technology that has made labor forces irrelevant.

there'd be no point in being friendly or killing everyone so I can't see any other reason why they'd come to us


they'd do research before coming here, they'd know what we're like

 

[Musky_Cheese]

No big deal. I’ll just become a smuggler. Post your resume below to be my Chewbacca. I’m in it for the money

 

[Unknown Quantity]

The only Aliens they would send us are probably their idiots who would then be the top intellects on our planet. So even racism I'd imagine they'd beat us at, so leave all ridicule in private, hushed tones and hope their idiots can teach our geniuses.

 

[Catphish]

How I treat them would be largely dependent on how they treat us. My default stance is love, but not at the expense of my well being, or others'.

My core philosophy is that all are one. As long as you're not trying to kill me or deprive me of my freedom, then you're my brother/sister/anthropomorphic space sibling, and I will treat you as such.

 

[ReBurn]

Traveling here from another system kind of inherently demonstrates possession of technology that has made labor forces irrelevant.

Then who built their spaceships?

 

[Dice]

Then who built their spaceships?

The self-maintaining endless energy robots that the spaceships are.

 

[ReBurn]

The self-maintaining endless energy robots that the spaceships are.

Oh, okay. Who built those robots, then?

 

[Strife In a Teacup]

No big deal. I’ll just become a smuggler. Post your resume below to be my Chewbacca. I’m in it for the money

I like this reply. A visit from extraterrestrial beings is wrought with opportunity, might as well get in on the action.

 

[way more]

As long as they aren't gaseous beings. Those fucking volumizers.

 

[Durask]

I don't think they would be able to live among us. Bacteria for one thing - they will have to wear space suits so that we do not kill each other with our microbiota. Some harmless bacteria on their skin may be space ebola for us that will kill half of the world's population.

Also, obligatory mention of Fermi's Paradox

 

[Dice]

Oh, okay. Who built those robots, then?

Most-likely less sophisticated robots that were programmed to do so, like how we have CPUs made to a precision we could never achieve by hand. Do you realize what an effort it is to get to another solar system? Any species achieving it will have transcended labor.

 

[wondermega]

If they come here, it will likely be for A. fun/"vegas planet" (fuck around, wreck shit) or B. use Earth as a prison planet. So I doubt we would have much say in the matter. Personally, I think as a species we are way too far away from being able to get along with a foreign species and all that that entails, at least this early in our history. Maybe in another few thousand years..

 

[SoulUnison]

[90s Synth Theme Song]
~~They're spaAAAAAAaaa~aaaaa~aaaaa *inhales* SPA-ACE RACISTS!~~ *toot toot!*

Spoiler

But I mean, yeah, totally. I'd be running screaming until we could prove that we could even be in the same room without somehow killing each other just due to foreign bacteria and such.

 

[LordPezix]

It's my dream to bang it out with an alien babe. I accept them all!

 

[KINGMOKU]

Traveling here from another system kind of inherently demonstrates possession of technology that has made labor forces irrelevant.

This is not quite true(but of course could be I'm not questioning that)as circumstances could be ones of need; Planet died and they sent out a massive civilization ship for several generations and they happened upon us, or found us much like our current astronomers have found earth like planets and they are moving at sub light speed. 2.)Said race just got to the point of FTL travel and decide to engage. Said race would be mere decades, maybe 100 years ahead.

There's more, but aliens visiting us and trying to wipe us out is not a given. They would need massive amounts of troops(if they don't have orbital destruction weapons)and the human race isn't exactly without weapons. We as a race are not ill equipped for war. Just the weapons and ships we know of could do major damage. I can't imagine what kind of tech you'd have to have to stop a nuke from decimating a ship(s).

I see this a lot in fiction that humans are helpless and get conquered easily. I just don't buy it, unless the alien race is so advanced they can just one shot the planet. A bullet is a bullet wether your from earth, or omicron persei8.

 

[MaulerX]

If they are the ones making the initial contact and then end up moving here or whatever then I think everyone would treat them with the utmost respect if not actually be shitting their pants since they would clearly be the supreme beings.

