Stephen Hawking: Aliens Could 'Conquer And Colonize' Our Planet

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
Everyone knows that, if we can't beat the aliens, something simple like the flu or water will kill all the aliens. Duh.

"If aliens visit us, the outcome could be much like when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans," Professor Hawking told El País. "Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach," he said.
 
Yes... but why would they? I find it exceptionally hard to believe that usable planets are that rare (for a species that can move an interstellar war machine).

Also, I think we'd avoid the worst part of the Columbian exchange - what're the odds alien diseases can infect humans?
 
Yes... but why would they? I find it exceptionally hard to believe that usable planets are that rare (for a species that can move an interstellar war machine).

Also, I think we'd avoid the worst part of the Columbian exchange - what're the odds alien diseases can infect humans?

Probably about the same that our diseases can infect them ala War of the Worlds.

I too find it pretty unlikely that a species that could work together well enough to do interstellar travel would do so to conquer the planets of other species. Chances are that if they were that warlike they would've wiped themselves out long before they reached that point. It's a good story for sci-fi but I find it unlikely in the extreme.

Of course there is always the possibility of a species driven by a combatitive alien hivemind...
 
Yes... but why would they? I find it exceptionally hard to believe that usable planets are that rare (for a species that can move an interstellar war machine).

Also, I think we'd avoid the worst part of the Columbian exchange - what're the odds alien diseases can infect humans?

I agree. What is so rare on only Earth that an interstellar travel capable species would bother with us. Conversely, if there were more aliens than resources, you'd think we'd have seen them by now.

This of course has the typical heavy amount of human arrogance associated with it. Who's to say life is even remotely like Earth's at all and we even care about the same things? I vote we continue to try to answer the question "are we alone" and worry about the consequences later (because we really have zero clue on the implications of finding life outside of earth)
 
Alien fear mongering ;)

If you know how many planets are there (in our galaxy alone) then I'm sure that we would not get singled out for anything really ;) .
 
Yes... but why would they? I find it exceptionally hard to believe that usable planets are that rare (for a species that can move an interstellar war machine).

Also, I think we'd avoid the worst part of the Columbian exchange - what're the odds alien diseases can infect humans?

War is a great motivator. Look at all the technology and discoveries made at times of war. Since we have no idea about aliens, everyone's ideas on the topic are acceptable for the most part.
 
If FTL travel isn't super easy to accomplish, then it is highly unlikely aliens will ever get here in the first place. And if it is super easy, then we have already found that the galaxy is full of planets and just about any resource you could want, so there would be no point in conquering some backwater planet like Earth.
 
Yes... but why would they? I find it exceptionally hard to believe that usable planets are that rare (for a species that can move an interstellar war machine).

Also, I think we'd avoid the worst part of the Columbian exchange - what're the odds alien diseases can infect humans?

Because Stephen Hawking can't think of anything new to work on and this is the only way he can stay in the news.
 
Yes, I'd imagine an alien race capable of interstellar space travel would be able to defeat us in an open conflict.
 
The issue that some are missing is that most likely there is more than one alien species traveling around. For every race that are peaceful travelers there is just as much of a chance for there to be another species that is looking for a slave labor force or worse.
 
The issue that some are missing is that most likely there is more than one alien species traveling around. For every race that are peaceful travelers there is just as much of a chance for there to be another species that is looking for a slave labor force or worse.

Our species would make a terrible work force, we are too lazy.
 
If FTL travel isn't super easy to accomplish, then it is highly unlikely aliens will ever get here in the first place. And if it is super easy, then we have already found that the galaxy is full of planets and just about any resource you could want, so there would be no point in conquering some backwater planet like Earth.

Except not that long ago people looked at air travel as difficult/impossible, but now it's routine.
If FTL travel is possible and we figure it out, the tech will gradually improve, and eventually it will become routine.

As for why they might come here with bad intentions....
1. Maybe for research purposes, like we might do on mice.
2. Maybe some of them like hunting, and consider us worthwhile prey.
3. Maybe they are hungry and looking for exotic foods.
4. Maybe they are on mission to eliminate non believers from the universe.

Of course these have all been covered in numerous sifi books over the years, so who knows.
 
Because Stephen Hawking can't think of anything new to work on and this is the only way he can stay in the news.


