Why are people more interested in greys than potential microbial aliens?

It just seems to me that it's a lot easier to demonstrate the existence of microbial life (by pouring all sorts of money into space exploration) than it would be to go out and nab oneself a genuine grey alien! So if so many are so eager to prove the existence of aliens, why is the public so hesitant to spend money on space exploration? It's almost as if many of the same people who are so certain about the existence of advanced alien civilizations (and their presence nearby) are the most dead-set against anything to do with NASA. Are people just afraid to discover the truth? Is it somehow easier to "humanize" the unknown entities which lurk deep in the darkness of the known universe?

To discover even the smallest of organisms on Mars, for instance would go a long way towards supporting the possible existence of life elsewhere in the universe. I realize that the small size of microorganisms makes them seem like an abstract subject to many who haven't had access to good quality educational resources but we are still coming to terms with the sheer diversity of microbes which inhabit their planet and the plethora of survival strategies employed by them. The rest of Earth's living creatures simply have not had as much time to evolve and diversify.

So, going back to my original question: Why are people more interested in grey aliens than microbial aliens? One is so much easier to seek out and capture/culture than the other. One is more likely to be found and presented to the public in the next decade than the other. Only a fraction of microorganisms can be considered pathogenic and far less of them would be harmful to humans which makes one of these potential aliens far less dangerous than the other.

What's the deal? If we want to ease a nervous public towards disclosure, wouldn't it make more sense to go out into space, find an exotic extraterrestrial microbe, present it to the world as proof that life can exist elsewhere, and gradually let everyone connect the dots? ALH84001 was the closest we ever came to the realization that we may not be alone. Microorganisms are a necessary milestone in coming to terms with the notion that aliens are real.

Is it any wonder we're falling flat on our faces for trying to run before we even took a first step? If greys are real, we can't prove it-- at least, not until we can demonstrate that alien life exists on a smaller, more manageable scale first.

You can't talk to a Microbe.....

I for one am highly interested in it.

I'm still fascinated by the alien like creatures at the bottom of the oceans!!

I think a major point is we can't make huge advances with microbes, aliens beaming down on spaceships, would be one hell of an advance for us to gain anything from, you got to admit that.

Life anywhere else, is possible, because its possible here, maybe not necessarily does it have to be carbon based, which is even more fascinating. Trillions if not more possibilities, bottom line we don't know.

Hey, for me, if we found bugs on mars. (One i'd be scared cause of that movie) I'd be delighted, it'd be a huge advance, and would settle a lot of arguements, and we as a race would advance!

Double post. One liner too!

[edit on 17-4-2009 by Republican08]

reply to post by X-tal_Phusion


I hate to throw out the entire arguement in one line, but its because they are boring. Come on ET is way cooler then single cells. We both know that.

People seek Extraterrestrials because we don't want to feel we are alone in the universe. Given, microbial life would imply the possibility of intelligent life elsewhere, but the overall goal is to find said intelligence, not signs that indicate the existence thereof.


TheAssociate

The technological and philiophical implications are much more intruiging. Don't get me wrong the discovery of microbial life would be fantastic in its own right but i think that intellegent beings seek other intellegent beings. We want to know the secrets of the universe. We could learn alot about the formation of life from microbes. But imagine what we could learn from an intellegent alien who if can even get here is much more sophisticated than we are.

So i dont think its that people dont think finding microbial life is not important they just relish the idea of a conversation with an intellegent alien being

reply to post by X-tal_Phusion


Well, we could argue that microbes wouldn't change things so much, but the fact MIGHT BE because microbes can't:

1- pilot flying saucers
2- abduct you
3- make good movies about
4- be involved - maybe, if real - in a global conspiracy


...but that's just me.

Size matters.
People get more excited about a new giant squid than a new burrowing beetle, or about a new big cat than about a new mouse.
Plus people get more easily (at least at first) interested in things that seem like/similar to themselves...it walks, it talks, it has a head has more instant curb appeal (less background required) than say the idea that space spores are distributed parallel processing nodes in an intergalactic directed panspermia being operating as an iterative network of von Neumann machines...the latter could be more interesting once the idea comes across but it's a worse headline than SEXLESS TALKING SPACE POTATOES IN HOUSESLIPPERS...there are more people who have mammals as pets versus insects...et cetera...

reply to post by nine-eyed-eel


So, if we ever discovered a 20-ft saber-toothed pink, jumping bunny with a promiscuous lifestyle that farted helium and ate rocks, that would get people's attention? Come to thing of it... the more tabloid-ish it sounds, the more people gravitate towards it. That's pretty sad & doesn't say much for our intelligence as a species.

[edit on 19-4-2009 by X-tal_Phusion]