CarpeDeezNutz
Member
They be snobby or scared they be killed.
Why havent aliens landed yet on earth?
- Thread starter RustyNails
- Start date
- Status
A few reasons are possible:
* They don't exist
* They haven't reach our little corner of the galaxy yet
* They follow a rule similar to the "Prime Directive" (Google it)
* They don't want to land here (similar to the Prime Directive, but the motivation is different)
* They're already here now, but we're unable to detect them
* They've been before, but have since left and no convincing evidence of their presence here remains
* They don't exist
* They haven't reach our little corner of the galaxy yet
* They follow a rule similar to the "Prime Directive" (Google it)
* They don't want to land here (similar to the Prime Directive, but the motivation is different)
* They're already here now, but we're unable to detect them
* They've been before, but have since left and no convincing evidence of their presence here remains
Based on our science knowledge, we're finding it difficult to find a shred of evidence that faster than light travel is even possible. The math just doesn't add up.
Aliens haven't landed on earth because they can't. Unless we (or them) discover a way to defy the laws of physics, we'll never visit each other.
Science Fiction has warped our thinking into believing that anything is possible. It's not, and accepting the difference between science and fiction is hard sometimes.
Aliens haven't landed on earth because they can't. Unless we (or them) discover a way to defy the laws of physics, we'll never visit each other.
Science Fiction has warped our thinking into believing that anything is possible. It's not, and accepting the difference between science and fiction is hard sometimes.
What? He-who-must-not-be-named is what we are striving to get away from. You're due for another sec check, buddy.
OneEightZero
aka ThreeOneFour
Monocle
Member
Well, space is huge. We can assume crossing the stars would take tremendous resources. Why would advanced beings make an expensive and time consuming trip for no good reason?
Oh.
Bitanator
Member
If they were to visit, they would not be trotting out all friendly with us and chugging down a few pints while they wax poetic about traveling through space. They would be treating us like we treat ants, stomping us until they got their fill. They'd either realize we are not worth the time and fly right past us to begin with, or kill us all and take what they need on our planet.
The Cowboy
Member
Simply because the universe is so big it would be hard to find us, also despite this planet being habited for millions of years, signals from earth haven't reached that far into space - as such even though we make a lot of noise, we're just to far away for anyone to hear us now.
Contacts intro does a decent example of showing how far our signals have gone, its not exact but it gives you an idea.
Contact intro.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsTBbAMikPQ
Contacts intro does a decent example of showing how far our signals have gone, its not exact but it gives you an idea.
Contact intro.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsTBbAMikPQ
I don't know, most of the greatest innovations in humans history has come about because of competition.
To be fair, scientists a thousand years ago would consider our current technology magic. FTL travel doesn't seem possible from our current understanding of how the universe works. But that understanding can (and will) be expanded.
fuck i love that movie. i don't understand why it gets so much flak
The most likely answer is that space is really, really, really big (like really), and the odds of two civilizations detecting one another at all are pretty slim, let alone making direct face-to-face contact. Mathematically speaking, it's almost certain that there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, but also mathematically speaking, it's entirely possible that it's so rare that we'll never see any of it. It's not mathematically absurd to propose that we're the only planet with intelligent life in the entire Milky Way Galaxy, which would mean direct contact with an alien civilization would be essentially impossible.
Because it's contrary to much of Sagan's own opinions regarding the main character's journey of belief, McConaughey's performance is terrible, the alien encounter is a copout, and the basis for the dismissal of Foster's character's claims following the mission are absurd. It's a subpar movie with a great premise, and not everyone is willing to forgive the former in deference to the latter.
Because it's contrary to much of Sagan's own opinions regarding the main character's journey of belief, McConaughey's performance is terrible, the alien encounter is a copout, and the basis for the dismissal of Foster's character's claims following the mission are absurd. It's a subpar movie with a great premise, and not everyone is willing to forgive the former in deference to the latter.
Charlie0108
Member
Why haven't we landed on the alien's planet yet?
InaudibleWhispa
Member
They have to be capable of finding us. And be capable of getting here. And exist at the same time as us, which is the blink of an eye in the universe's life. We all know space is huge, but time isn't something people often factor when thinking about aliens.
Also, wouldn't time dilation fuck the aliens up? Wouldn't their home planet be thousands of years ahead by the time they get home? I'm sure some people would be willing to deal with that, but it seems like a pretty big ask to just randomly visit a planet.
Also, wouldn't time dilation fuck the aliens up? Wouldn't their home planet be thousands of years ahead by the time they get home? I'm sure some people would be willing to deal with that, but it seems like a pretty big ask to just randomly visit a planet.