He must have been watching to many alien movies, smoked to much pot, and got super paranoid....Noob. ;)
 
Yes... but why would they? I find it exceptionally hard to believe that usable planets are that rare (for a species that can move an interstellar war machine).

Also, I think we'd avoid the worst part of the Columbian exchange - what're the odds alien diseases can infect humans?

That would greatly depend on what it is they need from a planet doesn't it?

One thing we might start agreeing on early on is that any alien species we are likely to encounter as visitors to our planet are probably pretty good at survival. Look to mother nature for examples of how different species approach the issue of survival and you will probably be able to distil and characterize several basic approaches. I know one is to simply procreate faster then they die, Flies come to mind. Once you have issolated and characterized the major strategies of survival you can begin to imagine which of these might match well with an intelligent species capable of tool use and technologies similar to our won. Chances are the variety will be slim. Man survives not so much by adapting to his environment as he does my changing his environment to suit his needs. That is actually rather rare in the animal kingdom I believe and it's a key element in our drive towards evolutionary tool use, that's what technology is anyway, the evolution of tools.

Anyway, that's where I would start. As in my example, a species whos primary survival tactic is rapid procreation then you usually see short limited life spans which don't lend themselves well to long term development of tool use, etc. That's he direction I would pursue on this question if I cared enough to really dig into it.
 
Probably about the same that our diseases can infect them ala War of the Worlds.

I too find it pretty unlikely that a species that could work together well enough to do interstellar travel would do so to conquer the planets of other species. Chances are that if they were that warlike they would've wiped themselves out long before they reached that point. It's a good story for sci-fi but I find it unlikely in the extreme.

Of course there is always the possibility of a species driven by a combatitive alien hivemind...

I've never seen any species wipe itself out. Anyone seen an actual example of this?
 
If FTL travel isn't super easy to accomplish, then it is highly unlikely aliens will ever get here in the first place. And if it is super easy, then we have already found that the galaxy is full of planets and just about any resource you could want, so there would be no point in conquering some backwater planet like Earth.

Now, or 3 million years from now?

Doesn't this depend upon needs, location, costs, etc. If there is an alien species relatively close enough to earth that needs something we have, and earth winds up being the least costly source for this need, then you have a better answer than your random basless meandering.

Here on earth, how rapidly did the Europeans expand into the North Americas once they developed the means to do so? Given the abundance of new resources and the ease of expansion and colonization, how did this expansion effect technological growth?

If you just ballpark things and use Colombus and 1492 as a starting point for this expansion you'll find that we make some pretty serious increases in technology during this period of expansion and that the pace increases and builds.

Let's say we slug along at the current rate of advance for another 100 years with no great breakthrough in space travel. Then finally someone hits pay dirt and man seriously takes to the stars. After 100 years of continued problems dealing with what is quickly becoming an overcrowded planet, we now find a way to stretch out and take entire worlds. Would this also fuel a new surge in technology, this breakthrough in space travel could herald another series of advances.

Couldn't this work the same for an alien species? Form follows function not the other way around.
 
Everyone knows that, if we can't beat the aliens, something simple like the flu or water will kill all the aliens. Duh.

Oh.... my ... god.... it all makes sense now! Flu vaccines, alien conspiracy.... California drought, alien conspiracy... complaints about illegal ALIENS in California, a government conspiracy to hide the truth
 
But in all seriousness though, anyone think Hawking is simply a puppet today?

hes been dead for 10+ years. That motionless mannequin you see was made by the jim hensen puppet makers. The voice is just siri with a speak & spell.
 
Hopefully they'll be pretty decent aliens and share some of their alien GPU tech with us. 4K resolution, 100+ fps, with all the visual eye candy set to max!
 
Here on earth, how rapidly did the Europeans expand into the North Americas once they developed the means to do so? Given the abundance of new resources and the ease of expansion and colonization, how did this expansion effect technological growth?

The key difference (in my opinion) between the european colonization of the new world and colonizing space is that in space you can't just set off in a direction and see what you run in to (you won't run into anything - you'll die in interstellar space). The europeans had the means to go somewhere without the vision to see where they could go. Space is the other way around; you can see very, very far away.

I guess if a colony ship set out for earth before our EM broadcasts made it to wherever they came from and they didn't have enough fuel to turn around or go somewhere else?
 
