Stephen Hawking Warns of Hostile Space Invaders : Othor Games

» Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:24 am

I saw this on television earlier today. It appears that the physicist Stephen Hawking now believes that extra terrestrials will be hostile to us and that we should avoid all contact with them. http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blogs/entry/physicist_stephen_hawking_warns_of_hostile_space_invaders/

Your thoughts on this are welcome.

EDIT: I know the link is a tad bit outdated, just saw this on the news today.MSNBC

» Tue Mar 15, 2011 3:07 am

We can't stop killing people on our own planet so,

What's to stop a more advanced civilization from coming and killing us instead?

» Tue Mar 15, 2011 12:08 am

It'd be sad if the aliens could kick our asses, I was hoping we'd be the ones to invade their planets with UFO death machines.

» Mon Mar 14, 2011 5:53 pm

I glanced at the title and thought you were talking about Stephen King. It would make my day if he came out saying that he believed all of his alien themed novels were actually prophetic. I think it's reasonable to assume there's other life forms out there, although my postcolonial upbringing/guilt inducing history lessons leads me to believe that we'll be the ones doing the pillaging - although not in my lifetime.

» Mon Mar 14, 2011 2:04 pm

A few months old.

» Tue Mar 15, 2011 2:45 am

Who is to say the aliens that find us aren't the hippie liberal aliens that want to try and preserve the rain-forests and native inhabitants of strange backwater planets?

Or maybe scientists that go around and write high handed anthropological papers about our society to send back home that make us look like complete and utter savages by merit of the language used.

Oh! Or maybe they're fugitives from their galaxy, looking for a place to hide! Or ex-cons and gamblers who were sent to our planet to live, making us the Australia of the solar system.

» Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:20 am

.MSNBC

Don't listen to them.

» Mon Mar 14, 2011 4:13 pm

I glanced at the title and thought you were talking about Stephen King. It would make my day if he came out saying that he believed all of his alien themed novels were actually prophetic. I think it's reasonable to assume there's other life forms out there, although my postcolonial upbringing/guilt inducing history lessons leads me to believe that we'll be the ones doing the pillaging - although not in my lifetime.

Likely not in our children's lifetimes either. I do agree with his reasoning that with all the galaxies and stars within those galaxies that it is extremely unlikely that we are alone in the universe, but at this moment in human development, I don't see how we are interesting enough to be considered a threat.

EDIT: @ Steampunk, Please keep politics out of this, I do not wish for this thread to get locked.

» Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:27 am

I'll quote the most important part:

"If aliens ever visit us"

Earth in the galaxy, much less the universe, brings new meaning to the phrase "needle in a haystack"

» Mon Mar 14, 2011 3:26 pm

I'll quote the most important part:

"If aliens ever visit us"

Earth in the galaxy, much less the universe, brings new meaning to the phrase "needle in a haystack"

Yeah, its more like looking for a specific piece of hay in a billion haystacks.

» Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:55 am

Who is to say the aliens that find us aren't the hippie liberal aliens that want to try and preserve the rain-forests and native inhabitants of strange backwater planets?

Wormhole Prophets?

Or maybe scientists that go around and write high handed anthropological papers about our society to send back home that make us look like complete and utter savages by merit of the language used.

Vulcans?

Oh! Or maybe they're fugitives from their galaxy, looking for a place to hide! Or ex-cons and gamblers who were sent to our planet to live, making us the Australia of the solar system.

Erm...Newcomers?

» Mon Mar 14, 2011 8:16 pm

Likely not in our children's lifetimes either. I do agree with his reasoning that with all the galaxies and stars within those galaxies that it is extremely unlikely that we are alone in the universe, but at this moment in human development, I don't see how we are interesting enough to be considered a threat.

Ever read The Screwfly Solution?

(Don't click the spoiler if you want to read it for yourself)

Spoiler

Basically the aliens were just as wasteful as us humans, though more technologically advanced - they basically send estate agents down to get rid of us without damaging the prime real estate we're sitting on

» Tue Mar 15, 2011 1:34 am

If Aliens ever come, or have come to Earth, that means they've broken the second law of motion. Therefore I doubt they would destroy or subjugate a bunch of primitives like us. A civilization that advanced has probably destroyed itself several times over, most likely making them inherently peaceful to themselves and others. Then you have to think about the actual time that our Universe has been here. Most likely this Alien race will be from a galaxy/star system created around the time of ours 4.5-5 billion years ago. There may not of been enough time yet for there to be an alien race with practical long distance space travel.

» Tue Mar 15, 2011 2:32 am

If Aliens ever come, or have come to Earth, that means they've broken the second law of motion. Therefore I doubt they would destroy or subjugate a bunch of primitives like us. A civilization that advanced has probably destroyed itself several times over, most likely making them inherently peaceful to themselves and others. Then you have to think about the actual time that our Universe has been here. Most likely this Alien race will be from a galaxy/star system created around the time of ours 4.5-5 billion years ago. There may not of been enough time yet for there to be an alien race with practical long distance space travel.

We could be the first!

» Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:54 am

We could be the first!

...or one in a long line. We just don't know for sure what we would find out there. Scientist are finding new (to us anyway) planets all the time that were previously unknown to us.

» Mon Mar 14, 2011 1:24 pm

IF
Such a small word, such big connotations.

