Seriously, I doubt it would even take that long. We get used to shit so quickly, and the news cycles have to keep feeding us new things, the only way we’d keep talking about the aliens if they kept doing new and interesting things. I’d be willing to bet a year later there would be some people who straight up forgot about it. “Oh yeah, aliens! Are they gonna, like, visit at some point or just keep exchanging calls with the Whitehouse?”
If tomorrow they announced that it had been happening for a while? Perhaps we’d move on.
If tomorrow were First Contact? Everything would change.
For a month, we’d talk about aliens. Then, we’d talk about Trump or Musks latest shit takes about aliens.
The news media talks about whatever increases shareholder value. That’s why they…
T-t-that’s why they… always tell the truth, of course!
There are no new things in the news. It’s the same ol tired outrage over and over again. I’m over it. I don’t care anymore. It’s all engineered to make us unhappy, and angry, and it works. So, I have opted out.
Depends on how attractive the aliens are.
Dude. We already know they’re hot chicks and looking for the continuum transfunctioner.
A human male will stick their dick into anything.
I think 80% of the world would look up, go “huh. Well, anyway…”
The remaining 20% would be split at either side of the spectrum, with 10% on one side freaking out and trying to whip the 80% into a frenzy, while the last 10% would be a mix of, “PLEASE TAKE ME WITH YOU DON’T LEAVE ME HERE PLEASE”, “HnnnnnnNNNGGG IM COOOOOOMING”, and “Why do we all have to wear these ridiculous ties?”
Counterpoint: we’re still talking about ChatGPT and that, I hope, is not as smart as some aliens capable of intergalactic communication between intelligent species.
Peaceful contact with aliens would tell us something fundamental about the nature of ethics and the universe.
Advanced aliens do not need any material resources or real estate from humanity. We can already interpolate that from existing science. So that is not the reason why there are here. And we know they haven’t exterminated us already centuries ago.
Instead it would tell that we share some fundamental values like curiosity and diversity with alien species - as long as they evolved through natural selection and had to raise and teach and love their children. As long as they had to find productive ways to work together as a people.
We would realize that we are not alone and that we are being judged. That we can’t just endlessly bulldoze the galaxy and that there are limits to acceptable behavior. Because there is always someone more powerful that could smash us, but they already didn’t. That certain ethical ideals are fundamental properties emerging from the universe itself.
It would be a powerful counter to the current nihilistic materialism, that we need to start working to improve our culture.
This makes me feel bad. But to be fair humans are generally really adaptable. And don’t confuse what the news is talking about with what people are thinking.
Well written, OP.
Thanks!
But don’t feel too badly. Honestly, it’s almost a good thing. Without someone stoking the fires of hatred, that same adaptability means that we’re super capable of accepting each other.
This has already happened. And your prediction is correct: nobody talks about it.
Nah. It’d be alien themed-halloween.
The speed of light is so slow as to make communication difficult. The best possiple case is they are about four light years away meaning a round trip question and answer is eight years. That is best case and those stars are generally thought to not be likely to have life. 20 light years gives the first possibility of life.
Which is to say we will never establish communication as you think of it. Instead we become aware of each other and send what we guess is of interest. maybe we ask questions but odds are a question sent is no longer relavent by the time we get an answeri
even the above is a best possible case. If we become aware of life there, is a good chance it is extinct long ago but evidence is just reaching us. The universe is that large*
I just strongly doubt that. Firstly, heaps of people would be dressing as aliens for Halloween and thus talking about it.
Secondly, there’s just way too many follow up questions, about them, their culture, their home, their tech, their goals, their language, their biology, the impact they’ve already had in our history, who knew and who didn’t, etc.
So many fields would begin looking into it and throwing up new angles and facts for people to chew over.
Just think of how much time christians would devote to converting aliens to jeebus.
People as a collective are incredibly stupid. And because of this they’re incredibly easy to manipulate. It has always been this way- it’s just that now, the powers-that-be have figured out exactly how to use them to a perfect advantage.
