I represent an interstellar civilization, What does Earth offer for export?

[baggers]

On a side note, I have to admit getting a bit sick of the scifi idea that aliens contact us because they cannot even conceive of how to fight and thus are grabbing the violent monkeys. Mostly because in a lot of ways I think that while sure, they might have developed their society into one in which enacting violence is just not something that would occur to them, they clearly have engineering (they did just come here in an FTL ship to grab us to fight for them). Rather quickly they'd figure out that whatever is going on, it's not an accident and so they can SEE violence in front of them. People willfully attacking other people. Sure, they have no experiencing doing this well, but in many ways combat tactics, ESPECIALLY spaceship tactics are just an engineering problem. Making weapons is obvious, they can control titanic energy forces already, so figuring out how to...lose control...of those forces in directed ways shouldn't be that hard for them to figure out. After that its a matter of running simulations on what might work, trying them for real, etc. Learning how to be good at violence/war at violence isn't particularly hard. With the exclusion of learning things like military discipline and developing such a culture in their forces, I'd honestly posit that them starting to figure out war from a standing start probably ends up taking only a bit longer than us figuring starting with new tactics and such given suddenly having magic-grade hyper tech to work with as weapons (at least, as compared with our current things).

We have mastered asymmetric warfare too.

[Stargate525]

Now, we are by nature extremely war-mongering (I'm looking at you USA), and hate even the slightest difference in cultures and peoples. That doesn't mean were that bad. The invention of the Atomic Bomb and a German scientist named Werner Von Braun, we have been able to explore our native system to the very farthest. We plan to send people to our fourth planet from the sun, Mars. I'll leave it up to you to decide our fate/relations.

I've always hated the idea that we're inherently warmongering. We aren't nearly as territorial as some other species on this planet, and ARE social creatures. I can easily see alien species which ruthlessly exterminate any perceived threat to their territory who see us as suicidally pacifistic for even attempting communications or diplomacy.

[baggers]

I've always hated the idea that we're inherently warmongering. We aren't nearly as territorial as some other species on this planet, and ARE social creatures. I can easily see alien species which ruthlessly exterminate any perceived threat to their territory who see us as suicidally pacifistic for even attempting communications or diplomacy.

We are social even with other species.

Our ancestors cohabits with cavern bears, and carnivorous wolves.

We cohabits well with dogs, cats, and many others domestics animals.

(some cohabits "to much" and even have sexual relations or love affairs with animals, for that matter)

I bet even an horrific octopus-like alien can find love with some humans ^^.

Edited November 3, 2015 by baggers

[Bill Phil]

I've always hated the idea that we're inherently warmongering. We aren't nearly as territorial as some other species on this planet, and ARE social creatures. I can easily see alien species which ruthlessly exterminate any perceived threat to their territory who see us as suicidally pacifistic for even attempting communications or diplomacy.

We inherently try to survive, which, in some cases, results in warmongering.

Plus, with modern social networks we're getting alienated to each other, not caring, becoming more selfish, etc. Once aliens do find us, we won't be very nice at all.

[Superfluous J]

I'm pretty sure when they come they'll just want us to show them this thing we call... love.

(ellipsis mandatory)

[Robotengineer]

Now, we are by nature extremely war-mongering (I'm looking at you USA), and hate even the slightest difference in cultures and peoples. That doesn't mean were that bad. The invention of the Atomic Bomb and a German scientist named Werner Von Braun, we have been able to explore our native system to the very farthest. We plan to send people to our fourth planet from the sun, Mars. I'll leave it up to you to decide our fate/relations.

We aren't inherently war mongering, and it's not just the USA that is warmongering (looking at you Russia). Not trying to be a Bromerican or anything, but it is unfair to single out one country when you have a few to choose from. We don't hate the slightest difference in culture or people, or at least most of us don't. Personally I'm hoping we will be able to eradicate most of that sort of behavior, and start thinking as a species rather than as a member of a gender/orientation/race/nationality/ethnicity/etc.

As for what we have to offer an alien civilization, probably our solar system and particularly Earth. Of course, I seriously doubt said civilization will be benign, or negotiate for property.

[Wesreidau]

America is so war-mongering they started two World Wars and subjugated half of Europe under their direct control in the aftermath. I think I got that straight.

We would likely export coffee, tea, chocolate... or wheat, soybeans and corn. Or brewer's yeast and Vegemite. Pigs. Maybe aliens find oysters delightful, or really like the taste of sorghum molasses. Or they might find raw latex sap as delicious as chocolate. All this we'd trade as agricultural seed and not bulk products, of course, along with expertise in growing them. In return we'd ask for similar products in kind as well as whatever drive brought them to our world. Consider how much good was done to the world in the Columbian Exchange of agricultural species. The new world gained pigs, horses and wheat. The old world gained tobacco, corn and chocolate. There's dozens more examples to both sides but if an alien species has anything like our biochemistry our planet's evolutionary pattern, being wholly unique, can be exchanged for the best of theirs.

Of course it is presumptuous to think alien evolution would create the same response to caffeine or capsaicin. Poison ivy might be their version of cocoa to a Spaniard, or it could be their miracle skin care product. Our biodiversity will be of value to them if they use anything like our chemistry.

