Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

April 25, 2010 By Fausta

Stephen Hawkin: Don’t contact the aliens

Unlike Carl Sagan, who actually sent a message to any (space) aliens out there, Stephen Hawkin would rather we don’t:
Don’t talk to aliens, warns Stephen Hawking

THE aliens are out there and Earth had better watch out, at least according to Stephen Hawking. He has suggested that extraterrestrials are almost certain to exist — but that instead of seeking them out, humanity should be doing all it that can to avoid any contact.
…
Hawking believes that contact with such a species could be devastating for humanity.

He suggests that aliens might simply raid Earth for its resources and then move on: “We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet. I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonise whatever planets they can reach.”

I’ve had the same feeling since I saw the To Serve Man episode of the Twilight Zone:

UPDATE
Welcome, Instapundit readers. Please bookmark this blog and visit often.

UPDATE, Monday 26 April,
Simone sent the patch:


“Tastes like chicken”

Mixing our cinematic metaphors, “Badges? We don’t no steekeen’ badges!”

Share

Filed Under: science Tagged With: Fausta's blog, Rod Serling, Twilight Zone

Comments

  1. Jim says

    April 25, 2010 at 3:31 pm

    Well, well, well. I was wrong. Here I thought ‘To Serve Man’ was morality tale telling people it’s good to be skeptical, not to mention a contemporary metaphor for Obama and ObamaCare. Man, I’ve got to start taking this Sci-Fi stuff more seriously.

  2. safariman says

    April 25, 2010 at 3:48 pm

    Might be right. Hawkin is a pretty smart guy!

  3. fredsmtih says

    April 25, 2010 at 5:36 pm

    Mmmmm…. humans…..

  4. Mitch H. says

    April 25, 2010 at 5:47 pm

    Meh, the literary parallel I’d be more worried about would be Beserkers, not interstellar gourmets.

    Although it’s even more likely that the Beserkers would be more interested in the materials in our system which *aren’t* at the bottom of a gravity well and sheathed in a corrosive atmosphere. I suppose it all depends on whether you think the resources in the subplanetary objects of the solar system – rings, asteroids, minor moons, cometary bodies – are ours by birthright, or rightfully there for whomever gets to them first with the right levers.

  5. reliapundit says

    April 25, 2010 at 6:05 pm

    http://astuteblogger.blogspot.com/2010/04/stephen-hawking-idiot.html

  6. comatus says

    April 25, 2010 at 6:18 pm

    Spelling, Troopers, spelling: Hawking. Berserkers.

    You never know when we may have to defend our island with the Orthography Ray. Plus, you don’t want to piss these beings off. Would you want Hawking mad at you, Earthling?

  7. Oographagretcha says

    April 25, 2010 at 7:19 pm

    We came in peace Earthlings, thinking that because you had obtained space travel, learned how to conquer many if not most diseases and averted a catastrophic nuclear war. Then we see that your greatest country, America spends more than it takes in, allows an oligarchy to take power because it was fooled by the fellow with the teleprompters. We realize that there is little worth saving Earthlings but have held off using a planet buster to see if this fledgling “Tea Party” can correct this problem. If so, we may welcome you to the Universal Council of Sentient Beings. If not, well… we still have that planet buster on standby. You have slightly more than 6 of the time units you call months Earthlings. Make the most of it, or learn to breath space.

  8. Pat Patterson says

    April 25, 2010 at 7:30 pm

    Not once in the article does either the writer or Hawking address the main problem. That in spite of mathematical probabilities of alien life no example of aliens or alien civilizations have been found. In a nutshell the Fermi-Hart Paradox argues that if they are there where are they? Plus minor little problem in that SETI has been out in the desert serving as backdrop for any number of X-Files episodes and a sponge for funding hasn’t documented one single piece of evidence suggesting the existence of aliens.

  9. SDN says

    April 25, 2010 at 7:36 pm

    Pat, the SETI people are assuming that the aliens a) have a language b) that we can recognize as a signal. They don’t even know the size or composition of the needle or the haystack.

