Posted on 04/23/2024 12:09:08 PM PDT by Red Badger
If there are alien civilizations out there close enough to pick up our stray signals, there's a non-zero chance that amongst the first transmissions, they could receive the opening of the 1936 Olympic Games, meaning our first contact with another species (in the unlikely event that they picked them up) could include a speech by Adolf Hitler.
"This wasn't the first broadcast, of course," senior SETI astronomer Seth Shostak explained to RealClearScience. "But it was at a high frequency that might make it through the ionosphere."
In the film Contact, this ended up being the first message humanity received from an alien civilization. The beings sent the signal right back at Earth, not realizing the impact sending broadcasts of Adolf Hitler from space would have on the species they were attempting to initiate contact with. It's a bit like if you said hello to a passing stranger, and in response they accidentally regurgitated a chapter of Mein Kampf.
Thankfully, we likely won't have to go through this scenario, with signal strengths too weak to be detected by alien civilizations.
"It would have been very low power, and with a non-directional antenna," Shostak continued. "The idea that aliens might pick it up is pretty far-fetched."
But, of course, we could end up receiving far more terrifying first transmissions, as people have been discussing over on X (Twitter) and Reddit.
At the moment, likely due to a recent TV series that will not be named, people mainly seem to be focusing on hearing warnings from other civilizations.
According to some solutions to the Fermi Paradox – or the question of "where is everybody?" – the answer is that advanced civilizations are deliberately hiding themselves, out of fear of their own destruction.
Another fear is of an ambiguous message; that aliens will give us few details, other than that they are on their way.
While not enough information is considered terrifying, people also appear to worry about alien civilizations that are overfamiliar with Earth.
There is one theory – known as the Zoo Hypothesis – along these lines. It proposes that aliens are aware of us but keep us isolated in a "zoo" to let us evolve and progress, just as humanity sets aside land as nature reserves and does not contact uncontacted tribes. According to this hypothesis, we could then be contacted when we have achieved sufficient technological and societal maturity, perhaps welcomed into a galactic community.
Despite the fear that contacting an alien civilization will likely involve (even if they are friendly, humans have a pretty solid track record of fearing the unknown), there may be one idea that is scarier.
Perhaps (though we'd bet against it) there are no aliens at all, and Earth contains all sentient life.
I think the end stage for humans is to merge with machines making us immortal and able to travel the distances necessary to travel to other worlds
Yes. If you believe in evolution it’s an incredibly stupid thing to do. Sending messages to the apex predator that won the evolutionary food fight of its planet and telling them where your planet is, is unlikely to end well.
I hear what you are saying, but I have been waiting for my hover car for over 50 years now.
“We are from the galactic government and here to help.”
“I hear what you are saying, but I have been waiting for my hover car for over 50 years now.”
There are many such things that have been invented and then the inventions were permanently seized by the government via the 1951 Invention Secrecy Act.
The author Daniel Suarez expanded on this idea with his novel “Influx”.
https://techcrunch.com/2014/02/15/daniel-saurez-interview/
Suarez’ “Bureau of Technology Control” has been posited as a possibly real entity that enforces the Invention Secrecy Act. Under another name, of course.
It would follow that some agency has to deal with the ISA which keeps getting renewed so it’s not entirely far fetched.
Because you didn’t learn anything we’re sending you more democrat leaders.
Amen. And when He returns, every unbeliever will wish that it WAS instead aliens with bad intent. Because nothing aliens could do will remotely compare to the unending agony of an eternity in Hell.
Earth is being demolished to build the Vogon’s hyperspace bypass.
Dear Earthlings, in the near future you will become Road Kill in the path of the Universe advancement. Have a nice day……
So give you ID card to the border guard
Your alias says you got John Luke Picard
Of the United Federation Of Planets
‘Cause they won’t speak English any ways
That I would believe.
Who put the “bomp” in the bomp bah bomp bah bomp?
Who put the “ram” in the rama lama ding dong?
No way in hell are we coming there...
You’re a lost cause...
You’ll be extinct in 5, 4, 3...
The scariest words in all of eternity are, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”
Humans look delicious.
“In 3...”
As lazy Mayzie said in Horton Hatches an egg...
“The work is all done, now WE WANT IT BACK!”
KLAATU BARADA NIKTO
Greetings, Earthlings. We are here for the hajj.
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