-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
Aren't Alien Invasion stories kinda of arrogant?
- Thread starter Slayven
- Start date
Really depends. A Star-Trek level society where they've figured out how to differentiate matter (where you could basically take a scoop out of a star and make whatever you wanted with it) would certainly have no need for resources, but this assumes that sort of thing is even possible.
It's also anthropocentric to assume that technologically advanced species will learn their way towards rational pacifism. A lot of people working on making artificial intelligence believe in absolutely crazy stuff, right now. A society could get to a technological singularity and still feel compelled to go out and conquer worlds because the star-spirits told them to.
It's also anthropocentric to assume that technologically advanced species will learn their way towards rational pacifism. A lot of people working on making artificial intelligence believe in absolutely crazy stuff, right now. A society could get to a technological singularity and still feel compelled to go out and conquer worlds because the star-spirits told them to.
So we're the unwitting stars of Alien Jackass: The Movie. Hmmmm, there might be something to this idea.
What kind of power does it take to create the robots, run the robots and maintain them?
Poimandres
Member
Pushing our own logic and beliefs onto aliens is a mistake. We have no idea what their motivations would be.
More_Badass
Member
Any more recommendations? The Word for World is Forest and Footfall sound awesome
Solar would work, they could have a manufacturing facility close to the sun, or they could create nuclear facilities on planet. Have some high quality batteries and you're good to go, robots work as a cloud and swap themselves out seamlessly when they need to charge or whatever. They can fly, carry weight, have tools of extremely high precision and quality. Think of the small robots from big hero 6.
i can kinda see aliens wanting this planet because its relatively safe compared to other solar systems. even aliens must fear gamma ray bursts or supernovas from nearby stars. although i'm sure with the technology they can find many suitable solar systems in many different star systems.
Nostremitus
Member
The only reasons I could imagine aliens coming to Earth would be scientific discovery/research/curiosity.
Kind of how we fly drones over indigenous tribes and catalog their behavior.
There's nothing else here for them, really...
They can get fuel elsewhere, they are unlikely to breath the same air(if they breath at all) and a species that advanced should be able to build their own labor force that's more efficient than human slaves.
(we could do that now if we were willing to)
Kind of how we fly drones over indigenous tribes and catalog their behavior.
There's nothing else here for them, really...
They can get fuel elsewhere, they are unlikely to breath the same air(if they breath at all) and a species that advanced should be able to build their own labor force that's more efficient than human slaves.
(we could do that now if we were willing to)
Elitist1945
Member
That implies the alien world, society, technology, etc. is anything like the things we know about. Who's to say what we've observed on Earth applies to other planets in other galaxies?
Agent_ShortBus
Member
dank memes.
Show was ahead of it's time
Yeah, pretty much. If they're advanced enough to travel FTL or whatever, to try to predict their hypothetical actions/motivations in human terms is almost assuredly futile. We know what we know, based on the very little that we've observed in a short time.
Well. They don't want anything physical. -- like the idea of souls for example.
With all their millions of years of advancement, the ability to travel ftl, jump through space, travel "time", etc, they've lost their physical bodies. They exist on different planes/dimensions that we do. So their physical henchmen, grey aliens, which some believe are advanced machines, collect life.
So they use our bodies as containers, and likely, many forms of primitive beings, to enjoy physical realms they can't exist in anymore. Or to use as energy. Who really knows.
That's why most religions speak of things from the heavens to interact with us. They want something. Thats just one speculation.
With all their millions of years of advancement, the ability to travel ftl, jump through space, travel "time", etc, they've lost their physical bodies. They exist on different planes/dimensions that we do. So their physical henchmen, grey aliens, which some believe are advanced machines, collect life.
So they use our bodies as containers, and likely, many forms of primitive beings, to enjoy physical realms they can't exist in anymore. Or to use as energy. Who really knows.
That's why most religions speak of things from the heavens to interact with us. They want something. Thats just one speculation.