 

[Hoya Destroyer]

If their social behavior (crime, welfare, general manners etc) was on par with humans, I'd accept and respect them accordingly.
For instance, I think modern society would be better off if we had Salarians and Asari here. Krogans and Vorcha can stay the hell away.

 

[Airola]

I would watch us dying from whatever diseases they brought with them while watching them dying from whatever diseases they got from us.
There's no time for prejudices at that point. It's just us and them both making facepalms and saying "well this was a mistake" :/

Most-likely less sophisticated robots that were programmed to do so, like how we have CPUs made to a precision we could never achieve by hand. Do you realize what an effort it is to get to another solar system? Any species achieving it will have transcended labor.

Well.. that or they have way more labor than anywhere else and possibly slavery. Or something in between.

 

[Razorback]

I'm assuming you're talking about Star Trek "aliens" here. Basically people but with a weird forehead. This scenario is astronomically (eh) implausible and thus, uninteresting (like star trek, come at me)

After reading this shortish story Three Worlds Collide I hope we never ever meet aliens.

It's about humans meeting a species that eat their own babies. The humans are morally shocked by this of course. Some argue the babies should be saved, and others argue they have no right to judge their ways. Things get more complicated when a third alien race arrives. who are more advanced than both the humans and the babyeaters. They look at us and find our way of life equally abhorrent. They want to save us from ourselves by offering to make us... less human.

 

[Dee Dah Dave]

I would treat them based on what’s in their head and what comes out of their mouth, not what they look like. Same as any human.

 

[llien]

I'm struggling to imagine why one would consider humanoids as or more intelligent than humans "pets"....
Shouldn't they then look like sweet little animals? E.g.:

Traveling here from another system kind of inherently demonstrates possession of technology that has made labor forces irrelevant.

Kind of a silly question because we would have no choice to accept them as they could probably destroy us at any moment if that far advanced than us.

That was addressed already, their advanced tech stops working, ship can't leave, they have some weapons, but nothing spectacular.

 

[Fbh]

I'd continue to mostly apply the "if you are nice to me I'm nice to you" system I use with most people.


And let's be honest , it's to better to try to be on their good side because you know that humanity will inevitably get into a conflict with them

 

[KevinKeene]

I'd continue to mostly apply the "if you are nice to me I'm nice to you" system I use with most people.

Would you treat them on an individual base, though? Or would some aliens treating you bad sour your goodwill towards the entire alien species? Doing so in the context of human beings would be called racism, and rightfully so. However, I have the feeling that generalizations would be much more prone of happening when it's in the context of extraterrestrials.

 

[Fbh]

Would you treat them on an individual base, though? Or would some aliens treating you bad sour your goodwill towards the entire alien species? Doing so in the context of human beings would be called racism, and rightfully so. However, I have the feeling that generalizations would be much more prone of happening when it's in the context of extraterrestrials.

On an individual base as I do everyone.

 

[MC Safety]

These threads are always pretty dumb because they assume aliens would be enough like us that we'd have some common ground -- like a body type or motivations or whatever. And, in this case, that we'd have a choice to be racist or not.

What happens if the aliens come and they are as foreign to us as we are to a bedbug? What if they are completely and totally alien?

 

[Makariel]

What happens if the aliens come and they are as foreign to us as we are to a bedbug? What if they are completely and totally alien?

That is always a possibility, but chances are good they might be carbon-based lifeforms as well. And if they have the technology to travel here, they can surely manage to communicate with us primitive beings somehow. Unless, of course, we run into Tyranids, then we're toast.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

I wouldn't care but it depends.
What I do not like is that people somehow assume that aliens should be friendly or that their societies are united or so.

The universe might be as well warhammer 40k .

 

[woopWOOP]

At first I'd be "cool", but if one of them starts eating people I'll probably think "bastards are all like that"

 

[Dice]

These threads are always pretty dumb because they assume aliens would be enough like us that we'd have some common ground -- like a body type or motivations or whatever. And, in this case, that we'd have a choice to be racist or not.

