How to talk to aliens

last weekend, i attended the American Anthropology Association conference in washington D.C. while there, i watched a panel where a number of anthropologists, the lead historian from NASA and a lead SETI offical explained the importance of lingusitic studies in order to prepare the world for how to initiate firsthand contact with an alien species.
this panel brought up an interesting point: what would be the optimal team to initate contact - and what kind of personel should be present?
i would argue, as the panel did, that linguistic anthropologists will be of primary importance to this situation. Their study is based upon understanding how to communicate with unfamiliar cultures and civilizations - even though they obviously have no experience with nonhumans
who/what else do you think would be necessary for a successful contact mission?

Lots of Guns!!! (just kidding) erhm.. i hope.

What's important..
Landing sites... With candle lights..LOL* Big round circles. And maybe some cool music..Ambient breeze like.
And lots of chicks!!

And Beers!!..

I think.. a couple of days in total silence...No cars allowed to drive to work... Everyone should be either glued to the TV-sets, or in the center of every city on the map.

Every city should be visited... And a big circle landing site should be in the center of each city... Or multiply.. landing sites.. So everyone could watch for themselves..With own eyes..
And very important.. Is to learn everyone that they should not carry a gun. And don't freakin panick!! Just freeze.. Be happy smile and cook some cookies..
Try not to make it as strange as possible... To expand a mind so fast can cause mass fainting.. collapse..and such..

Loads of cookies..
(presents maybe)

Having the contact team be a bunch of academics and govt. types would be the best way to screw up any kind of positive contact. Look at their track record with primitive societies here on earth.

RAM was insightful with the human approach. Beers, Cookies and presents yes!!

I think having First Nation, Native American and other aboriginal people be the contact people would be best as they seem to have had contact previously. Hippies would know how to handle the situation much better than pointy headed intellectuals.

Ever see "The Day the Earth Stood Still?" I don't want to trash the academic community as I was a member once; but the image of a linguist trying to communicate with an alien is laughable. A Kid with a crayon and a pad of paper could do a much better job.

A spiritual medium, would handle the telepathy aspect.

Absolutely! I say a six pack and a steak. Welcome to America. Why subject whoever we may come in contact with to a group of super brains who just want to try and ask question and take tests on them. I say first we give them a big warm welcome, then the gov. can try and do their dirty work

Originally posted by maegman
what would be the optimal team to initate contact - and what kind of personel should be present?

I once read a story... Oh.. I think we have all scanned the internet during our quest for truth...
I read that an American Corn-farmer.. Must be mais-corn..
That a UFO landed - and 2 Aliens came out and asked if they could have a sack of corn.. And the Farmer agreed to it. Who wouldn't?

We cannot say if it's true,
These small stories..that we read.

So if they need a team of personel... I would say that the utmost important personel..Would be to tell everyone.. What to expect. Atleast a month ahead of the actual contact..
Should we dress in smoking or wear pink underwear...
You know - It's not God we gonna face...And so, it's not God, that they are gonna face... It's people.

But the biggest trouble we could encounter is the thing about it all being a secret...And that there allready are contact with secret Dulce base personel.. Wich i think lack sense of humor... Because of the lies.

What really would suck - was - if these Secret Gov. personel was to greet these aliens they allready are in contact with.. You see it would be like a staged event.. Where everybody just talk - from preemade speeches. And shake eachothers hands and hug's and kisses - And pictures being taken to the publich newspapers around the world..

It's like ignorance would still survive.. If it has to become a staged event.

It has to be natural!
Else we should all wear ID cars - or chips... So everything could be controlled... Im a citizense... And by my side are an more important person..Like a Govermental person.
That would not make peace...Or make it a peacefull contact...

Can you imagine 5000 people - all with ID - implanted chips...On a big square field of grass. Welcome to our prison planet.. We greet you. We are good people of earth...All with a zip-code on our neck's.
And maybe 10 Govermental representatives would go and shake hands with the alien-beings... And they would all agree to "*Now lets make some money!"

Bill gates all over again..

We have about 2 ways of contact... One would be a staged event, and the other a natural event..Where the people itself - and children with crayons would make the landing sites... And everything would go as a natural connection between 2 worlds.

I go for the natural event - where mothers and fathers of this world.. Could take their children and go watch it as it happens.
But first - It needs to be shown on TV... To the normal people who never took the time to investigate anything... Or else they would just become slaves of this new Government...And continue the trail of ignorance through generations ahead.

I see a lie...Cause i think the world government want it to be done in a controlled way...They allways want to be in control.

uh'!..this is a heavy thread.

If it has to happend in a natural way - it would possible hapend during one of our mega wars... With Nukes flying all about the horizon.

If it should be a staged event - Then the Government would be heavily involved..

According to any number of reports and people here on ATS
many Aliens is telepaths so linguistic anthropologists are totally unneccesary and the Aliens already understand english... even togh they don't speak it well. Or is this just critics?