BronsonLee
Member
They're here to hang out with me
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
There's a lot of interesting ones that work, but they don't seem to make it to big budget films.
- "The Killing Star" scenario - if high sub-light speeds are possible, and FTL / FTL sensors are not possible, then any interstellar species is a threat to the existence of others. A relativistic kill vehicle (projectile going >0.99 c) will provide almost no warning prior to it's impact, but can cause planetary-scale destruction. Therefore, other species act preemptively to supress the development of potenitally hostile species, or perform first strikes and wipe them out as soon as they're detected
- "Immune System" scenario - we are not dealing with aliens, we're dealing with their servants who are tasked with snuffing out or conquering potential rivals. The original aliens may not be any more aware of our existence than we are of a disease that our immune system fights off before it shows symptoms.
- "Divine mandate" scenario - the aliens are members of a religion that compels them to conquer or wipe out other species
- "Free Agent" scenario - It's not just alien civilisations that are dangerous. It's individual aliens who may or may not share the beliefs of their broader society. What of Little Blorbox takes his dad's spaceship for a joyride? What if a weird cult on the homeworld of an otherwise peaceful advanced civilization saves up enough cereal coupons to win a spaceship? Now what if that space ship is so advanced that it can replicate an army, forge things on a nanoscale and create microsingularities as part of it's normal science suite?
- "Ethical crusader" scenario - What if our more advanced neighbour are vegans who feel really strongly about our ongoing flirtation with needlessly butchering and inflicting cruelties on Earth's lower lifeforms? What if they want to stop our wars - RIGHT NOW? What if they have an entirely different ethical system to humans, and want to enforce it on us for whatever reason?
I would agree that the "they want our resources" or "they're harvesting us for no reason lol" are weak motivations.
I think most invasion stories leave out a lot of context regarding alien life outside of their interactions with us, so it's potentially a mistake to assume that aliens only came here just for us, in the same way it'd be a mistake for any tiny village in a country being invaded to assume they're the prime target. It'd be more fitting to assume we're just one stop among many, that any civilization with FTL travel is doing a lot of mind-boggling shit in the background and we're just a tiny little YouTube-esque diversion.
I think the more arrogant thing is the fact that we almost always win in these stories with firepower and determination. Like... c'mon son. Only War of the Worlds made the most sense.
I think the more arrogant thing is the fact that we almost always win in these stories with firepower and determination. Like... c'mon son. Only War of the Worlds made the most sense.
Xenoblade X's story and setting had a lot of potential, shame those aspect didn't turn out too well, but this is how the game's plot stars. The earth is caught in the crossfire between two alien factions and gets destroyed at the opening cinematic. However
the plot-twist of one of the alien factions wanting to destroy us from the start kind of makes it somewhat less interesting than the "by-chance" scenario as the way it played just made it another story where Humans are special for specific reasons.
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
that was kind of HG Wells's point in War Of The Worlds, actually. Both humans for thinking they could do shit against them, and the martians for thinking they could just do it without consequence. No one wins, but humans survive by virtue of not being on the advanced end of (self-)evolution (yet).
Life is stranger and more amazing than our fears or imagination. I think its more arrogant that most adults accept the lie of governments who coverup or avoid the question altogether. I think it's arrogant and just false to assume what other beings who have achieved what we cannot have done or would do. We are completely in the dark and suppresed from knowing, which isn't debatable. Take that as you will or won't
If nature so far has shown us to be harsh as well as what is around us I don't see why aliens who make it off their own planet would be benevolent as well.
I think most alien conspiracies are a joke and distraction. Some are interesting to say the least and other are easily laughable as the bible or satanism in its various forms, but look at our species buying in to religion, superstition and occultic rituals, attitudes, or practices.
If nature so far has shown us to be harsh as well as what is around us I don't see why aliens who make it off their own planet would be benevolent as well.