What happens if the aliens come and they are as foreign to us as we are to a bedbug? What if they are completely and totally alien?

And if they have the technology to travel here, they can surely manage to communicate with us primitive beings somehow.

The film Arrival depicts this in an interesting way.

 

[infinitys_7th]

1609n

This is not quite true(but of course could be I'm not questioning that)as circumstances could be ones of need; Planet died and they sent out a massive civilization ship for several generations and they happened upon us, or found us much like our current astronomers have found earth like planets and they are moving at sub light speed. 2.)Said race just got to the point of FTL travel and decide to engage. Said race would be mere decades, maybe 100 years ahead.

There's more, but aliens visiting us and trying to wipe us out is not a given. They would need massive amounts of troops(if they don't have orbital destruction weapons)and the human race isn't exactly without weapons. We as a race are not ill equipped for war. Just the weapons and ships we know of could do major damage. I can't imagine what kind of tech you'd have to have to stop a nuke from decimating a ship(s).

I see this a lot in fiction that humans are helpless and get conquered easily. I just don't buy it, unless the alien race is so advanced they can just one shot the planet. A bullet is a bullet wether your from earth, or omicron persei8.

Conventional Earth weaponry revolves around damaging kinetics. Projectiles direct impart kinetic energy through collision, explosives impart kinetic energy through pressure waves (and produce high temperatures).

Any spacefaring ship would need deflector systems for prolonged travel to prevent damage from space debris. Those same deflectors could, theoretically, handle a bullet or missile. Extremely high temp weapons like a nuke may be effective (although there are countermeasures such a race would likely also have), but kinetic energy imparting weapons would be useless.

 

[TheMikado]

OP This is literally the entire premise of Alien Nation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_Nation_(TV_series)

The series is set in the near future in the United States. In 1990 a flying saucer crashes in the Mohave Desert containing a race of extraterrestrials, the Tenctonese, escaping from slavery under a cruel Overseer race. They resemble humans, but have certain anatomical differences (their erogenous zones are located on their backs and the males are the gender that deliver their babies, once transferred to them from the female via an incubation pod, with reproduction needing a triad of two different male species to each female for pregnancy to be possible) and have been bred with greater physical strength and intelligence. These Newcomers, as they are called, are accepted as the latest immigrants to the U.S. and the series explores issues around their integration into the multicultural society of the U.S.

The storylines generally revolved around morality plays on the evils of racism and bigotry using Newcomers as the discriminated minority. As fictional extraterrestrial immigrants, the Newcomers could stand in for social issuesabout various races, as well as sexual minorities such as gays and lesbians, and would invert the usual expectations. For instance, during the run of the series, George became pregnant (the male of his species carrying the fetus for part of its gestation) and during much of the episode dialog included lines like, "If you females had to feel the pain we males feel during pregnancy, there wouldn't be any babies." The series offered social commentary by illustrating what it means to be human and the often bizarre rituals we observe.

 

[Paulxo87]

Lmao. If they actually came here to start a fight and sent their motherships down instead of just hitting the earth from a distance I'd say we would have quite a good chance of winning. I'd like to see their fleet of dumb ass ships survive a full deployment of almost 200 w88 nuclear warheads from just one US submarine.

 

[infinitys_7th]

Lmao. If they actually came here to start a fight and sent their motherships down instead of just hitting the earth from a distance I'd say we would have quite a good chance of winning. I'd like to see their fleet of dumb ass ships survive a full deployment of almost 200 w88 nuclear warheads from just one US submarine.

So, the other side of space-travel necessary tech is warp. To travel long distances in a short amount of time, you need to be able to warp space.

A warp-capable ship could just warp space around itself such that it never even gets touched by the blast. A missile, pressure wave, or EM release could pass right "through" it along an engineered warped space path.

Of course, this would be more energy-consumptive than deflectors.

