ET and world-changing

backboiler

I've sometimes wondered what is meant by the often-heard concept that if some intelligent extraterrestrial life was discovered that the world would somehow fundamentally change. In what way? I mean doesn't your average lad in the field just presume that such entities exist and it's just a matter of when contact is made, today or a thousand million years from now?
I'm not denying that it'd be an exciting time but it'd have thought it'd be something along the lines of the Indian Ocean Tsunami or Haiti Earthquake where it made everyone think but for those not directly involved, things move on without much changing.

Conor108

I think religion could take a knock from a discovery like that. How many people it would affect kinda depends on if its a radio signal or a mothership over Earth:rolleyes:

HOWEVER in case you find yourself making such a discovery, here is important information to be aware of.....

lord lucan

I think that barring a hollywood style alien landing,most of the world would lose interest or fail to find interest in contact with extra terrestrial life. Average joe wants to see if they look like they do in the movies,will they want to take over our planet etc. A few beeps/blobs or garbled messages wouldn't generate much hype outside the scientific community imo.

I'd love to think we may make contact with 'something' in my lifetime but i doubt it tbh. Surely in the great expanse that encompasses our planet there must be some other form of evolved life. Maybe not another human race but a living organism with some communicative skills. I love stuff like this,it's fascinating!:)

riptide

backboiler wrote: »

I've sometimes wondered what is meant by the often-heard concept that if some intelligent extraterrestrial life was discovered that the world would somehow fundamentally change. In what way? I mean doesn't your average lad in the field just presume that such entities exist and it's just a matter of when contact is made, today or a thousand million years from now?
I'm not denying that it'd be an exciting time but it'd have thought it'd be something along the lines of the Indian Ocean Tsunami or Haiti Earthquake where it made everyone think but for those not directly involved, things move on without much changing.

A few years ago when it was announced that there was a high chance that microbial life existed on Mars.... nobody cared. Nobody will care unless it benefits them directly or at the very very minimum captures the imagination. We are a race driven by our most basest of senses and desires. We'll have more attention to give a 4ft alien that can light his finger and say 'phone home' than we'll ever give to a non random, faint UHF signal.

Plug

lord lucan wrote: »

I think that barring a hollywood style alien landing,most of the world would lose interest or fail to find interest in contact with extra terrestrial life. Average joe wants to see if they look like they do in the movies,will they want to take over our planet etc. A few beeps/blobs or garbled messages wouldn't generate much hype outside the scientific community imo.

I'd love to think we may make contact with 'something' in my lifetime but i doubt it tbh. Surely in the great expanse that encompasses our planet there must be some other form of evolved life. Maybe not another human race but a living organism with some communicative skills. I love stuff like this,it's fascinating!:)

Well said.

Im sure we will find life on a moon somewhere, maybe Europa or Enceladus. Its either going to be microbial(more so) or fish like species. That would be so cool. Then it will just click with everyone. Us, them, on 2 different worlds in the one little solar system, then life is vast.
I think NASA and the ESA are going about doing something like this.

david75

Im always stumped as to why even NASA expects intelligent life to come in carbon based form. it's a big universe, any one of beyond trillions of combinations of forms of life could be possible. But the universe being so vast, until we figure out a way to get around, we're stumped really unless ET comes here first. It's a thinker.

Johnmb

david75 wrote: »

Im always stumped as to why even NASA expects intelligent life to come in carbon based form.

I don't think they expect intelligent life to only be in carbon based form, I think they just feel that is the most likely form that we will be able to recognise, we're not intelligent to think outside the box well enough to recognise anything too alien.

Beeker

I love this subject. If we find life on say Mars, will it be different from life on Earth? Will it be related? Did life start on Mars and we are an off shoot or did it happen the other way around. Discovering a relationship would be fantastic. However discovering no relationship would be profound because it will mean that life is common place.

bbam

david75 wrote: »

we're stumped really unless ET comes here first.