  10. Jonathan says

    April 25, 2010 at 8:20 pm

    I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting for aliens to show up. While life may be common in the universe, intelligent life is probably quite rare. For more than 3 billion years the only life on Earth was microbial. Given the very long time it took intelligent life to emerge here, as well as the immense gulfs of time and space separating us from even the nearest stars, it is most unlikely that any intelligent life is nearby.

  11. Roy Preston says

    April 25, 2010 at 8:27 pm

    Just because we haven’t seen them, doesn’t mean no aliens exist. We’re still finding previously-unknown species right here on earth, and the universe is a lot bigger than one tiny planet. If the nearest alien civilization is 100 light years away (farther than our radio/tv broadcasts could have reached), they’d have no clue that WE exist either, but we indisputably do.

    Exceptional claims require exceptional proof, and there’s no proof (yet) that life exists elsewhere, much less intelligent life. That’s true. But the fact that we haven’t seen any yet isn’t proof that it doesn’t exist either.

  12. Francis W. Porretto says

    April 25, 2010 at 8:37 pm

    Bah. Yet another bit of evidence against the thesis that Hawking is a super-brain.

    If we’re ever visited by aliens with any sort of agenda, they’ll be a pitiful few survivors of a centuries-long trip in a generation ship. They’ll be weak, starved, and incapable of doing any serious harm to a vital, planet-based civilization. The laws of physics — remember them, Dr. Hawking? — forbid any other possibility. But the notion of interstellar travel on any basis other than multi-generation travel in an artificial worldlet isn’t science; it’s science fiction, and strictly for entertainment.

  13. Douglas Cohen says

    April 25, 2010 at 11:51 pm

    Intelligent machines would have no trouble surviving trips between the stars. They could show up in our solar system, drop a few smallish asteroids on our head to get our attention, then ask us to build them spare parts. If we refuse, well, I guess you know what follows. I think Stephen Hawking is right on the money. Previous SETI research has assumed friendliness on the part of alien intelligence, but here on earth life always exploits life, and human civilizations always attempt to exploit each other. That we search the skies and do not find evidence of alien civilizations does not necessarily mean that they are not there — sad experience may have taught them to hide from each other …

  14. chance says

    April 26, 2010 at 11:18 am

    Scientist long ago made a machine that accelerates particles to which if they are fast enough can make worm holes. These worm holes then with work from feeding it to help it grow they can send a human back in time when sending this human another worm hole will form in some other part in the future past or if something goes wrong another planet. if said person were to go back in 1997 he would show up somewhere in the united states in our time because for him it has been 13 years for us it had been 10 minutes and if he would go to the future you would here about on a plaque in a museum somewhere in just ten minutes because he’s been there for 20-or more years and has died.

  15. Jeff Shultz says

    April 26, 2010 at 12:11 pm

    Okay, who let Steven see the Blu-Ray version of ID4?

  16. Jonathan says

    April 26, 2010 at 2:59 pm

    I used to be a big Star Trek fan. But the idea of interstellar warp drives carrying people to new worlds in days or weeks is a fantasy. It encourages a careless attitude toward the Earth, which will likely be our one and only home for a very long time to come. Unless of course you find the idea of living underground on the moon or Mars appealing. I don’t.

  17. Fausta says

    April 26, 2010 at 3:31 pm

    How about sending machines to outer space, only without a return address?

  18. Simone in BC says

    April 26, 2010 at 3:40 pm

    Obligatory “To Serve Man” patch:
    http://www.airspacemag.com/snapshot/30063794.html?start=276&c=y

  19. Fausta says

    April 26, 2010 at 7:49 pm

    Love the patch, Simone!

  20. M. Report says

    April 26, 2010 at 7:52 pm

    Spider Robinson has solved Fermi’s Paradox:
    It was the Poison-toothed Sloth, in the Observatory,
    with a Sun-destroying Long-range Mass/Energy Converter.

    Semi-seriously, the simplest explanations are:
    1) Sapience self-destructs
    2) Genocidal Xenophobia rules the universe.

  21. Fausta says

    April 26, 2010 at 8:00 pm

    Love the Fermi’s Paradox/Clue, M Report.

