Is it wise for humanity to be broadcasting its location into space?

BaconShelf | Mythic Inconceivable!
 
more |
XBL: BaconShelf
PSN:
Steam: BaconShelf
ID: BaconShelf
IP: Logged

10,737 posts
 
There are very few potentially lifebearing planets within a 60ly radius, and we can't really prevent sending signals into space unless we somehow cease all radio communication across the planet.

Also, remember that the photons spread over a wider area and become dimmer, so the radio signals that may be encountered even on tau ceti c would be the radio equivalent of looking at a far-away star.

Besides, I'm pretty sure any species out there with a space military and empire would have very few reasons to go to war outside of sport. Water, hydrocarbons and minerals are hardly an uncommon resource in the universe. If there is a civilisation within a few hundred light years, then habitable planets are common enough that Earth's habitability is not war-worthy (Assuming they have a 1G gravity, 100KPa pressure and Earth-Normal atmosphere). So you'd have to ask what is so special about Earth in this circumstance to merit going to war- and even so, interstellar travel takes thousands of years. We'd see an invasion fleet coming decades in advance, and it's unlikely an artifical ship would have anywhere near the population that Earth does, meaning they wouldn't have the resources or troops to commit to full-scale invasion across the entire planet. Especially one as militaristic as our own.

but a space empire is unfeasible anyway, there'd just be remote colony worlds that operate almost entirely on their own with occasional transports and courier service; if an uprising happened on planet X, then planet Y would not even find out for at least half a decade, giving the rebels on planet X an abundant amount of time to dig in and prepare for the grand imperial fleet of Y to come and sort things out. Which is why, really, space warfare wouldn't work or exist like we see in sci-fi and why you wouldn't get big empires beyond a rough alliance of individual planets that agree to trade and open borders.

So, long story short, we don't really need to worry. All of that doesn't take into account the fact that a species evolving to our level or beyond within a distance reachable within a hundred light years is nigh-on impossible. We would know it by now if there was. Or the guv'ment would, anyway.


 
Pippen
| Legendary Invincible!
 
more |
XBL: gamer x7 42
PSN:
Steam: Pip(ask for URL)
ID: MrPip42
IP: Logged

6,568 posts
You either die a hero or live long enough to become Mythic..
Why can't we just find a planet capable of sustaining life, find a way to get there, and start living there?

Because if we find aliens like the Elites we are f*cked.


BaconShelf | Mythic Inconceivable!
 
more |
XBL: BaconShelf
PSN:
Steam: BaconShelf
ID: BaconShelf
IP: Logged

10,737 posts
 
Why can't we just find a planet capable of sustaining life, find a way to get there, and start living there?

Because if we find aliens like the Elites we are f*cked.

We have found several potential candidates, we know how to get there. But it would take at least 4,000 yeas to reach the nearest one at the maximum estimate for achieveable human speed with 21st century technology(approx. 300km/s, with gravitational slingshots). Tau Ceti is still 6 light-years away, and that 300km/s is not even .001 of a percent of c.



 
Pippen
| Legendary Invincible!
 
more |
XBL: gamer x7 42
PSN:
Steam: Pip(ask for URL)
ID: MrPip42
IP: Logged

6,568 posts
You either die a hero or live long enough to become Mythic..
Why can't we just find a planet capable of sustaining life, find a way to get there, and start living there?

Because if we find aliens like the Elites we are f*cked.

We have found several potential candidates, we know how to get there. But it would take at least 4,000 yeas to reach the nearest one at the maximum estimate for achieveable human speed with 21st century technology(approx. 300km/s, with gravitational slingshots). Tau Ceti is still 6 light-years away, and that 300km/s is not even .001 of a percent of c.

Wow, is there any way slipspace/hyperdrive tech could be made? Is there any studies into it?

If so that would be great.


The Lord Slide Rule | Legendary Invincible!
 
more |
XBL: MrMeatyMeatball
PSN:
Steam: SexyPiranha
ID: SexyPiranha
IP: Logged

4,306 posts
My stupidity is self evident.
Why can't we just find a planet capable of sustaining life, find a way to get there, and start living there?