They are either advanced enough and know about us, and are watching or
They are advanced enough and don't know about us yet/ don't care about us or
They are not advanced enough and want to meet other forms of life or
They are not advanced enough and destroyed themselves/ still working it all out.
They are advanced enough and don't know about us yet/ don't care about us or
They are not advanced enough and want to meet other forms of life or
They are not advanced enough and destroyed themselves/ still working it all out.
NullPointer
Member
That is so damn statistically implausible that its actually pretty funny.
Maybe ... they are us.
ReplacementPelican
Member
How old is the Universe? How old is life on earth? How long have we been able to send radio signals for?
I have no doubt that life can exist elsewhere, even intelligent life however I find it hard to imagine we're living concurrently with civilizations who are near enough to be contacted or to contact us.
Professor Renegade
Banned
It's a big universe out there, the chances of intelligent life finding us is about just as good as humans discovering intelligent life.
sometimes i game
Member
I'm loving this theory.
Funny you bring up mathematics. Exponential growth of a billion year old, spacefaring civilization in our galaxy would mean that we'd be colonized. That didn't happen. We'd better figure out the potential reasons why and cut the shit.
FairXchange
Member
They're probably like these guys,
Well brainy people are still disputing or working around relativity, something might give. There is crapton of things we don't know or ever will know in humankind's lifespan.
This got me thinking. Yeah, the universe is unimaginably big. But...it is not improbable that we are the only life in the galaxy. And what are the chances that other intelligent life in other galaxies would ever leave their galaxy?
We live in the space equivalent of an uncharted island. If there are aliens that are intelligent enough to make it out here in the first place, and they did find us, they'd probably be surprised life existed in this galaxy.
Realistically, it is entirely possible that given the vastness of space that there are other lifeforms out there, but it would be extremely rare. Also, to find human like aliens would be even more rare we're a pretty unique species on top of the unique circumstance of life.
It is entirely possible that we're completely alone as a "super intelligent" species for light years.
Realistically, it is entirely possible that given the vastness of space that there are other lifeforms out there, but it would be extremely rare. Also, to find human like aliens would be even more rare we're a pretty unique species on top of the unique circumstance of life.
It is entirely possible that we're completely alone as a "super intelligent" species for light years.
Arrogant Bastard
Banned
Nah. The universe is so vast that the chances of bumping into intelligent life is about nil.
Sadly, this.
The most likely explanation is that the speed of light barrier is not breakable, I know it makes people upset, but that's the truth according to our best understanding of nature. And don't link me to the Alcubierre drive here, there are a lot of problems with it, both practical or theoretical, and more broadly, while our understanding of nature can change, at the current point in time, the existence of a hard speed barrier is our best guess.
It can also be possible that life and/or intelligent life are significantly less likely than we assume, though it should be said that given the age and size of the universe, unless we're dealing with an incalculable unlikely event, it is very unlikely earth is the first.
It can also be possible that life and/or intelligent life are significantly less likely than we assume, though it should be said that given the age and size of the universe, unless we're dealing with an incalculable unlikely event, it is very unlikely earth is the first.
The Tofunator
Member
They're probably too busy arguing about their own versions of video games/comic books/movies to care about stuff outside their planet.
The Dennis System
Banned
It would be really hard to find the Earth and nearly impossible to get here because faster than light travel is impossible.
Take your pick:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox
If you don't wanna read all that, the OP's question is a well-known paradox considering:
-"They're not advanced enough" doesn't really make sense if you think about it. The universe is old as shit. The Earth and the solar system are only about half the total age of the universe, meaning there are a shitload of systems and planets that are way older and thus could have developed life way earlier.
-"They don't exist" doesn't really count. There are way too goddamn planets out there for Earth to be the ONLY one habitable to some kind of life, even if you only count the planets in this galaxy.
-"They can't reach us." also doesn't make much sense. Even if faster-than-light travel is impossible, according to estimates it should take at most 50 million years to colonize this entire galaxy -- a cosmologically brief amount of time given how much time other planets have had to develop life.
Given this, you'd think somebody would have come here already. Personally, I believe whatever life is out there is so fundamentally different from us that we're just not listening (SETI) properly. The other explanation that seems most plausible to me is that aliens did come here, but like a million years ago or some shit when there were no homo sapiens to meet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox
If you don't wanna read all that, the OP's question is a well-known paradox considering:
-"They're not advanced enough" doesn't really make sense if you think about it. The universe is old as shit. The Earth and the solar system are only about half the total age of the universe, meaning there are a shitload of systems and planets that are way older and thus could have developed life way earlier.
-"They don't exist" doesn't really count. There are way too goddamn planets out there for Earth to be the ONLY one habitable to some kind of life, even if you only count the planets in this galaxy.
