If you could send a message to space...............

[LongTomH]

Please take time to think about your answer!

[jberryhill]

1. Question is leading

The question assumes that if I could send a message to space, that I would choose to do so.

That's like asking, "If you were a worm, and you could talk to the birds, what would you say?"

Why in Hell's name would I want to inform a technologically advanced culture of where I am?

So, my answer is "nothing". Space doesn't talk to me, so I'm not starting a conversation with it.

[unblock]

7. yes! to any aliens capable of picking up our signals and recognizing us as life, we're food.

it's risky enough if we find them. in that scenario, the life we find is most likely a lethal virus, but at least we may have the decision to avoid bringing it back to earth.

if they find us, we're toast. possibly literally.

[PJMcK]

17. That's silly

If aliens can detect us and traverse the vast distances of space, they won't be looking for food because that will be an issue they solved long ago.

The physics of space-time are remarkable and consistent.

[unblock]

22. I disagree entirely

First, they might be doing space travel precisely because they are in search of food and other resources. In fact that's one of the motivations for us doing it. Well resources more than food, but only because we already think there's no food available out there. Nearby at least.

But a fact of life is that many species interact with each other lethally. And a fact life is that the more unknown the life form, the more lethal it may be as our defenses haven't adapted to it.

Actuslly, biggest concern about us being "food" isn't from the major life forms who figured out space travel, but the smaller life forms accompanying them that we can't negotiate with or threaten. Their viruses, their bacteria, etc. our immune systems may not be able to handle them

[PJMcK]

23. Consider some scientific facts that are consistent

Physical matter cannot exceed the speed of light. Accordingly, how would aliens traverse the vast distances of space?

They won't come to Earth for food and they don't need our oil or other resources. If they can get here, the aliens don't need our meager resources.

[unblock]

24. reread my post and give it some thought. it may help to flesh out your analysis.

just because it takes a long time to travel across space doesn't mean they've solved all their food problems.
yes, assuming they arrived alive, they must have figure out the food situation for the time of the travel itself, but that's it.

they might be counting (hoping) on finding food at their destination for any further survival.
or they might have enough food for just themselves, but not the billions of aliens overcrowding their current planet and they're looking for another planet to expand onto.

it's not much different from explorers centuries ago sailing to new lands. it takes a long time to traverse the sea, and they sorted out the food situation for the travel. that doesn't mean they won't need food once they arrive, and it doesn't mean they won't reproduce or send for more people to come later.


additionally, they may carry microorganisms that may multiply like crazy and cause diseases we can't cure.

[PJMcK]

25. Food is a silly issue

The distances between solar systems within the Milky Way Galaxy are profoundly great. Any intelligent life form that could traverse those distances at speeds below that of light would not consider food to be a problem. That's an issue that would have been resolved before they left their home planet. It would take such creatures multiple generations to traverse the galaxy. Accordingly, food would not be an issue. For clarity, there are not enough planets along the way to stock up on supplies.

Incidentally, I don't subscribe to science fictional ideas such as worm holes, warp speeds or hyper-space. Facts and logic are more powerful and convincing than subjective speculation. This means that it will take astronomical times to cross the galaxy. This fact applies to humans as well as any extra-terrestrials. The laws of physics have been demonstrated to exist across the known universe.

Your analogy to "explorers centuries ago sailing to new lands" is profoundly flawed. The explorers in Earth's history were always on the same planet! The air was breathable. The plants and animals were edible. That will not be necessarily be true when humans reach another planet. Your assumption that extra-terrestrials-- or Earthlings-- could survive in other environments is rather naive.

By the way, your condescension is curious. This is especially true because I find myself in agreement with the vast majority of your posts.

[unblock]

34. Not going for condescension, sorry about that.

Just finding this subthread a bit frustrating.

I've made a number of points, but don't seem to be stating my case well apparently.

I'll try to sum up...

Any initial travelers will have need for food and resources beyond what they needed for travel. There may be more than the initial travelers and there may be other organisms along for the ride. And they all can multiply. All these organisms have needs.

It's possible that an interaction with aliens might be innocuous. But it's also quite possible that they or some of their fellow travelers may -- even inadvertently -- use us as resources or food.

Incidentally, this is a view held by a number of scientists who have given the matter some thought -- including Stephen hawking.

[liberalnarb]

19. Christ, like I needed one more thing to worry about.

[marked50]

9. Agreed to this fact.

Better to be silent in the midst of potential predators.

[rsdsharp]

10. It's not leading because it's not suggesting an answer.

It just assumes facts not in evidence.

