26 replies to this topic

[Hoody32]

I think if galaxy can collide without without actually smashing each other to pieces then it's possible for beings to exist in the same universe without making contact.

[razer1994]

I think if galaxy can collide without without actually smashing each other to pieces then it's possible for beings to exist in the same universe without making contact.

Galaxys, when they collide, do not necessarily "smash themselves to pieces," but nonetheless, galactic collisions are often violent and involve the individual galactic structures being torn apart and worped, with the colliding galaxys eventually forming into one.

Edited by razer1994, 10 April 2013 - 03:10 AM.

[funkervogt]

I don't think intelligent aliens will talk to us until after 2050. I think there is almost certainly intelligent alien life in our galaxy, and that it probably knows Earth is here and can support complex organic life. 

 

If aliens know that humans exist, then they have probably kept hidden from us because they wouldn't gain nothing from interacting with us and because the news might plunge us into chaos. In short, we are not interesting and we will hurt ourselves. Aliens don't want to be responsible for us doing the latter, so they're waiting until we're smarter and more self-controlled, and possibly for us to meet other conditions as well. 

[Revolutionary Moderate]

I voted for after 2050 because it seems we will first need to find an extraterrestrial civilization in order to contact it, and I think this won't happen until we begin to explore our galaxy, which will be after 2050.

[Jac33]

How can we contact extraterrestrials if they don't exist? For the life of me, I can't believe in them. Perhaps, the absence of evidence is a reason for it, but I think that I need to see aliens in person to make sure they exist.

[andmar74]

I think the most likely first encounter will be us finding spacejunk from another civilization, drifting through our solar system.

We have the powerful telescope Vera Rubin coming online this year, and the James Webb space telescope is hopefully launching also this year.

So our capacity to find those small objects will greatly increase in the near future.

[wjfox]

I think our galaxy must be teeming with microbial life, given how easily it formed on Earth.

 

Macro-scale organisms with complex ecosystems will be rarer, but likely also exist in our galaxy in significant numbers.

 

However, I think intelligent life is probably a lot rarer. There might be one or two advanced civilisations in our galactic cluster, or supercluster. But any contact with them is going to happen in the far distant future, if it happens at all.

 

An encounter with intelligent alien beings, in the flesh, would be an extremely shocking experience for a human. Think about it. Seeing those alien eyes looking at you, and the raw physical appearance of something so unknown, and other-worldly. I suppose it might feel like meeting a demon or other supernatural entity. Most people would be paralysed with fear. For this reason, I think only AIs/transhumans will be permitted to communicate with aliens initially, since they'd be better equipped to handle the psychological impact.