-"They can't reach us." also doesn't make much sense. Even if faster-than-light travel is impossible, according to estimates it should take at most 50 million years to colonize this entire galaxy -- a cosmologically brief amount of time given how much time other planets have had to develop life.
Given this, you'd think somebody would have come here already. Personally, I believe whatever life is out there is so fundamentally different from us that we're just not listening (SETI) properly. The other explanation that seems most plausible to me is that aliens did come here, but like a million years ago or some shit when there were no homo sapiens to meet.
Arrogant Bastard
Banned
Or they are just like us and they don't give a hot damn (financially/budget wise) to make it beneficial. We won't care about it till it's too late.
Tesseract
Banned
i've put well over 30,000 hours into science, mostly math.
if i believed that reality was unbreakable, i'd take the gun out of my drawer, put the barrel in my mouth, and pull the trigger.
nothing is impossible, i have to believe that.
but that's me.
You have stumbled upon the Fermi Paradox. Here's some reading:
http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox
The short version is we don't know. We don't know why they haven't. We don't know why we haven't seen any evidence. And we don't know what the implications of that are.
Edit: Beaten by a swirl.
http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox
The short version is we don't know. We don't know why they haven't. We don't know why we haven't seen any evidence. And we don't know what the implications of that are.
Edit: Beaten by a swirl.
MisterGrey3000
Member
The universe is crazy big, and our planet is pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
The important elements that exist on our world are quite abundant in space, and we've already identified a couple of earth-like planets in other solar systems (some of them are even bigger than our earth)
What makes us so special and deserving of a visitation?
I'd love to be visited, but there are a good number of rational explanations for why humanity hasn't been contacted by extraterrestrial life yet.
The important elements that exist on our world are quite abundant in space, and we've already identified a couple of earth-like planets in other solar systems (some of them are even bigger than our earth)
What makes us so special and deserving of a visitation?
I'd love to be visited, but there are a good number of rational explanations for why humanity hasn't been contacted by extraterrestrial life yet.
THIS
Faster than light travel is not necessary for aliens to have colonized our planet.
Imagine you were born on Earth, but it's the year 2100. Earth's population stands at 50 billion people, and resources are scare in terms of usable land. Might we want to colonize a couple habitable planets we found with our newfangled telescopes? Might take a few hundred years, but we have no space on Earth. Seems plausible, right?
How is it that no alien species in our galaxy, from a planet that got started a billion years earlier has done this cycle over and over again until they hit Earth? Simplest answer is best. Civilizations kill themselves before they can build a colonizing spacecraft. My guess is a physics experiment makes us go Supernova
Imagine you were born on Earth, but it's the year 2100. Earth's population stands at 50 billion people, and resources are scare in terms of usable land. Might we want to colonize a couple habitable planets we found with our newfangled telescopes? Might take a few hundred years, but we have no space on Earth. Seems plausible, right?
How is it that no alien species in our galaxy, from a planet that got started a billion years earlier has done this cycle over and over again until they hit Earth? Simplest answer is best. Civilizations kill themselves before they can build a colonizing spacecraft. My guess is a physics experiment makes us go Supernova
I'm sorry, but what? Aliens (and us) can absolutely spread out across the galaxy. It may take millions of years, but it is possible. Just send one ship to a planet, about 40+ years, and have that planet develop (60-70) years, and send out another ship. Repeat.
Even if it took 500 million years, that's only 3% of the age of the galaxy. It can happen, and I would be surprised if it didn't.
The Dennis System
Banned
Dude, why? Life and the universe is plenty fascinating as it is without believing that anything is possible and the laws of physics can be broken and the supernatural exists.
NullPointer
Member
Its one of the most probable things we can imagine given the size and scale of the known universe. To assume we're the only ones would take some real explanation.
The Real Abed
Perma-Junior
If there are "aliens" they are probably exactly the same as us and in the same boat. Whereas their space program is so far behind and they haven't invented super fast space travel yet. (Maybe it's literally not possible, in which case it means we'll never meet them unless a group of us or them decides to build a fast moving self sustaining "cruise ship" in space like in Wall-E where they live on it for generations upon generations looking for inhabitable or inhabited planets.)
I never understood why we assume aliens would be drastically different. If we all were created when the universe was created then we probably all evolved the same speed and developed similar religions and technology.
Basically when we do meet other lifeforms, it won't be until technology has evolved enough, and even then only the people on the mission will ever know.
I never understood why we assume aliens would be drastically different. If we all were created when the universe was created then we probably all evolved the same speed and developed similar religions and technology.
Basically when we do meet other lifeforms, it won't be until technology has evolved enough, and even then only the people on the mission will ever know.
- Status