What should we do if an alien race needs our help?

[Drunkrobot]

Watch out, I'm about to drop a social sci-fi scenario on your heads.

So it's another normal day. Kids in Vancouver are tucking into hot coco for supper, while the people of Tokyo try to break through the morning rush hour. Humanity of the spaceship Earth continues it's march into the future. Then, observatories around the world notice something: a huge, metal object entering the solar system at a small percentage of the speed of light. As it nears Earth, it slows down, rather than speed up, as Kepler would wish it to. It's a spacecraft the size of a small city. As it enters orbit around the Earth, a radio message blares out from the ship, in every human tounge. In a word, the message is: Help.

Here's the facts: In a star system not too far away from ours, many centuries ago, a species of life not at all different from us (carbon-based, four limbs, a face, social and sentient) is ready to colonize another star. After looking at every system in the local neighborhood, one is considered most likely to house a world comparable to theirs. They construct a generation ship, 250,000-strong, and start the centuries-long voyage. Unfortunately, during the voyage, two developments sprout up. (1) The homeworld descends into nuclear war, and contact is lost. (2) Radio signals are detected from the destination world, first simple beeps, then dialogue and television. There is another form of intelligent life living on the world they're trying to get to. As they get closer to their destination, they watch the race that inhabits that world advance. They watch footage of a dictator on a stage, above a huge crowd of soldiers marching in lockstep, the nuclear fireball of an atomic bomb rising over a desert, two men in bulky white suits skipping around their spider-like vehicle, sitting on a desolate, blank plain.

Finally, they reach their destination, now having to secure a home for their species.

And that brings us to the present day. 250,000 aliens on a colony ship and 7,000,000,000 humans on planet Earth. They know that they can't get into a war with us and win, it would be like 250,000 21st century civilians with cellphones against 7 billion 16th century soldiers with muskets. They simply don't have the resources or the weapons. They can't drop asteroids on us, as that would destroy the habitable planet they need to survive. They could try living on Mars, but that is far from the ideal. And they can't go back home or call for help, because "home" no longer exists.

I think you can see where this is going.

Having decrypted the languages of these humans during the last leg of their journey, they now transmit their story to the people of Earth, and ask if they could find shelter on our home.

What do WE do? We have the survival of another sentient race in our hands, we could blow them out of the sky if we wanted to. Could we even live with ourselves if we did that? If we decide to let them stay, to what degree to we welcome them, do we let them into our homes, build a house for them next door, or keep them in concentration camps? What about the long-term effects of this, at every level, from technological to social? Would we eventually try to destroy each other, or would the two races merge together in such a way (from a social viewpoint, not a biological one. Sorry, Kirk-fans) that the two are treated one and the same by society? What are your personal opinions on what SHOULD happen, and what WOULD happen?

[CLARIFICATION ON THE ALIENS] Imagine we turned back time by 50 million years, to when mammels were starting to fill out the niches left empty by the dinosaurs. If we let natural selection do it's thing, we would eventually produce a species very much like Homo sapiens, but not quite. All the really important stuff, what we say to distinguih ourselves from the other lifeforms, will still be there, but it could be slightly taller, or less hairy, or a slightly different leg structure. THAT is our aliens. This is so that the scenario works (they would very much like a world like Earth, and we could communicate with them once we're past the language barrier).

Edited February 19, 2014 by Drunkrobot

[Mr.Rocket]

What should happen is they should get certain land set aside for them, where as long as they don't destroy anything, we let them live there. We could probably adapt to having them interact with us, as long as they can be trusted.

What probably would happen is either

a: they would be regarded as dangerous and either be attacked and destroyed, or be put in prisons to be held to keep us safe

or

b:Scientists would go all out crazy expirimenting on them and end up harming many of them, and they would get some diseases from us and everything would go bad

Just my opinion

[Bioman222]

We could give them Antarctica if they are used to cold temperatures!

[Rakaydos]

Isnt this pretty much the plot of District 9?

Now, it's a Generation ship, so they pretty much have everything they need to survive indefinately. They might prefer a planet, but a spaceship is pretty much all they have ever known in their own lifetime. If they need some kind of consumable resource, it's probably to make up for leaks in a 99.999% efficent closed system, or they would never have made it this far.

