I Want to Believe!

Mulu · Post by **Mulu** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 6:00 am

Extraterrestrial Intelligence was the term Sagan used, implying that the intelligence was at least equal to our own. It would have to be greater than our own to get here, or for that matter to survive some basic Malthusian shortcomings regarding fecundity and the limitations of natural resources.

NickD · Post by **NickD** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 7:24 am

Mulu wrote:It would have to be greater than our own to get here

Not necessarily. Maybe they're stupid, but have had a billion or so more years to work out interstellar travel.

Mayhem · Post by **Mayhem** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 5:21 pm

NickD wrote:
Mulu wrote:It would have to be greater than our own to get here
Not necessarily. Maybe they're stupid, but have had a billion or so more years to work out interstellar travel.

Yeah, just read "Footfall." (Niven and Pournelle, as always putting the "Sci" into Sci-Fi)

Mulu · Post by **Mulu** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 10:03 pm

Sorry I was being super vague apparently. We're setting ourselves up for a huge die-off as a species in case you didn't know. Any species that destroys its own environment will eventually experience huge population loss, perhaps even extinction, and we've caused irreversible damage to our environment. In order to have that extra billion years to develop the technology, you have to survive the collision between exponential reproduction and limited resources, and that takes more smarts than we apparently have. Seven billion people and no sustainable efforts have an obvious and predictable outcome. The oceans are already dying.

So, yeah, I think they'd have to be smarter than us to visit us. Or at least a lot more environmentally friendly. Or maybe plant-like....

And despite its rating, I'm going to see the movie anyway. It's the X-Files after all.

Burt · Post by **Burt** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 10:13 pm

Psychlos will rule the man-animals. Believe.

NickD · Post by **NickD** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 10:20 pm

Mulu wrote:Sorry I was being super vague apparently. We're setting ourselves up for a huge die-off as a species in case you didn't know. Any species that destroys its own environment will eventually experience huge population loss, perhaps even extinction, and we've caused irreversible damage to our environment. In order to have that extra billion years to develop the technology, you have to survive the collision between exponential reproduction and limited resources, and that takes more smarts than we apparently have. Seven billion people and no sustainable efforts have an obvious and predictable outcome. The oceans are already dying.

So, yeah, I think they'd have to be smarter than us to visit us. Or at least a lot more environmentally friendly. Or maybe plant-like....

I got what you were saying there. But you're thinking too much like a human. Scientific advancement does not have to mean ecological damage. Perhaps these stupid aliens are wise enough to realise that just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. Or maybe they don't reproduce as much as humans, so there's a lot less of them. Or maybe they're herbivores so grow a lot of plants as a matter of course.

I guess what I'm saying is that you can't take your own experiences and apply them universally.

Anyway, I'm sure we'll be fine if we wipe out all the animals. Afterall, there's always babies.