Indeed...
Unless like Mr Hawking teaches ET coming here would most likely be a bad thing..

He makes the point of examples on earth where more advanced civilisations meet less advanced civilisations... usually the less advanced loose out.

Thus if ET arrives here then he/she/whatever is more advanced than us (since we can't go anywhere).. history shows this scenario to be potentially bad for us

backboiler

It is a huge subject, isn't it?
I don't know if religions would suffer all that much. I'd bet that the vast majority of professed adherents are casual enough for it not to make any difference to their occasional practice. The faithful core would most likely take it as further confirmation of the greatness of their deity's power.
Interesting, that point about the malevolent intent or otherwise negative influence of any visitors. That'd be a world-changer and no doubt.
Barring that though, contact would probably be just another bit of news to swallow then go and cook the dinner and paint the ceiling.

wylo

backboiler wrote: »

I'm not denying that it'd be an exciting time but it'd have thought it'd be something along the lines of the Indian Ocean Tsunami or Haiti Earthquake where it made everyone think but for those not directly involved, things move on without much changing.

I think this is about as big as it would get, but tbf that is pretty big. People talking about it for a few weeks.
Your talking about a first for humans , and not just some first that people can barely understand (i.e. trapping antimatter), but a proper first. Everyone would have an opinion, and everyone would be talking about it.
That said , like you said I think it would fizzle out, but it would definitely allow for alot more funding into finding more life or researching life that is found.
I dont think religion would be affected at all, mainly because the theory of evolution has already eradicated that "God created Man" assumption. Now they've moved onto the "God created EVERYTHING" assumption, so I guess aliens are covered under this belief. The truth is, even if we discovered another Universe somewhere else with giant aliens telling us "Lads ye're only one of a billion Universes and theres a thrillion more planets with intelliegent life out there", it would STILL be covered under the God created everything assumption.

Anyway,aren't they already covering themselves for that potential outcome:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/sep/17/pope-astronomer-baptise-aliens

Kidchameleon

Any reason why they haven't sent a probe to Europa yet? One that lands there, melts its way through the two kilometers or so of ice, then takes a few snaps in the ocean? I'm confident there would be something alive there...

kart

Kidchameleon wrote: »

Any reason why they haven't sent a probe to Europa yet? One that lands there, melts its way through the two kilometers or so of ice, then takes a few snaps in the ocean? I'm confident there would be something alive there...

I agree with u altho if i'd have to bet i would put my money on Ganymede first.

Plug

Anceledes as well.

slade_x

Kidchameleon wrote: »

Any reason why they haven't sent a probe to Europa yet? One that lands there, melts its way through the two kilometers or so of ice, then takes a few snaps in the ocean? I'm confident there would be something alive there...

the biggest problem is budget, there are no funds and are currently not at any planning stage. at present its too far out of our reach, figuratively and financialy

and 2km?
http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/europa_worldbook.html

Its surface is made of ice, which may have an ocean of water beneath it. Such an ocean could provide a home for living things. The surface layer of ice or ice and water is 50 to 100 miles (80 to 160 kilometers) deep. The satellite has an extremely thin atmosphere. Electrically charged particles from Jupiter's radiation belts continuously bombard Europa

If Europa holds a liquid ocean beneath its surface its expected to be around 100 miles deep.

there have been ideas proposed for example a surface detonation and collector just to examine the ejecta

Kidchameleon

160 kiloneters! I stand corrected! Personally I think there over stretching themselves, talking about a remote controled submarine to explore the ocean. Whats wrong with a probe that melts through the ice then sinks to the bottom? Would it not sink slower than the same thing on Earth? It could take a few hundred pics on its way down. Take the probe that landed on Titan, it got a few photo's and was pretty useless after it landed, but boy was it worth it.

backboiler

The radio relay setup to achieve this would be impressive in its own right, without any site engineer to install and tweak it.