The next article Hawking will write will concern his plans on creating indestructible killing machines to help 'protect' humanity.

Then we'll know who he truly is.

Davros-sans-trabasack.jpg
 
The key difference (in my opinion) between the european colonization of the new world and colonizing space is that in space you can't just set off in a direction and see what you run in to (you won't run into anything - you'll die in interstellar space). The europeans had the means to go somewhere without the vision to see where they could go. Space is the other way around; you can see very, very far away.

I guess if a colony ship set out for earth before our EM broadcasts made it to wherever they came from and they didn't have enough fuel to turn around or go somewhere else?

The point of my statement was the physical differences but the motivational. As soon as it became not only possible but also potentially profitable, the race was on. Once that race started, the speed of colonization ramped up, ship technology improved, sail to steam. The greater distances for land travel saw the railroad become a big thing. We cut a channel through Panama, dug tunnels through mountains, hell, we have tunneled under the ocean.
 
Any significantly advanced species with space travel most likely has moved past their animalistic origins.
I expect most FTL traveling species to be primarily digital, or some further form of sentience.
The need to conquer us just isn't there.
Just keep making Dyson spheres, and universes
 
Yes, I'd imagine an alien race capable of interstellar space travel would be able to defeat us in an open conflict.

Was just going to say this. It's like the sheepherders in Afghanistan fighting our jets with spears. Consider the overall level of technological advancement it would take to reach our solar system, from even the closest solar system. The level of technological capacity would be at such a difference that they could effectively do anything they wanted to us.
 
The simple reality is this:

1. The distances are far to vast, barring some type of undiscovered 'star drive' it is highly unlikely that a large extra-solar government exists. Even if communication was instant though quantum entanglement, it would be virtually impossible as a species to maintain a collective will and direction when it takes hundreds to millions of years to travel between colonies.

2. It is just a likely that any alien lifeforms will be just that, alien, completely and utterly. Comprehension and communication, perhaps even the basic recognition that we or they are sentient is likely what we will be facing, if and when we meet extra-terrestrial life.

3. I do not buy into the warlike species will die off argument, its to simplistic by its very nature. Its pretty much a pie in the sky star trek Klingon theory. Simply put, species go to war not for emotional reasons (individuals do, but not species) but because of some desire or requirement to capture more of a specific or range of resources required by said species to thrive.
3 b. All species will be naturally competitive, as in all nature, resources are scares and life competes for them. If a species was not required to compete for resources, it will not evolve as there will be no driving factor, and thus no need to. Ergo, space faring species will have competition hardwired in, even if its a distant memory.
 
He must have been watching to many alien movies, smoked to much pot, and got super paranoid....Noob. ;)

I think it's just the opposite....if he had to use Columbus as an example, he hasn't watched enough.

I've never seen any species wipe itself out. Anyone seen an actual example of this?

The Germans tried it in WW II, fortunately they didn't succeed.
 
Stephen Hawking watches the movie Skyline... has epiphany.
He has been talking about this since at least 2010...
 
But by then the robots and AI will have taken over, so they'll likely be able to fend off an alien attack quite well.
 
But by then the robots and AI will have taken over, so they'll likely be able to fend off an alien attack quite well.

I'm thinking any kind of interstellar travel will be done by alien robots with implanted alien fleshbag AI, so those alien robots will destroy/enslave our still earthbound robots anyway.
 
Meh, it's not a resources argument because there's more water in Europa than all of Earth, and if it's physical resources, crack open a few asteroids which have way more ACCESSIBLE resources than Earth has. At the worst they'll simply turn Earth into a gas station to fill up... maybe... assuming they have a physiology that likes our atmosphere/temp.
 
Read up on the Fermi Paradox. It covers the majority of possibilities for these scenarios.

As for a reason to attack us, they may want to wipe us out now before we can become a threat later. Why risk it when it would be so easy to do now?
 
Well, it's actually a little premature to think that they will be warlike at all. It's not a guerantee, although the chance they would have encountered other warlike species would be higher and therefor they may have learned some new tricks, or just learned to leave the unsociabale bastard types alone. Whatever. I'm just saying, being technologically advanced doesn't necessatate that they be militarily advanced as well. Likely may be, gueranteed, nope.
 
Back
Top