Discussion: What should we do if we discover life in space?

[magnemoe]

3 minutes ago, p1t1o said:

We will? IMO that is a YUGE extrapolation, we dont have a single datapoint other than a curve of past progress, curves can only be extrapolated so far.

(Im coming off as a bit of a warmonger here, I swear I dont have an alien bloodlust!)

Its an pretty good chance for it. 
Note that the other side has to be close to K1 level to launch an  relativistic kill probe so they are themselves an solar system civilization or close to it. 
so that issue would be more obvious for them than than for us. 

[WestAir]

7 hours ago, Cassel said:

Abort it before it develops to a level where killing will cause moral dilemmas.

What?

I don't know how to better explain my observation.

Most people would be against interfering with alien life. Most people wouldn't be against interfering with / dissecting / interacting with new life found at the bottom of the Ocean. So our willingness to interfere with life changes based on how far that life is from our homes.

For instance, if we made a colony on Callisto and those colonists, born and raised on Callisto, would be way more likely to dissect and study and interact with life they find in the sea below them than we would if we found life there tomorrow with no humans on Callisto. In fact we might agree not to disturb them at all.

Edited April 6, 2019 by WestAir

[Cassel]

8 hours ago, WestAir said:

I don't know how to better explain my observation.

Most people would be against interfering with alien life. Most people wouldn't be against interfering with / dissecting / interacting with new life found at the bottom of the Ocean. So our willingness to interfere with life changes based on how far that life is from our homes.

For instance, if we made a colony on Callisto and those colonists, born and raised on Callisto, would be way more likely to dissect and study and interact with life they find in the sea below them than we would if we found life there tomorrow with no humans on Callisto. In fact we might agree not to disturb them at all.

It is only natural that if you live in the forest you want to know what kind of animal lives next to you, because you do not want to be eaten at night.

[WestAir]

21 minutes ago, Cassel said:

It is only natural that if you live in the forest you want to know what kind of animal lives next to you, because you do not want to be eaten at night.

That's actually a very fair and rational explanation.

[Ol’ Musky Boi]

20 hours ago, p1t1o said:

I didnt say it was the right strategy, only that it is one

 

Although, it is a false equivalency, civilisations are not people.

What if you walked into a room of outwardly peaceful people, but they all have spears and if you die your whole species dies. And you have a glock.

A silly, imperfect analogy, but it looks different now doesnt it?

 

There is an opposite strategy which is in the same vein which says that we must stop looking for intelligent life, must stop broadcasting our presence, in case the - or according to some, because its likely that - aliens subscribe to the first, more aggresive strategy. 

 

 

These strategies also speak to the Fermi paradox - everyone is either hiding or destroyed.

 

 

 

If humans are anything to go by, intelligent life will always have weaponry, however culturally and scientifically advanced they are. If not dedicated weapons at least an ability to destroy things (a relativistic starship could destroy a planet no problem). Such is the nature of evolution, kill or be killed. But that does not necessarily always have to be the case. Most conflicts on Earth, in all corners of nature, are over resources. But in space there are essentially unlimited resources just ready for the taking, leaving very little motive (at least from a human perspective) to agressive behaviour.

Of course, if there is intelligent life out there and it does pose a threat to us, then there is likely nothing we could do. We can't hide - we've been too loud already, we can't fight - their weapons would far surpass ours, and we can't run - they will likely be capable of relativistic travel. All we can do is hope that life is peaceful.

 

Although this is getting slightly off topic. I more was wondering what we should do if we found primitive life in our own solar system, rather than what we should do if we found another civilisation (that question really merits it's own thread).

Edited April 6, 2019 by Ol’ Musky Boi

[kerbiloid]

First we should focus on the life growing from a single DNA molecule code.
I.e we have a DNA sequencer, we need a DNA unsequencer.

And we need it asap.

Then we can read and later restore any living body, edit them, and not care much about the extraterrestrial microbes survival.

Edited April 6, 2019 by kerbiloid

[Scotius]

Or we can play with nucleotides and McGyver our own bizarre and exotic lifeforms.

https://www.livescience.com/64829-hachimoji-dna.html

Yeeessss... lab-created synthetic DNA with twice as many nucleotide pairs as our own. What can go wrong?

[kerbiloid]

2 hours ago, Scotius said:

Or we can play with nucleotides and McGyver our own bizarre and exotic lifeforms.

That's the aim!

Once we can generate any beings on demand, we will no more need the extraterrestrial mildew.

P.S.
Also this is the only way to save the whales.

Edited April 6, 2019 by kerbiloid