Astronomers Detect First 'Clear Signs of Civilization' Beyond Earth - How will you react?

S&F

A quite pausible scenario within our lifetimes and yes, an interesting question: how would we react?

Personally I'd be excited and intrigued and perhaps a little disappointed that it didn't happen when I was a bit younger, and that I might not live to see actual first contact (I'm 47 now).

how intelligent are they, again?

what would we ask first?

when we learn to talk to each other, that is.

more g=v propaganda?

JadeStar
Brilliant analogy.

What do you think would be the case if despite all our best efforts to communicate they never showed up and we never learned much more other than they were there?

I suspect it would be a mixture of both. There would be some people who would be excited as they were in the Moon landing era. So much of our technology which we use today had its beginnings during the billions that were poured into Apollo. So many of the people in senior positions in the sciences were kids back then who just got interested in space and science as a result of the moon landings.

But like I said, there could very well be decades between the first detection and sharp images of their world and perhaps those images would be all we'd get.

Apathy and disinterest would likely follow at some point but there would always be that thing hanging over us that "there is someone out there better than us at what we're trying to do".

I'm a girl.

I think it would go down as an important part of history like the Moon landings and the space race, then get forgotten about or ignored like most stuff does, look at the things that happened the last century that changed our world and how many people actually know about them or even bother to acknowledge about these days (hell the damn second world war is beginning to be forgotten or considered irrelevant by people now days). Would be interesting in my mind if like my example one day we took another periodic look at the others planet and the lights were suddenly all gone. Like the kid across the gulf who stopped showing up, we wouldnt ever know where the waving friend went or what happened to them, it would be sobering... then maybe one long day in the future we arrive at there door step and find ruins or vice versa they arrive here to find ruins.

The one good thing though would be we'd always know there was someone else from that point on as you said... until maybe a few decades later the crayzie people come out and start to say it was all a hoax or a government run psy-op, ala like the moon landing deniers we have today and their ilk.

Oh and I use the term 'guys' as a gender neutral term, usually for someone or a group of someone that I dont know their gender, its fairly commonly used like that in my country, or at least I think it is. I used to watch a kids show that started with a person yelling 'Hey you guys!' way back in the 80's as a child, im sure they werent simply talking to the boys , I think i picked it up from that and used it that way ever since. No real gender mix up intended.

Either way the way things are going in this world, I can probably safely say ill have long since kicked the bucket along with an awful lot of the rest of you lot before anything like this hypothetical happens ... may be had we started back during the space race we'd be seeing results now, but thats humanity for you, never doing what it should be doing (i know its pessimistic but after 30+ years and seeing nothing coming of the predictions talked about in my youth you start to think, ive got more important things to worry about). But we can smile at the fact that some day some one will be around when this particular event occurs I hope they get a real kick out of it.

iunlimited491

Because the OP changed his original post to add in the *Disclamer*.

Everyone who clicked the post at first probably read through the entire OP before getting 'hypothetically rick-rolled'.

(-_-)

I knew it was a hypothetical from the title before I clicked it. After all it says "how would you react", not "whats your reaction" or "how are you reacting to this" etc. Sorry for being pedantic, and if the title was also changed I apolgise, a little grumpy, im tired and had some bad nights sleep last night. Its summer here and hot... hate hot muggy nights.

AndyMayhew
S&F

A quite pausible scenario within our lifetimes and yes, an interesting question: how would we react?

Personally I'd be excited and intrigued and perhaps a little disappointed that it didn't happen when I was a bit younger, and that I might not live to see actual first contact (I'm 47 now).

This reminds me of something i read once about the great cathedrals of Europe. The people who built them, knew they would never be alive to see them completed but this itself served as a means to a purposeful life for them and their children.

BigfootNZ

I think it would go down as an important part of history like the Moon landings and the space race, then get forgotten about or ignored like most stuff does, look at the things that happened the last century that changed our world and how many people actually know about them or even bother to acknowledge about these days (hell the damn second world war is beginning to be forgotten or considered irrelevant by people now days).

Very true. Without relevance to the average person on a frequent basis history tends to be forgotten or cast aside for something that is only the domain of "intellectuals".

Which is unfortunate. History belongs to all of us and like the saying goes, if one is not familiar with history they are doomed to repeat it.

Would be interesting in my mind if like my example one day we took another periodic look at the others planet and the lights were suddenly all gone. Like the kid across the gulf who stopped showing up, we wouldnt ever know where the waving friend went or what happened to them, it would be sobering... then maybe one long day in the future we arrive at there door step and find ruins or vice versa they arrive here to find ruins.