I think most alien conspiracies are a joke and distraction. Some are interesting to say the least and other are easily laughable as the bible or satanism in its various forms, but look at our species buying in to religion, superstition and occultic rituals, attitudes, or practices.
spazchicken
Member
If I had weapons that turned a man into vapor, just leaving his clothes waving in the wind, I sure as hell wouldn't worry about the locals.
Plus there may have been a billion planets researched by the aliens that still don't meet their needs quite like Earth does and time may be running out.
More_Badass
Member
I always liked the "autonomous war machines endlessly at war even after their creators are long dead" angle
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
I like the idea that they're still around somewhere, but they're so remote (and there's no FTL) that they don't know or care that there is an endless war being fought on their frontier by a self replicating army, sometimes against other variations of the exact same thing.
Not to mention we practically invite them here anyways.
User 73706
Banned
Violent alien invasions are mostly an artifact of projection related to human colonialism.
Herr Schwarz
Banned
Plus wouldn't the broadcasted history of the planet be viewable as they fly towards us?
They'd be watching some Jerry Springer and Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Monitoring what we go to war for.
They'd wipe us out I tells ya!
They'd be watching some Jerry Springer and Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Monitoring what we go to war for.
They'd wipe us out I tells ya!
Affeinvasion
Member
That combined with anxiety about the space race being an obvious front for the cold war in the nuclear age.
Edit: That's why movies like Species are the best. They just need us to reproduce. Hell, viruses might be aliens.
FantasticMrFoxdie
Mumber
but Starcraft tho
LastGamer84
Member
I mean we're leaving out the obvious rationale behind an alien invasion - intergalactic genocide.
Picture an advanced alien society where a crazy fringe group takes over and decides "You know what? Any sentient life we find that isn't us is an affront to us and our sensibilities, and our god demands we wipe them out."
Not all that far-fetched.
Picture an advanced alien society where a crazy fringe group takes over and decides "You know what? Any sentient life we find that isn't us is an affront to us and our sensibilities, and our god demands we wipe them out."
Not all that far-fetched.
oxrock
Gravity is a myth, the Earth SUCKS!
Far more likely just observing test subjects in their native environment.
For either of these scenarios, the fact that they have FTL travel renders all our technology meaningless and taking anything they want from us would be as easy here as anywhere else, perhaps easier if we've already gathered/processed some of it for them.
Humans are the only intelligent race that we know, and we still invade other peoples and their lands for their resources.... and we're all the same species. I see no reason why an alien species wouldn't make a pit stop to wipe out a civilization for supplies while enroute somewhere.
They could also just be curious, show up to study people. Could simply be searching out for other forms of life like we all are. Could be multitudes of reasons for aliens to come to Earth. Could be boredom, who knows.
Commanche Raisin Toast
Member
I think a highly advanced alien species visiting us wouldn't care about distinguishing lower from higher life forms. They would just see everything here so beneath them that it would just boil down to life feeding on life, which is the natural cycle of things.
I like the Lovecraft quote I saw recently:
"When Kleiner showed me the sky-line of New York I told him that man is like the coral insect—designed to build vast, beautiful, mineral things for the moon to delight in after he is dead."
Astral Dog
Member
Its just a movie man
Wandering Robot
Member
I gotta say that I'm far more interested in alien stories where the aliens are curious about Earth life, not itching to destroy it for an arbitrary reason.
In fact, I imagine aliens would have better motivation to wipe us out if they actually came and hung out for a while, as opposed to watching from afar. Of course, that could just as well end in them not doing much of anything/leaving.
In fact, I imagine aliens would have better motivation to wipe us out if they actually came and hung out for a while, as opposed to watching from afar. Of course, that could just as well end in them not doing much of anything/leaving.
LookAtMeGo
Member
Sagan never should have sent that gold plate into space. Its going to be our demise.
Seti has been passively listening.
The idea of sending out a beacon for aliens to find us is like something an evil genius would try to do.
Active SETI is a new-ish idea, though messages sent to specific areas has happened in the past.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
no the problem of the stories is that they're very human-centric