Re:What Should We Do If Extraterrestrials Show Up?
by karmakaze on Tuesday April 20, 2021 @10:12AM
(#26874946)
> assumptions: UFOs are real, UFOs are alien, the aliens are not alien enough to make us unable to reason about their behavior
This is good, to be clear about what assumptions we are making. I see 'UFOs are real/UFOs are alien' as one not two and would call it a premise more than an assumption. If _, then here's our plan...
As for the 'not alien enough to make us unable to reason' cuts both ways. The opposite is the assumption that they are similar enough that we can reason about their behavior. It's important to cover both sides of this one.
The biggest assumption is the degree of their interest in interacting. I would place this at low. It's hard to come up with why this might be low: prime directive, we're an inconsequential species/or one of vastly many, reaching us is costly, etc.
This is good, to be clear about what assumptions we are making. I see 'UFOs are real/UFOs are alien' as one not two and would call it a premise more than an assumption. If _, then here's our plan...
As for the 'not alien enough to make us unable to reason' cuts both ways. The opposite is the assumption that they are similar enough that we can reason about their behavior. It's important to cover both sides of this one.
The biggest assumption is the degree of their interest in interacting. I would place this at low. It's hard to come up with why this might be low: prime directive, we're an inconsequential species/or one of vastly many, reaching us is costly, etc.