The night the lights went out. Wow. That would be sobering. People would speculate as to any number of reasons why it happened.

ie: They had a nuclear or some other kind of war with themselves. They were wiped out by asteroidal impact. They died out because of a virus of some sort. They were still there but learned after 16 years that we knew about them (from closely monitoring our broadcasts) so they decided to keep a low profile for whatever reason. They found a more efficient way of lighting and using energy which was not detectable to us anymore. They were "grey gooed" to death by out of control nanobots. And so on...

The one good thing though would be we'd always know there was someone else from that point on as you said... until maybe a few decades later the crayzie people come out and start to say it was all a hoax or a government run psy-op, ala like the moon landing deniers we have today and their ilk.

You KNOW that would happen.

"Keid was a hoax dude, I saw it on ATS, they had a plan for a world government and they needed an external "threat" that wasn't too scary so as not to disturb TPTB. There was never a civilization there, it was just some bad pixelated images anyone could have made in Photoshop. The astronomers were all paid disinfo agents. Look at their records, they all got government money at some time. I'm telling you, it was a UN plan all along to get us all onside."

Either way the way things are going in this world, I can probably safely say ill have long since kicked the bucket along with an awful lot of the rest of you lot before anything like this hypothetical happens

... may be had we started back during the space race we'd be seeing results now, but thats humanity for you, never doing what it should be doing (i know its pessimistic but after 30+ years and seeing nothing coming of the predictions talked about in my youth you start to think, ive got more important things to worry about). But we can smile at the fact that some day some one will be around when this particular event occurs I hope they get a real kick out of it.

Well, there are a bunch of massive telescopes coming online in the next decade or so. Several will have the capability, in theory to make a detection such as I outlined in the hypothetical scenario so you never know.

Sara Seager actually suspects that we'll discover some form of life in the next decade:

Planet hunter Sara Seager says we may find alien life in next decade

That's different from discovering a civilization of course but the technology to discover one, is very close to the technology to discover the other.

reply to post by JadeStar


Highly doubt artificial light would be detected. Light from the parent sun would obscure any artificial light from an orbiting planet. Additionally, you mentioned "city lights". This is pure "human" logical thought process. To suggest an alien civilization would have city lights, like earth, would be the same as saying aliens also have iPhones and apple pie on their home planet.

My comments, however, do not suggest the that life elsewhere does not exist.

I would react just fine as I do beleive this exists already without our knowing obviously(.or do "we" know something and not telling?)

I think most peole could handle this type of announcements since there is no imminent contact and or threat as there 16 light yrs seperating both worlds.

I would be a different story if they showed up here and make contact in person... Then there would be massive panic i think but not me tho, i hope this happens as long as its peaceful of course.

Great story

S+f

hmmmmmmm....How would I react?......First...find out if they are friendly...if so...good..attempt communication....during said communication..find out bout them and see if they have the ability to visit...if yes then say.....HELP..GET ME OFF THIS MUD BALL...the truth....I would be tickled pink...but the....t.p.t.b. well.....ahhh....I'm not getting started with that.......cool post o.p.....

Great story you just mist the writing contest it would have earned you allot of applaus.

My reaction would be finally all the secrecy from the last century from now on becomes fact.

But it's good news that we know it and I would want to know how far in technology they are ? Because flying with the speed of light to that planet would gain us and them nothing in this time period because non of us would ever witness this alien life from that planet

antonioparis
reply to post by JadeStar

 

Highly doubt artificial light would be detected. Light from the parent sun would obscure any artificial light from an orbiting planet.

Not in the infrared. Most normal stars are dim in the infrared part of the spectrum such a telescope would work in. Our Earth actually outshines the Sun in certain wavelengths of the infrared. BTW: we've already directly imaged some of the larger extrasolar planets using that very technique (looking in the infrared).



To understand the science behind the scenario I outlined please read this article: www.space.com...

Additionally, you mentioned "city lights". This is pure "human" logical thought process. To suggest an alien civilization would have city lights, like earth, would be the same as saying aliens also have iPhones and apple pie on their home planet.

Not necessarily. There is no reason why aliens would be blind on the surface of a planet around a sunlike star receiving virtually the same stellar flux as we do from our sun. Vision is something that evolved pretty early and there are many different types of eyes which evolved because it helps one to eat if one can see their environment. I also helps one not to be eaten.

Beyond that, what we're talking about here is both visual and infrared (ie: heat radiation) from technology being clustered on a planet.

Any creatures who used technology of our level or beyond are going to produce heat. It's a basic thermodynamic fact. Even assuming 100% superconductivity a civilization will still produce heat as it uses energy, regardless of the source of that energy.

Did you watch this video? It explains the methodology. Watch the whole thing if you can.

