OT: Alien Contact

[Fyron]

It is a Scientific book written many many years ago. If it was written today it would resemble the current way we figure out life which is Mathmatics.

No, it is not a scientific book. It is a philosophical book. To be a scientific book, it would have to start out with basic observed facts, and use them to prove something. It does not do that, it just says, "here is the conclusion, and it is true". Actually, it would have to do pretty much the same thing to be a philosophical book, so it is not one of those. It is a religious book, period.

[Aloofi]

Originally posted by Wardad:
Aloofi,
Why would they go to all that trouble?
They could get us to enslave each other, and then we could mine it for them.
Of couse this approach requires some finesse and control of local resources.

Nah, they don't have use for us as slaves because we can't possible undestand their tech (If they can warp....) and it will be more reliable to use droids to mine.
Also, their goverment might have laws prohibiting the training of primitive native in their technology.
Advanced industrial tech beats the hell out of slave workforce. Slaves by default have not interest in producing, or in quality. Plus slaves cost money to maintain, otherwise they die out rather quickly.
There is a reason why slavery was abolished in our culture, and believe me, it have nothing to do with human rights.

[Aloofi]

Hey, I found a better Mandy....

[Andrés]

Well the Bible is a mixture of myths, history, philosophy, how the world/universe was though to work, and moral advice.
Yes it was written by men, but it is pointless to discuss if those men were directly guided by God.
Most believers understand that although most truths in the Bible are timeless and as a whole it is still valid today, it was written for the situation and understanding of people of those times.
Taking literally and believing any religious scriptures blindly without thinking makes you a fanatic.
And it's pointless to discuss with a fanatic.

IIRC overpopulation was going to be a problem before long year 2000, but nothing happened. Conflicts in the world today have little or nothing to do with that.
We're not stranded in a desert island with counted rations like CNC said.
We've been living in this island for many generations, self sustained by fruits growing in its trees, there are more efficient production methods yet to implement. Population growth is limited by the available resources and it's also a matter of time before someone builds a boat and tries to get to another island.

No I don't believe there are other humans out there, but how similar or different than humans other races will be? I really dislike the sci-fi idea that sentient races will invariably evolve into a human like shape.

I believe that there are millions of alien races out there.
But that they are so out of reach for us as we are out of reach for them.
A dark age and speed of development of every race are irrelevant. Human civilization is but an
instant in Earth lifetime, and other planets can be much older or younger than Earth.
It would be an unlikely coincidence if civilization is as developed as ours.
Among those millions of races that must exist out there, there must be many races that are millions of years ahead of us.

I agree with Dogscoff we will eventually make it up into space.

And those races that are more advanced than us must have probably made it up into space themselves.

And once space travel is a reliable everyday technology, a space-faring race will try to move beyond its star system.

A ship capable of a centuries long trip will not be profitable for a corporation or military expansion, no one would consider something so uncertain and long term a worthy investment.
It will be either a multi-generetion ship or a ship with all crew in animated suspension.
They will need to be independent from their mother culture, as distance grows not even communication will be possible and time passes the civilization that sent them may have fallen.
Will they feel like living in ships forever or will they seek suitable planet to settle?
If the planet they find an inhabited planet, will they:
1- leave them alone and do find another planet. Perhaps just stopping by to say hello, perhaps not letting the natives know they've been there.
2- exterminate or enslave the natives and colonize the planet
3- establish relations with natives, and settle in peace.
4- split their limited number and do two or all three of the things above.
Remember they will probably be outnumbered but count with higher technology.

[Atrocities]

A ship capable of a centuries long trip will not be profitable for a corporation or military expansion, no one would consider something so uncertain and long term a worthy investment.

I have to dissagree. Suvival is a worthy investment.

[spoon]

Maybe they're there, but can't find us...

[Andrés]

But if a culture can build a ship than with limited resources can survive in deep space for an indefinite time, they surely have no problem surviving in their homeworld.
So unless their sun is dying or our they are self destructing their race in war I doubt that survival press them to do it.