Because if we find aliens like the Elites we are f*cked.

We have found several potential candidates, we know how to get there. But it would take at least 4,000 yeas to reach the nearest one at the maximum estimate for achieveable human speed with 21st century technology(approx. 300km/s, with gravitational slingshots). Tau Ceti is still 6 light-years away, and that 300km/s is not even .001 of a percent of c.

Wow, is there any way slipspace/hyperdrive tech could be made? Is there any studies into it?

If so that would be great.
Traversable wormholes are a best bet, however if they're even possible we're talking way out of our ability to create in the foreseeable future. Even then the two mouths are created at the same point and you'll have to figure out how to move one and take a slow boat to move it to the desired position.


BaconShelf | Mythic Inconceivable!
 
more |
XBL: BaconShelf
PSN:
Steam: BaconShelf
ID: BaconShelf
IP: Logged

10,737 posts
 
Why can't we just find a planet capable of sustaining life, find a way to get there, and start living there?

Because if we find aliens like the Elites we are f*cked.

We have found several potential candidates, we know how to get there. But it would take at least 4,000 yeas to reach the nearest one at the maximum estimate for achieveable human speed with 21st century technology(approx. 300km/s, with gravitational slingshots). Tau Ceti is still 6 light-years away, and that 300km/s is not even .001 of a percent of c.

Wow, is there any way slipspace/hyperdrive tech could be made? Is there any studies into it?

If so that would be great.

No. At least not within our lifetimes, or our children's lifetimes. The technology is completely beyond us.

To make a wormhole between two points, you'd still need to go to where the wormhole will be first and activate it, so it would still take thousands of years.

So, no hyperspace jump or slipspace travel, sadly.


BaconShelf | Mythic Inconceivable!
 
more |
XBL: BaconShelf
PSN:
Steam: BaconShelf
ID: BaconShelf
IP: Logged

10,737 posts
 
For another viewpoint; think about the fact that humans will not even leave the solar system in our lifetimes. We may see someone land on Mars or Europa or Titam, but that's a one off in of itself.


 
Naru
| The Tide Caller
 
more |
XBL: Naru No Baka
PSN:
Steam: The Tide Caller
ID: GasaiYuno
IP: Logged

18,501 posts
The Rage....
If there's a species advanced enough to exterminate us chances are they already know of our existence.
And they would probably kill us if we advance too far in technology.


BaconShelf | Mythic Inconceivable!
 
more |
XBL: BaconShelf
PSN:
Steam: BaconShelf
ID: BaconShelf
IP: Logged

10,737 posts
 
If there's a species advanced enough to exterminate us chances are they already know of our existence.
And they would probably kill us if we advance too far in technology.

If they were sufficiently advanced to be able to have interstellar travel as a common thing, such as a Kardashev Type-II or Type-III civilisation, they probably wouldn't even acknowledge our existence.


 
Elai
| Gay Tupac
 
more |
XBL:
PSN:
Steam:
ID: Prehistoric
IP: Logged

18,968 posts
male, he/him

dracula can eat my whole ass!
Could the same argument not be made for literally any component of the Fermi Paradox? Is it wise for us to work towards advancements in medicine if perhaps the reason we don't see advanced races elsewhere is because once you reach age ooptilian your race wins the game and ascends into NG+?

This is an underrated comment, lol.


 
Naru
| The Tide Caller
 
more |
XBL: Naru No Baka
PSN:
Steam: The Tide Caller
ID: GasaiYuno
IP: Logged

18,501 posts
The Rage....
If there's a species advanced enough to exterminate us chances are they already know of our existence.
And they would probably kill us if we advance too far in technology.

If they were sufficiently advanced to be able to have interstellar travel as a common thing, such as a Kardashev Type-II or Type-III civilisation, they probably wouldn't even acknowledge our existence.
Possibilities for all types of scenarios are very common for this topic. Hell, advanced life might not want to talk with us because it might disrupt our evolution process that they could be seeing.