JadeStar

What would it inspire you to change or do differently?

It would inspire me, but I would hope that it would inspire others to wake up, pay attention to things that matter to their lives, and more importantly, the lives of others.

Imagine what living in a world where people cared just a little bit more for others than themselves. Not even all the time, just most of the time. Like 51% other people, 49% me. That is what I hope humans are inspired to at some point in the future.

Iphone, Myspace, me me me... We're not in a good way.

How everyone want to invest into space advertisements now.

From video game alien god to rap stars saying they reached Mars.

Wow, if only the oil companies were that enthusiastic about reaching outer space. O wait they are, just they can't get a light-year with one gallon of gas.

S&F for the fictional read, as well as the non-fiction statements.

reply to post by JadeStar

Very nice effort. An art piece. Should be read by all...am sure it is being read by TPTB and hope they are learning, if necessary.

Since they already have lights ,it would mean that they are already utilizing their planets resources. Other than maybe trading ( Google ) library books , spending money to try and communicate does not really meet earths future needs.

Best bet would be to keep a low profile and keep searching for un-inhabited planets that one day we could colonize and strip mine.

midnightstar
get a life people this articial is like taht discovery program that immanged US sending a ship to a inhabited planet.
anyway Cool read they sure did a good job making it all fit into the real world .Give it a 10 on the best short scifi story of the year.
As for what would I feel? well kinda hard to say isnt it? easy to say wow it would be so cool .
But 16 light years citys twice as large as any wwe have ((implys a much larger poplation))
lights implys tek alest as adavanced as ours Citys size also says even higher tek then we have assuming
3 times the poplation of earth =ruffly 21 billion .
Bigger planet heaver gravity = meening they will be physicly stronger many times then we are .
so here we have this heavy gravity race with tek alest as good as ours .
Mite approch with coushion huuu?

What in the world are you typing.

Awesome Read...Makes ya think.
I for one like my good ole buddy Stephen said.." if there is life out there, I for one do Not, want to meet them"

We would then be on the food chain.....bottom half!

mr10k

midnightstar
get a life people this articial is like taht discovery program that immanged US sending a ship to a inhabited planet.
anyway Cool read they sure did a good job making it all fit into the real world .Give it a 10 on the best short scifi story of the year.
As for what would I feel? well kinda hard to say isnt it? easy to say wow it would be so cool .
But 16 light years citys twice as large as any wwe have ((implys a much larger poplation))
lights implys tek alest as adavanced as ours Citys size also says even higher tek then we have assuming
3 times the poplation of earth =ruffly 21 billion .
Bigger planet heaver gravity = meening they will be physicly stronger many times then we are .
so here we have this heavy gravity race with tek alest as good as ours .
Mite approch with coushion huuu?

What in the world are you typing.

They may not be the best typer but what they were thinking showed they are a good thinker using sound deductive reasoning.

Allow me to translate

Get a life people this article is like that discovery channel program that imagined US sending a ship to a inhabited planet. Anyway, cool read. They sure did a good job making it all fit into the real world . Give it a 10 on the best short sci-fi story of the year.

As for what I would feel? Well it's kinda hard to say isn't it? It's too easy to say wow it would be so cool, but 16 light years away with cities twice as large as any we have implies a much larger population.

Lights imply technology at least as advanced as ours. City size also says that they have even higher tech than we have assuming they have 3 times the population of Earth that would equal roughly 21 billion.

Bigger planet means heavier gravity, meaning they may be many times physically stronger than we are.

So here we have this heavy gravity race with technology at least as good as ours....

Might approach with caution huh?

This is the kind of interesting, detailed, thinking I'm interested in seeing more of. (And to Alice, I'll reply to yours later today, I promise )

MajorAce
Since they already have lights ,it would mean that they are already utilizing their planets resources. Other than maybe trading ( Google ) library books , spending money to try and communicate does not really meet earths future needs.

Do you think many people, corporations, governments would want to try to communicate though, to seek perhaps some perceived technological advantage?

How many would see the Keid civilization as some sort of interstellar "Yahoo Answers"?

I'm also surprised I've not seen religion brought up so far. Might some people start to worship civilization, creating a whole mythos around it as we see in New Age religions associated with things like Arcturus or the Pleiades? Might established religions such as Mormonism and Scientology which feature aliens as part of their faith absorb this new reality into their story?

Best bet would be to keep a low profile and keep searching for un-inhabited planets that one day we could colonize and strip mine.

I tend to agree, if only because it would be a massive undertaking to try to communicate with or visit such a civilization. And inviting them over for dinner might be a bit messy with a society we'd know nothing about.

The debate over whether to attempt either could span centuries.