"We're here! We're here"

Letter to the editor
National Geographic
Worlds Apart

"Good to know that scientists are searching for life out there. But I keep hearing of probes shot into space beeping our coordinates in hopes that some other life-forms will discover us. Assuming that some of those life-forms have more advanced technology than we do (and some less) and some of those life-forms are more benevolent than humans (and some more vicious), do we really want to be bleating into space, "We're here! We're here!"

- Margaret MacDonald


This is an excellent point. Given the amount of movies out there about Aliens coming in and fucking shit up rather than helping us, it might actually be a bad idea to send out probes of information into space telling aliens where we are, what we are like, etc.

On the other side, Aliens might want to help us be better and or save us just like in "Knowing". Which would be nice. But who is to say that we could accept their help. Just like in that one movie with Keanu Reeves that I didn't see but I know about it only because I think Keanu is a total hottie.

Anyway -

I think Margaret is right in wanting to curb the amount of information we send into space. It wouldn't hurt to look at this in a PR perspective to spin the info a little bit so if some angry alien race finds us it will think twice about showing up and trying to eat us/enslave us. Hopefully we will be at the point of Halo and Mass Effect that we would be able to kick some ASS. I am not sure about Star Trek status yet because that whole show was a bit too goody two shoes for me.

This does give rise to the question about how all the planets and systems in Star Wars came to be. If we could some how end up like that, that would be pretty sweet. Only if I could end up like Queen Amidala. Not because I want to rule a planet, but just so I can have lots of cool stuff to wear and not be thought of one of those odd Cos-Play / Ren Fest freaks. Because that would suck. Although I do enjoy that stuff quite a bit, but do not have the skills necessary to create a sweet costume that did not look like it was put together by a 5 year old. : /

Of course when they mention looking for Aliens in space they say: "life as we know it". What if Alien life is a bunch of chairs that are addicted to meth scooting around a race track? I mean, would we still want to hang out with them? Would they try and kill us because we enslave chairs for our own personal use? Aliens are just like religion, we don't know if it exists - there are a bunch of people who say they have seen God/Aliens. And no one is for sure. Anything is possible.