  22. Douglas Cohen says

    April 26, 2010 at 11:22 pm

    M. Report: You do not have to have genocidal xenophobia ruling the universe to solve Fermi’s paradox — a balanced ecology of “predator” and “prey” civilizations will do the trick. You should also note that a predator-prey ecology would explain our inability to find alien civilizations. The predator civilizations are hiding out so that they have a better chance of getting a jump on their prey, and the prey civilizations are hiding out to avoid the predators. If a casual explorer enters a jungle on earth the chances of seeing any big animals are very slim for similar reasons. That doesn’t mean the big animals aren’t there, of course.

  23. E.M.H. says

    April 27, 2010 at 3:17 pm

    Maybe Hawking’s argument is that mankind should become the predator species instead of the prey??

    (*Ducks*)

    😉

  24. Yshatar says

    May 1, 2010 at 12:47 am

    I rather take my chances with ETs….we are a nation that rapes and kills 6 month old babies, waterbords people just for the fun of it….billions upon billions go missing every second on our planet, we have serial killers, kidnappers, people who pay to torture others, mothers who after giving birth don’t want they’re babies and so they put them in the microwave or oven, cults that brainwash people to be servants, people who skin animals alive or burn them alive….what can ETs do to us that we have not done to ourselves? Mind you we are also destroying our planet I mean get real why would they want our planet which is on the break of destruction? oil spill, global warming, our resources are lacking lol were probably a sad sight to be hold to ETs.

Tweets by @Fausta
retirees_raise-2015_300x250

Pages

  • About
  • Email

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Previous Posts

  • Mrs. Maisel goes full Alinsky on Mrs. Schlafly
  • Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • You need to unfriend me
  • Go ahead and Kiss the Girl, if you dare
  • Ashamed

Recent Comments

  • John on Mrs. Maisel goes full Alinsky on Mrs. Schlafly
  • Today’s hot topics: Democrats’ collusion shift, tax-return rift, Venezuela drift, and more! – PoliticalWitchDoctor.com on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Today’s hot topics: Democrats’ collusion shift, tax-return rift, Venezuela drift, and more! - AmericanTruthToday on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Did Venezuela’s Minister of Defense Back Out At The Last Minute? on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Roseanne Not Back, Khan not Invited, Operaman’s back, Jobs back, Fausta’s back (but not here yet) Thoughts under the fedora – Da Tech Guy Blog on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?

Archives

  • 2019
    • December 2019
    • May 2019
    • January 2019
  • 2018
    • December 2018
    • October 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
  • 2017
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
  • 2016
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
  • 2015
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
  • 2014
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
  • 2013
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
  • 2012
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • October 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
  • 2011
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
  • 2010
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
    • February 2010
    • January 2010
  • 2009
    • December 2009
    • November 2009
    • October 2009
    • September 2009
    • August 2009
    • July 2009
    • June 2009
    • May 2009
    • April 2009
    • March 2009
    • February 2009
    • January 2009
  • 2008
    • December 2008
    • November 2008
    • October 2008
    • September 2008
    • August 2008
    • July 2008
    • June 2008
    • May 2008
    • April 2008
    • March 2008
    • February 2008
    • January 2008
  • 2007
    • December 2007
    • November 2007
    • October 2007
    • September 2007
    • August 2007
    • July 2007
    • June 2007
    • May 2007
    • April 2007
    • March 2007
    • February 2007
    • January 2007
  • 2006
    • December 2006
    • November 2006
    • October 2006
    • September 2006
    • August 2006
    • July 2006
    • June 2006
    • May 2006
    • April 2006
    • March 2006
    • February 2006
    • January 2006
  • 2005
    • December 2005
    • November 2005
    • October 2005
    • September 2005
    • August 2005
    • July 2005
    • June 2005
    • May 2005
    • April 2005
    • March 2005
    • February 2005
    • January 2005
  • 2004
    • December 2004
    • November 2004
    • October 2004
    • September 2004
    • August 2004
    • July 2004
    • June 2004
    • May 2004
    • April 2004
    • March 2004
Content Copyright Fausta's Blog

Site Developed and Managed by 300m.com