» Mon Mar 14, 2011 7:05 pm

I'll quote the most important part:

"If aliens ever visit us"

Earth in the galaxy, much less the universe, brings new meaning to the phrase "needle in a haystack"

agreed, a good point. unfortunately there's earth and space satellites that send out messages in all sorts of different methods, which, if some extraterrestrial was capable of long-distance space travel, would be able to trace back to our home planet. I think this is what he(Stephen Hawking) was referring to, that we should avoid doing that. I agree with him, but at the same time I'm wondering if he's maybe getting a little.... paranoid....

» Tue Mar 15, 2011 2:41 am

agreed, a good point. unfortunately there's earth and space satellites that send out messages in all sorts of different methods, which, if some extraterrestrial was capable of long-distance space travel, would be able to trace back to our home planet. I think this is what he(Stephen Hawking) was referring to, that we should avoid doing that. I agree with him, but at the same time I'm wondering if he's maybe getting a little.... paranoid....

Not to mention that NASA has sent out spacecraft such as Voyager 1 that is now entering interstellar space. If Hawking is correct, it could turn out to be a matter of "What were we thinking?"

» Tue Mar 15, 2011 1:17 am

agreed, a good point. unfortunately there's earth and space satellites that send out messages in all sorts of different methods, which, if some extraterrestrial was capable of long-distance space travel, would be able to trace back to our home planet. I think this is what he(Stephen Hawking) was referring to, that we should avoid doing that. I agree with him, but at the same time I'm wondering if he's maybe getting a little.... paranoid....

If they can get to us, they could probably find us without the signals anyway. :shrug:

Besides, we all know the first thing the aliens would say to us...

"We require more Vespene gas!!!"

» Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:55 am

Disregarding the idiocy of the assumption that there are hostile humanoids out in space, that is still a ridiculous comment. "We should avoid all contact" he says, when the fact is, if someone like that should come into contact with us we're [censored], because if they were able to get here they'd have superior technology and would cream us. Equally, if we were to contact some aliens, that would only be possible if we were the technologically superior race, in which case it wouldn't be a risk for us to contact them. For a physicist he sure is a dumb [censored].

» Tue Mar 15, 2011 2:39 am

agreed, a good point. unfortunately there's earth and space satellites that send out messages in all sorts of different methods, which, if some extraterrestrial was capable of long-distance space travel, would be able to trace back to our home planet. I think this is what he(Stephen Hawking) was referring to, that we should avoid doing that. I agree with him, but at the same time I'm wondering if he's maybe getting a little.... paranoid....

I don't think that's what he's getting at at all, he's talking hypothetically.

Disregarding the idiocy of the assumption that there are hostile humanoids out in space, that is still a ridiculous comment. "We should avoid all contact" he says, when the fact is, if someone like that should come into contact with us we're [censored], because if they were able to get here they'd have superior technology and would cream us. Equally, if we were to contact some aliens, that would only be possible if we were the technologically superior race, in which case it wouldn't be a risk for us to contact them. For a physicist he sure is a dumb [censored].

Again, he's talking hypothetically, he doesn't think there are aliens anywhere close to our solar system, he knows much better than you the chances that we will find sapient life are very very slim.

» Mon Mar 14, 2011 3:54 pm

Who is to say the aliens that find us aren't the hippie liberal aliens that want to try and preserve the rain-forests and native inhabitants of strange backwater planets?

I just hope they don't end up finding any unobtanium on our planet. Someone would have to have a love interest with them, and the whole thing would just be all drawn out.

» Mon Mar 14, 2011 7:03 pm

I just hope they don't end up finding any unobtanium on our planet. Someone would have to have a love interest with them, and the whole thing would just be all drawn out.

only greater proof that war never changes....

» Mon Mar 14, 2011 4:50 pm

I don't think that's what he's getting at at all, he's talking hypothetically.

agreed, but "we should avoid them at all costs" kind of contradicts everything NASA and the UK are doing. just last week (or maybe 2 weeks ago) I saw an article in the NY Times about how the UK could have a sattellite researching dark matter in the far reaches of the universe in the next 10 years, if funding continues at the rate it's going.

by the time they( the aliens) found us it would be a little too late to "avoid them", hence Hawking's warning. I don't think he was getting at what I said specifically, but deep space exploration in general.

Not to mention that NASA has sent out spacecraft such as Voyager 1 that is now entering interstellar space....

really? that's crazy.... is that the actual name of it, Voyager 1? isn't that, like, Star Trek?

» Mon Mar 14, 2011 2:58 pm

Disregarding the idiocy of the assumption that there are hostile humanoids out in space, that is still a ridiculous comment. "We should avoid all contact" he says, when the fact is, if someone like that should come into contact with us we're [censored], because if they were able to get here they'd have superior technology and would cream us. Equally, if we were to contact some aliens, that would only be possible if we were the technologically superior race, in which case it wouldn't be a risk for us to contact them. For a physicist he sure is a dumb [censored].

Lol calling Stephen Hawking dumb. You're sad.

Stephen Hawking's right. When I saw a documentary that said some astronomers were sending signals to some site where they thought there would be a good possiblity for alien life to exist, I just thought "Well that's dumb". If they can travel to us, they'll be more technologically advanced than us and in that case we don't want to meet them.

There is a high possibility that inteligent life like us exist in the universe, the number of planets similar to Earth must be uncountable.