[jberryhill]

11. Good point

[USALiberal]

15. Wow, paranoid much? And space might be talking to us. nt

[TheSmarterDog]

2. I would send more Chuck Berry

[rzemanfl]

3. Help! n/t

[CTyankee]

5. You beat me to it!

[awesomerwb1]

4. Get me out of here! nt

[Hayduke Bomgarte]

6. Stay away: Danger Zone

We're destroying ourselves and may just take you down too.

[Vinca]

8. Our leader is orange with a ferret on his head - you can have him.

[malchickiwick]

12. "Visit here, and be sure to probe deeply!" Along with directions to 1600 PA Ave.

[lunatica]

13. Scotty, are you there?

[longship]

14. I'd send Bach, Mozart, Puccini, and Alban Berg's Wozzack.

That combo would really screw their heads on backwards, presuming they have them.

Unfortunately for those worrying about being on the alien's menu when they arrive, interstellar travel is very likely so fucking difficult to be extremely rare, if it's even possible to send lifeforms.

Then, there's the distances, and the time it takes to receive the message.

Nothing wrong with sending messages to ET. It's a huge long shot. No harm; no worries.

[Ferrets are Cool]

16. Hey You. Yeah, YOU. Stay far away from the orgin of this message...

We are all infected with a disease called stupid. You do NOT want to get stupid!!!

[bluestarone]

18. Hell no you can't

Have MUELLER!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PJMcK]

20. It's already been done in several ways

First of all, we've been sending radio and television broadcasts into the universe since the early years of the 20th century. Any listener within, say, 5 to 50 light years of Earth could be able to watch and listen to everything we've done in the last century.

Second, the Voyager spacecraft famously have the gold-plated disks with images, sounds and music from all around our planet. Additionally, the gold-plated plaques aboard the spacecraft clearly indicate where Earth is located, (using known pulsars).

Each Voyager space probe carries a gold-plated audio-visual disc in case the spacecraft should ever be found by intelligent life forms from other planetary systems. The disc carries photos of the Earth and its lifeforms, a range of scientific information, spoken greetings from people such as the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the President of the United States and a medley, "Sounds of Earth," that includes the sounds of whales, a baby crying, waves breaking on a shore, and a collection of music, including works by Mozart, Blind Willie Johnson, Chuck Berry, and Valya Balkanska. Other Eastern and Western classics are included, as well as various performances of indigenous music from around the world. The record also contains greetings in 55 different languages.

Lastly, any civilization that is scientifically advanced would have been doing similar things that our scientists have been attempting, namely, to find out what else is out there in the universe. If this hypothetical civilization exists and they've developed advanced technologies, they may have found us before we even knew to look for them.

Consider: Aliens may have decided that we're not worth their time or interest. Plus, we don't taste that good.

[jberryhill]

36. Well, duh

It’s pretty well established that after they came here and built pyramids in Egypt and Mexico and all that other stuff, they left and only occasionally drop in to do donuts in UK crop fields for shits and giggles.

Bastards.

[hunter]

21. The local space aliens already know we are here.

Sadly, they have no interest in us. Most camping out on earth these days are graduate students studying beetles.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beetle

Occasionally you'll meet a botanist.

[Oneironaut]

26. "No intelligent life here. Keep looking."

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

27. Take our leader. Please.

[leftofcool]

28. ding, ding, ding! Winner!

[lordsummerisle]

29. It's moot

I read an article a while back (sorry don't have link) that said civilizations typically last a lot less than 100,000 years.
If this is true then, given the vast interstellar and galactic distances, the sender (us in this case) of messages would be long gone by the time any entity received it...

[Codeine]

30. Please stop with all the butt probe stuff.

It’s considered rude here. Kthnxbai

[jberryhill]

37. Meh

I’m okay with it, as long as they stick with random rednecks on lonely rural roads.

[Azathoth]

31. "Look elsewhere for intelligent life."

[Takket]

32. Turn around. Youve been warned!

[jmowreader]

33. It is highly unlikely any intelligent extraterrestrial race uses languages from Earth

If I sent a message to space, it would be in English. We know right from the start the Alien Life Forms don't use English. They may not even use acoustic or visual means to communicate.

Not to be a party pooper, but if I sent a message into space no one would ever be able to understand it...so I'm going to pass.

[cos dem]

35. Well, since every RF transmission continues indefinitely...

in (more or less) a straight line, we are already sending messages into space.

Which means, today's "interview" (which I will admit I have not seen, and will not watch, but reading the accounts of it are certainly entertaining) is already on its way to the stars. So, my guess, is it won't be long before they're on their way to put us out of our misery.

Of course the signal gets fainter with distance, so there's hope.

[GeorgeGist]

38. Danger!