 

[Paulxo87]

That's all assuming way too much(although the w88 warheads have proximity radar burst mode). I was just assuming that anything that actually came down here as opposed to just blasting us from far away would be fair game and I think it would be. Unless they had some type of crazy repellent shield that could withstand ten million degree explosions like in independence day hahaha

 

[hikarutilmitt]

Was going to mention Alien Nation but TheMikado beat me to it. It's actually kind of underrated but as much as it could do a remake, any such attempt would probably kill what made it special.

 

[infinitys_7th]

That's all assuming way too much(although the w88 warheads have proximity radar burst mode). I was just assuming that anything that actually came down here as opposed to just blasting us from far away would be fair game and I think it would be. Unless they had some type of crazy repellent shield that could withstand ten million degree explosions like in independence day hahaha

They do not need a shield. Spacial warping would allow them to displace any heat away from them for the short duration of the blast. They could even redirect the blasts right back.

 

[Corrik]

I'm struggling to imagine why one would consider humanoids as or more intelligent than humans "pets"....
Shouldn't they then look like sweet little animals? E.g.:

That was addressed already, their advanced tech stops working, ship can't leave, they have some weapons, but nothing spectacular.

Then yes, I would value a human life more than an alien life. I am human. Do you value ants as much as human life? What about plants?

 

[Razorback]

They do not need a shield. Spacial warping would allow them to displace any heat away from them for the short duration of the blast. They could even redirect the blasts right back.

You don't need to give any reasons. The thought that we have any chance against a space-faring civilization is laughable.

 

[TheMikado]

You don't need to give any reasons. The thought that we have any chance against a space-faring civilization is laughable.

You're making a presumption that this alien civilization would have a concept of war or weaponry to begin with.

 

[infinitys_7th]

You don't need to give any reasons. The thought that we have any chance against a space-faring civilization is laughable.

Honestly, this is my favorite part of Enema'd GAF - these topics are not filled with skeptic-worshiping science bros anymore.

Before, no one would have said what you said (i.e. the obvious). Instead, it would have been filled with Fermi paradox "answers" taken as fact and people acting like 50 years of looking at a fraction of the sky is high evidence that we are alone.

You can have reasoned, theoretical discussions about a completely unknowable topic witrout people posting that stupid Gray alien meme every other post.

 

[infinitys_7th]

You're making a presumption that this alien civilization would have a concept of war or weaponry to begin with.

You are making an assumption that they would not because they are advanced.

Conflict accelerates technological progress.

 

[TheMikado]

You are making an assumption that they would not because they are advanced.

Conflict accelerates technological progress.

I never said they would or wouldn't so I assumed nothing...
I'm not sure why you assumed that I assumed they wouldn't because they are advanced...

Conflict accelerates HUMAN technological progress. Again you are making an assumption. Here it is the assumption that this alien species responds in the same way humans do to conflict.

Just so we are clear:
My entire point is that claiming correlation between technology and war ability is a HUMAN concept which you are attempting to apply to a hypothetical alien species.
Which makes that a fallacy unto itself. I never claimed that because they are advanced they would be peaceful. Merely that assumptions about their culture and civilization presumptuous, similar to your presumptuous claim that I "assumed they would not because they are advanced. "

 

[llien]

Conflict accelerates HUMAN technological progress. Again you are making an assumption. Here it is the assumption that this alien species responds in the same way humans do to conflict.

Could you name species from planet Earth that are not involved in some kind of conflict?

 

[infinitys_7th]

I never said they would or wouldn't so I assumed nothing...
I'm not sure why you assumed that I assumed they wouldn't because they are advanced...

Conflict accelerates HUMAN technological progress. Again you are making an assumption. Here it is the assumption that this alien species responds in the same way humans do to conflict.

Just so we are clear:
My entire point is that claiming correlation between technology and war ability is a HUMAN concept which you are attempting to apply to a hypothetical alien species.
Which makes that a fallacy unto itself. I never claimed that because they are advanced they would be peaceful. Merely that assumptions about their culture and civilization presumptuous, similar to your presumptuous claim that I "assumed they would not because they are advanced. "

I see any kind of intelligence evolving in an environment like Earth to have intrinsic conflict.

Not to say other intelligences are not out there, like EM entities, but biology is driven by conflict.