No I agree. If they're spiritually advanced as Paragon says, then yeah they will be telepaths.

Absolutely. I'd also send artists to try and convey thoughts through images. We should also prepare visual presentations to show them things we can't necessarily explain.

Music is also a necessity. Classical, some Beethoven, Chopin, Tchaikovski.

All we need to know is how to send instant messeges and phone txt messeges.

Dan Rather claims the aliens do have advanced font capabilities, thanks to a mysterious intergalactic time traveler/office supplies broker known as "Kenneth."

Originally posted by Amorymeltzer
Music is also a necessity. Classical, some Beethoven, Chopin, Tchaikovski.

But NO SLIM WHITMAN!
(obscure "Mars Attacks!" reference)

Interesting question. We dont have a very good track record if you ask me about treating other cultures with respect. There is not a nation on this planet that can say they have. Not the Japanese (look what they did in China) not Americans (look what we did to the Indians) not the Russians, not the English (look what they did to the Scott's) etc, etc etc

Its no wonder the "aliens" would like to commune with the aboriginies. Because at least they had respect for the "Stars" at least they would not try to kill them immediately because they were different.

If I was an all seeing all knowing advance "alien" race and I came across Planet Earth and its inhabitants and had the luxury of endless time to monitor man and his behavior I would have to think really hard about what exposing myself would do, not only to the population and the hysteria it would cause but what about my personal safety, how would I be treated, would they try and blow my spaceship up ? If I got out would they shot me, would they imprison me on their planet, how would they treat me, would they subject me to experiments, would they cut me open to see how different I am on the inside. Would they even try and communicate with me before trying to find a way to take apart my ship or figure out what makes me tick....

Man is a dangerous animal, unpredictable, uncontrolled, unaware of the universe.... And besides the genetic mutations and chemical pollution I am sure would not be good for my health, what if I caught a cold on this foregin planet ? With no doctor and no vaccine what chance do I have to survive ?

So I guess thats why it takes time, we have to look at your species and try and identify what threat humans have to us. We have to see if your air will kill us, your water give us "montezuma", your air contaiminate our lungs, your radio waves destroy our delicate "electronics" your viruses kill our immune system, the radiation on your planet kill our biological cells, accelerating or initiating cellular death something we have overcome by being pure in our own enviroment.....

And over time when we have all the answers we will bring a vast coloney of "people" to come inhabit your planet. Just we might have to "remove" some of the locals to make room for our own "colonies" to be constructed...

If "aliens" really disclose themselves to us then it will be the begining of the end for us humans. Whether they are hostile to us or not. IT would only be a matter of time before we are no longer the rulers of our own planet.

Trying to talk to them will be easy as they will know every langauge on the planet by that time. They would be in control by sending ambasadors to every Country on the planet. Sure they will talk of peace but in the end we will not have a choice. We could fight and cause the immediate death of probably most everyone on the planet and then after an eon of time they will come back and start over and probably populate the planet with some human hybrid and start the "history of man" all over again.

And see how he turns out.

OR simply just forget about "man" existing all together. Maybe even forget that "we" are even here.

Sure from time to time we might send a probe or two to get some land mass data or aquire some sort of biological entity count. See how many animal species you have managed to kill see how many new ways you have figured out to kill each other. See what new "secret weapons" you are hiding from each other. How small you all think to be concerned over what your neighboor is doing, thinking he has it better then you. How you fight over small petty things like a made up story about the recent flavor GOD of the time. And wonder why you continue to kill for no reason at all. And we will watch it like you watch TV and laugh or cry or simply shake our heads and wonder, will you ever grow up ?

We just might be too small for some "alien" civilization to even bother with. Lacking the ability to travel between the solar systems the biggest threat we are is to our own planet and in the cosmic sense of things we are just one in a billion or more other planet that could support life and we could be one of millions or so civilizations so why would they care about us.....

Why do they have to "revel" themselves at all.

Why would they even care.

All aliens are not the same of course. Some already know our language. Others are telepaths. I don't mind the telepaths. They are very easy to understand even though they don't use words. The problem arises when they try to use words after they send their images. You are much better off if they only use telepathic images. You understand perfectly what they are trying to say. But it doesn't work so well when they try to speak in words after they send their telepathy. It's like they try to speak in english what they just told you through telepathy. And your like, "yes I know, I completely understood the first time. Stop invading my space and my mind with words. They can be very terrible at expressing themselves. Their words are so loud in your mind. Their images and impulses you have to almost be aware of them before you realize it is even them. It is so much less invasive to your mind. I wish they'd just shup up and go back to communicating like they did before I realized anybody was even talking to me. Just go back to impulses that I think are my own thoughts.

If they are sharp enoungh upstairs to be going to and from their home to Earth and a quick run arround the galactic plane, I'd say that you would not have to worry about to much talking..verbally anyway. I would bet they would know your thoughts well in advance of yourself; and a few beers to go around would hurt anything either!.