[Nibb31]

America is so war-mongering they started two World Wars and subjugated half of Europe under their direct control in the aftermath. I think I got that straight.

Which World Wars were those? You need to chuck out your Krussian history books I think.

[insert_name]

America is so war-mongering they started two World Wars and subjugated half of Europe under their direct control in the aftermath. I think I got that straight. /quote

Pretty sure the soviets tried to subjugate half of Europe, America tried to stop them

[EliasDanger]

Easy to control slaves. If you have the tech to come here, you have the tech to dominate any resistance and subjugate an entire intelligent species to build your Dyson spheres and mine your ores and such. Our brains could also be used as neural network to power your artificial intelligences while you keep us content in a virtual world you'll only have to purge and recreate once in awhile due to a complicated and unitelligible series of "ergo"s and "vis-a-vis"s.

But you can't use us as batteries cuz that makes no damn sense.

[baggers]

Easy to control slaves. If you have the tech to come here, you have the tech to dominate any resistance and subjugate an entire intelligent species to build your Dyson spheres and mine your ores and such. Our brains could also be used as neural network to power your artificial intelligences while you keep us content in a virtual world you'll only have to purge and recreate once in awhile due to a complicated and unitelligible series of "ergo"s and "vis-a-vis"s.

But you can't use us as batteries cuz that makes no damn sense.

An human can make something like 100kW/year.

These aliens will have better time take the oil. That's the most concentrate and convenient energy source on this world, after all. And All is energy.

[EliasDanger]

We don't have THAT much oil left, and if they got to our planet, they have better ways of making energy than oil.

And humans might generate power, but you have to put more power into them then they generate for them to generate it.

[baggers]

We don't have THAT much oil left, and if they got to our planet, they have better ways of making energy than oil.

And humans might generate power, but you have to put more power into them then they generate for them to generate it.

We are totally rigth, we (as humans) can only transform the energy we take from our environement. I make a big mistake in my previous statement.

It's not a very convenient energy source, but as you say, if they can go to our planet, maybe they can just take the sun and go elsewhere with it?

Edited November 3, 2015 by baggers

[Rath]

Some "Salt the earth" style weapons that nobody uses anymore but us (Nukes)

[EliasDanger]

Honestly anything they find on earth they could probably find somewhere else....except for us.

[WinkAllKerb'']

i m sure they ll bought "ksp" first before anithing else ; ) and especially war crappy related stuff

Edited November 4, 2015 by WinkAllKerb''
kinda sorry you sell war we have to wipe you ; ) forgive us anyway you won't remind ; )

[FungusForge]

Real estate? About 71 percent of Earth's surface is water. Since they'd probably have better luck making floating cities on the oceans then we would, they could potentially land a great number of population to live on Earth without too much disruption of human cities. Assuming Earth has a compatible atmosphere for them.

Another idea would be to look into what Earth foods are and are not poisonous to them. Since the flora and fauna of Earth is likely unique to Earth, they could potentially be delicacies for aliens.

[Rath]

Umm, kinda morbid, but remember when the Europeans thought that ground-up Egyptian mummy's cured the common cold.

[ZetaX]

An human can make something like 100kW/year.

Please fix your units.

[Wesreidau]

Umm, kinda morbid, but remember when the Europeans thought that ground-up Egyptian mummy's cured the common cold.

Brother, I can find college-educated persons of any ethnicity or nationality who believe not eating gluten cures cancer.

I really think our biodiversity will offer something. Real estate, etc, is a rather arbitrary notion to a space-faring species. Just build your city in the sky and spin it.

[Rath]

And I can find a college educated person who thinks that vaccines caused their child's autism, not the incompatibility if their genes with their partners.

Now, to derail the thread: does a civilizations amount of technology limit the effect abject stupidity can have, or does the power added to that individual (a mideval peasant could never hope to own something as destructive as a barrel of kerosene, a Roman emperor could never hope to command a nuclear warhead) counteract any decreases?

- - - Updated - - -

If abject stupidity is unlimiable(in a free-ish society), this opens up so many more things aliens might want.

[Alias72]

The way we define a societies intelligence is by taking a sample of its most educated/powerful people. Western society is considered advanced because of the skill of the engineers and scientists in it. This means that an incredibly unequal society may still rank as intelligent. An example would be 18th century empires. perhaps as much as 1% of the population had an education. The presence of the other 99% does not drag our opinion of those societies development down because we ignore the peasant rabble.

Having an inequitable society leads to internal friction, however. Ultimately the technology of a civilization is not directly dependent upon the intelligence per capita. That said a society with high technology but low technology per capita is likely to suffer from internal strife. An example might be pre-soviet Afghanistan. Those in the cities were significantly better educated than those in the rest of the country. When those people began to influence the politics of their country they faced resistance from those who lived under different life circumstances.

[Rath]

For that cold fusion reactor, I will give you the rarest creature on earth. It is called the "hairus Trumpus"

[Rath]

We have your Nader, give us all uour tech.

[kiwi1960]

Export? Politicians, you can have the lot for.... oh..... is a dollar OK? Its all we want to pay for you to take them.