If it were possible to extend the human attention span- or more to the point, the attention span of human institutions- then a whole host of benefits would accrue.
Global warming, space exploration, biodiversity… and yes, extraterrestrial conversations… so much would become possible if we could collectively imagine our self interests extending beyond a human lifetime.
This is why the Long Now Foundation’s work feels so important to me. But for now, any civilization that wanted to talk to us, would be -in effect- trying to converse with someone who couldn’t quite remember the beginning of the sentence you had just finished. Species Dementia, you might call it.
Simple calculation for the advanced civilization/machine intelligence/hegemonizing swarm; benefit of not destroying Earth: zero. Risk that we may eventually become a von-neuman machine/berserker threat: greater than zero. Not a hard choice in pure utility calculus.
Oxygen is the big give away: almost the only way for it to exist in an elemental state (ie, O2 vs something like iron oxide) is via living things. It’s not a sufficient condition for sentience, but it is necessary.
And yes, I recognize there is a bit of O2 burning mammalian conceit wrapped up in that statement.
Yeah, oxygen is the one we know of best, but basically any measurable concentrations of volatile molecules should be what we should look for. in our case, oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis. Something that polluted the planet until aerobic life forms came to be.
In other words, we need to look for hazardous waste.
Well, our solar system is unremarkable aside from our presence. Very ordinary star, fairly typical planets, except one of course. Resource wise it’s probably nothing special, so the only reason from someone to physically come here would be us I would guess. Either to talk to us or get rid of us, take your pick.
In The Expanse series the main plot driver is the revelation that an alien intelligence sent a highly sophisticated technology dubbed “the protomolecule” to the Sol system billions of years earlier, not because Earth had intelligence but because it had primitive biomass that could be reengineered to suit the aliens’ needs. This technology nearly wipes out humanity but that’s merely a side effect of the aliens’ plans, not the goal.
So aliens could theoretically find our planet a potential target for resource exploitation even if they had no interest in humanity one way or another.
While I like the Expanse it’s probably another case of sci fi writers have no sense of scale. While there’s no definite proof, primitive single celled life like there was on earth 3 billion years ago is likely not that uncommon. The conditions for it, given the number of stars and planets in the galaxy, could be everywhere. The more we learn about exoplanets will probably back this up. I think, anyway.
Then again, for all we know “alien exploitation of planets that have single-celled life forms” might not be uncommon either. Maybe the thing that really makes our planet an outlier is that the aliens haven’t eaten us yet.
Or, “We acknowledge your challenge to an honorable duel of interplanetary lasers. Our riposte follows within one of your planet’s rotations. Engage your solar system’s defense shield upon receipt of this message, and may the strongest laser win.”
We haven’t even reached our nearest neighbours in the galaxy, never mind intelligent life. We can’t make any judgement calls on whether anyone that is developed enough to reach us on earth will be friendly, going to enslave us and take our resources, or going to hunt us to extinction for fun.
As in politics, I’m tired of people using “cynical” to mean “being realistic is bad”. Given our current lack of any data on extraterrestrial life, it should be a given that it is as likely as not that alien life might have an emotional life no more similar to us than a colony of streptococcus (a metaphor that furthers the question in that we can’t possibly understand the mind of even other terrestrial life, heck, even of others of our own species).
I can’t believe we’re still positing alien life that’s just like us only different.
“It’s rather cynical, she explained, to think that a extraterrestrial civilization advanced enough to notice us and make the long trip to Earth would be so emotionally stunted as to purposely destroy us upon arrival.”
I dunno, what if we are accidentally shining the laser in their sensory organs the whole way? Like those assholes who don’t dip their headlights to on coming traffic at night.
