why dod why

a reply to: Nickn3

A latent problem with the JW could keep it blind for years without a shuttle to effect repairs.

A physical problem with James Webb couldn't be repaired because of the distance of its orbit hence the abundance of caution and delays leading up to the launch , Webb will orbit the Sun about 1 million miles from Earth , the Moon orbits Earth about 252,000 miles.

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

OK, I see your point. Yes, that's basically the idea. Assuming the alien thing reduces to an intelligent superpredator, then obviously you shouldn't tell anyone in order to not cause panick, and to organize your defense the best you can. Building on your example with the virus we know what to expect: a few rich ones self-protecting themselves and leaving defenseless the rest of the population (that is: the Western societies protecting themselves against a virus, at the cost of not protecting the rest of the world... which means the virus will reinforce itself, till it will finally devastate the entire population).

But there is a problem with this scenario: an intelligent superpredator will soon learn you should not prey indiscriminately. They need to farm. So eventually they will need to guarantee a constant stock of humans on which to prey, without humans being aware of the game, for otherwise you can find yourself with the unexpected situation in which your prey prefers to immolate. This means it is in the interest of the alien superpredator to not reveal its existence. All in all, this means that either there are no aliens at all, or if there are they are superpredators.

A superpredator cannot last if it does not self-control in its predatory activity. Humans are a good example. In the end, predators and preys must reach a compromise because the survival of the former requires the survival of the latter. Perhaps this explains why those aliens seem to care about the environment and preservation of humanity, much as humans care for the preservation of cattle and fish.