With a renewed focus on space, we could help them terraform mars or build floating venus cities, in exchange for a leg up on tehnoligy that would send up to the stars ourselves.

[Camacha]

If they have a generation ship, they have a place to live. I do not see the dire need for them to inhabit a planet. However, seeing that biological diversity is cherished, I think they might get a spot if it is really necessary.

[Drunkrobot]

If they have a generation ship, they have a place to live. I do not see the dire need for them to inhabit a planet. However, seeing that biological diversity is cherished, I think they might get a spot if it is really necessary.

While space is a wonderful environment, it is also very dangerous. A hull breach, or failed equipment can mean a lot of dead. A population as low as 250,000 is a very precarious existence, they might learn to resent us and our 7 billion-strong force, living on a nice, secure, on the average forgiving planet, while they're stuck inside their prison. It would probably be wise to give them a chance on Earth, even if they could SURVIVE in space, they might not want to LIVE in space.

Edited February 19, 2014 by Drunkrobot

[Rakaydos]

While space is a wonderful environment, it is also very dangerous. A hull breach, or failed equipment can mean a lot of dead. A population as low as 250,000 is a very precarious existence, they might learn to resent us and our 7 billion-strong force, living on a nice, secure, on the average forgiving planet, while their stuck inside their prison. It would probably be wise to give them a chance on Earth, even if they could SURVIVE in space, they might not want to LIVE in space.

Everyone alive on board a GENERATION ship has lived their entire life on a ship. The ship is safe enough that not just one, but over a dozen generations have lived their entire lives without any repairs they cant do themselves.

Go put Disney's WallE in the DVD player, and ignore the cute robots for a sec. THAT is a generation ship. "We're going to plant a Pizza tree!"

[jfull]

Now, it's a Generation ship, so they pretty much have everything they need to survive indefinately.

Not necessarily, what if they were all taking shifts in suspended animation to keep their life support requirements low, but were counting on being able to end that once they reached their destination?

Or, what if the cramped conditions aboard are damaging them psychologically? What if they just hate living in it?

Anyway, I do think we would be able to work out something with these aliens, whether by providing resources for them to replenish their ship or by setting aside somewhere for them on earth

[Dispatcher]

Similar to Alien Nation, only not slaves (at least, we hope not):

[qeveren]

With such a small population, they could easily be accommodated just about anywhere on the planet, assuming the environment here is compatible and we don't end up killing each other off with the introduction of horrible extraterrestrial (from both sides) plagues.

Whoever does reach out to help them will likely cut a deal for access to their technology, and this is where the real problem starts. Remember how the back-story for Macross goes?

[Drunkrobot]

Everyone alive on board a GENERATION ship has lived their entire life on a ship. The ship is safe enough that not just one, but over a dozen generations have lived their entire lives without any repairs they cant do themselves.

Go put Disney's WallE in the DVD player, and ignore the cute robots for a sec. THAT is a generation ship. "We're going to plant a Pizza tree!"

True, but Wall-E also tells us something else: When the Captain gets curious about Earth, and learns about the oceans, mountains and clouds, and the culture that once existed on that faraway rock, he fell in love. He wanted to go back to his home more than anything else. The details would be very different in our scenario, but it's the same. The tight confines of a ship, or the lush, open spaces of a planet? Their continued existence might be possible onboard, but that doesn't mean they want to stay onboard. "I don't want to survive! I want to live!"

[Nuke]

nuke em and hork their stuff.

[Drunkrobot]

nuke em and hork their stuff.

Is that what you think we should do, what we would do, or both?

[Nuke]

yes, indeed so

[Roastduck]

Wall-E was also a Disney movie, prone to such inspirational and dramatic outcomes. Real life would probably end up more like District 9, where they end up living in the squalor of a refugee camp and generally be discriminated against.

[NGTOne]

I read a Deep Space 9 book at some point that dealt with a similar premise (except that the planet was uninhabited, and there were A LOT more aliens than 250,000). A group of aliens had come from a faraway galaxy, travelling over some ungodly amount of time, and they arrived at a habitable planet in the Milky Way. Problem is, over so long in their generation ships, they had developed an intense, crippling agoraphobia. Generation upon generation of living inside a closed environment with no large open spaces? The aliens might not want to come off their ship just for that reason.

[jwenting]

Reminds me of V, the old movie and TV series.