The Lord Ruler | Mythic Inconceivable!
 
more |
XBL:
PSN:
Steam:
ID: Lord Ruler
IP: Logged

9,804 posts
Max characters: 420; characters remaining: 374
Images in your signature must be no greater than 500x100 pixels
Well how else would the extraterrestrial niggers know to buy my mixtape


Doctor Doom | Mythic Invincible!
 
more |
XBL:
PSN:
Steam:
ID: Lord Keksworth
IP: Logged

7,368 posts
the one true God is Doctor Doom and we should all be worshiping him.
I wouldn't have found you if you hadn't. <3


Desty | Mythic Inconceivable!
 
more |
XBL:
PSN:
Steam:
ID: DTEDesty
IP: Logged

10,577 posts
 
You're assuming intelligence is what we humans think it is.

If that were true, we'd have ants using poison, and sharp rocks as throwing weapons or something. The only reason why we're able to think like we do is because of so many factors. The environments have craved humans that could see as well as we can in 3d, and because of this our brain does complicated calculations on that, among other things.

All this makes it a requirement that the brain has to fulfill, so the brain has to take care of a lot of calculations and at the same time carry out our genes, and social ability, because being social is one of the factors that have made humans smart.

No the chances of another life form is low, but that the dominant species is a smart one in our human beliefs, that's even lower. That they, from the billions of species that have gone extinct on our planet survive and prosper, and even are at a higher level than us; now that's dreaming.

Rule one for living beings: Reproduce
Live long enough to reproduce
If you live then you can reproduce, but you live if you're good enough to survive
If you survive then that means that you're fit

If there's a race out there alone on their planets, and breathe fire, then that's that. We can't speculate all of the possibilities, so let's work with what we have. Assuming that a planet is military and advanced etc is taking fantasies too far in my mind.


Desty | Mythic Inconceivable!
 
more |
XBL:
PSN:
Steam:
ID: DTEDesty
IP: Logged

10,577 posts
 
Still, an interesting point to be made is that the survival of humanity lies in some things, but mainly that we move and seperate so much, so if one group dies, the rest are unaffected.

We go to a place and use up all resources. Then we move on.

Take that concept with space, and we have that likely scenario. But let's think about that. We were once like that, but after countries were made and such, we settled down. We became much more social, depending on other people to hunt for us, and for other people to make tools. Depending on other people is a sign of intelligence, because it allows you to do more things yourself. These relations gave birth to constant lying, drama, rumors, banter,  and social life basically. This became culture, and so here we are today.

Without those things we wouldn't be so advanced, and with those things come social relationships, and from that culture. The race we'd face would be posh, or rather not brutish. I might even say that we'd be on a similar page with them.


Desty | Mythic Inconceivable!
 
more |
XBL:
PSN:
Steam:
ID: DTEDesty
IP: Logged

10,577 posts
 
That's my take on it.


Turkey | Mythic Inconceivable!
 
more |
XBL: Viva Redemption
PSN: HurtfulTurkey
Steam: HurtfulTurkey
ID: HurtfulTurkey
IP: Logged

8,077 posts
 
Our radio broadcasts have only traveled about 200 light years, and relatively speaking there are only a handful of exoplanets within that diameter. Any species sufficiently capable of travelling 200 light years in any short amount of time (let's say a generation or two) would probably have already detected us by other means (likely through observing the surrounding exoplanets and calculating ones that are likely to form life). And assuming there is an alien species on their way to negotiate their share of our planet, either peacefully or forcefully, I'd say any amount of broadcasting is irreparable and we're already screwed.

So yeah, let's keep broadcasting, because it doesn't seem very likely that a greater-than-sapient organism would be comically evil and try to murder us all just for the hell of it. I tend to go with an Ender's Game scenario where the species is so vastly different that they don't even comprehend us as intelligent, and work on eradicating humans simply because we're in the way.