Which of course doesn't end well as the aliens repay our generosity by killing and eating human beings...

[Streetwind]

Honestly I fear the day such a thing would become a reality. Largely because it would allow the most ruthless of us to benefit the most, as usual.

See, there's a distinct problem with the notion of inviting them onto our planet and "just giving them some land". What land, may I ask you? What do we have available to give? We can choose to give them utterly inhospitable areas like Antarctica or the Sahara desert, which to them would be no different than remaining on their ship, because it would require them to live in closed biodomes. So that's not an option.

Then we could offer them hospitable but currently uninhabited land, such as large swathes of Canada or Russia or Brazil... except that those areas are one of the last remaining biospheres that make our planet Earth so earth-like. Do you wish to give up more of the critically important Amazon rainforest that's already being consumed at an alarming rate? 250,000 individuals require a LOT of space if they must be quarantined for safety reasons, live completely self-sufficient because they eat different things than we do and have no industry to trade with us. It would be the equivalent of a small nation; maybe around a thousand square miles (2600 km²), the size of Luxembourg.

And then the big one - giving them land that's already inhabited. And make no mistake: even the Amazon rainforest, the Australian outback, the Sahara desert and the wilds of Russia are technically inhabited to such a degree that the arrival of the aliens would displace entire villages. Maybe entire tribes and their unique cultural heritage. What about the rights of the humans in question? What if, no matter what they are offered by governments, they simply refuse? And you can't split up the alien's population either, because they can't interbreed with any earth-based beings to widen their gene pool. They need to all be together to sustain a healthy population.

So this is where it gets ugly: while the UN and the democratic nations are still debating about human rights, other and less scrupulous countries will already be welcoming the aliens with open arms. I bet the Chinese government for example wouldn't even skip a beat when signing a warrant to indiscriminately deport the entirety of the population of a province in order to hand it over to the extraterrestrial guests in exchange for their technology. (Sorry China, but you know it already happens every day on a smaller scale.) The less a country cares about its human population, the more likely it will be able to make room. And who's going to stop them? The UN? Hardly. The result would be nuclear war. The UN won't do a thing besides talking.

The end result is that we have a nation somewhere on earth with a government characterized by ruthlessness which suddenly becomes a hundred years more technologically advanced than the rest of the world. Do you wish to live in such a world? I certainly don't.

Edited February 19, 2014 by Streetwind

[Nuke]

i would actually worry about ecosystem cross contamination. the aliens would no doubt bring life forms with them that they depend on for survival. were not just talking livestock and crop strains but also things bacteria, insects, etc. needless to say you embark on such a generational voyage you will bring everything you need to engineer a new eco system. which might play havoc with our ecosystems if they get out of control.

[NQMT]

I personally think we should help them out. House them on an island somewhere in the Pacific, with no trees, but food and sharp objects. Let the problem sort itself out.

Now being serious, if they're in danger of dying out, either a) let them live somewhere or remember the Prime Directive?

[John Crichton]

Any aliens capable of making it all those light years to earth could simply wipe us all out without breaking a sweat. They'd have to be so advanced technologically compared to us, no weapon we have would pose a real threat to them.

Having said that, I'd like to think we'd help...even if it's because we want their technology and not out of real compassion. Looking at how we treat human refugees doesn't give me a lot of hope though.

Cliff notes: Humans aren't ready for aliens imo.

[NQMT]

Cliff notes: Humans aren't ready for aliens imo.

and

Looking at how we treat human refugees doesn't give me a lot of hope though.

Seconded.

I think us humans will either run scared, blow them up, or let them live here and then forget about them.

[SargeRho]

@John: Not neccesarily. We could build an interstellar ship within decades if we were to go ahead with Orion. Do you really think one such ship would have the capability of wiping out an entire planet-spanning civilisation, that has things like nuclear missiles? I don't think so.

[Klingon Admiral]

Imagine we turned back time by 50 million years, to when mammels were starting to fill out the niches left empty by the dinosaurs. If we let natural selection do it's thing, we would eventually produce a species very much like Homo sapiens, but not quite.

Your grasp on evolution is shaky at best.

On topic: Exterminate them.

[Streetwind]

They'd have to be so advanced technologically compared to us, no weapon we have would pose a real threat to them.

Over 20,000 space-capable nuclear warheads between USA and Russia alone would like a word with you.