Talk Alien to me…

One of the biggest questions humans have is wether or not there are other life forms out in the universe. Since it would be shortsighted to assume that only earth can sustain life, it is probable that extra terrestrial beings exist. Isn’t that amazing news? Now all we have to do is fly to their homes, which are just like ours and probably have clear directions outlined on google maps, and talk to them. Wrong. There would be a language barrier beyond anything Donald Trump would wish to have.
Image result for aliens on phone

The inability to communicate with extra terrestrial beings, despite understanding that they exist, is called the Fermi paradox. The scientist Enrico Fermi had a number (too many to make a reasonable blog post) of theories on why we haven’t had proven communication with extra terrestrial life. The first theory is that extra terrestrial life is rare or nonexistent. As I said earlier, that would be a very shortsighted way to view it. Another theory is that humans have not existed long enough to be recognized by other intelligent beings. This theory could hold true since human existence is a drop of water in the ocean of time. However, if aliens were so adapted, they would have the means to recognize our existence. The most likely theory that can be derived from Fermi’s list is that humans are not advanced enough to understand, interpret, initiate, or receive alien communications.

The author and transhumanist Zoltan Istvan theorizes (quite confidently) that humans will never be able to talk with intelligent life because so many factors must be appropriate. First off, these aliens would have to be in a state recognizable to humans. Istvan went as far as to say that aliens can become advanced enough to shed their biological beings (should be noted, however, this man is the proclaimed president of the transhumanist movement, so outlandish theories are kind of his thing). Next, we would need to have a similar state of time as the intelligent being, and that is not likely. Finally, these other life forms would have to be looking for us too. And let’s admit it, we aren’t as sought after as “Transformers” would want us to believe.
Image result for transformers movie

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-language-of-aliens-will-always-be-indecipherable

5 thoughts on “Talk Alien to me…

  1. Harper Nardone

    On the first day of class for SC200, I knew one of the topics I wanted to learn about was aliens. With reading about the Fermi Paradox from your post, it seems like it would make sense that although we are pretty sure aliens exist, we cannot come in contact with them due to their rarity and different communications. I’ve always thought that things like aliens and mermaids have to or had to have existed because how else could we create ideas so bizarre. Also, there are some factors that make me question how we would be unable to understand alien language or intentions. First, with how far technology has advanced, it is surprising that nothing has been invented to translate alien communication. We must have even more progress to make, then. Something else I’ve noticed is that we, humans, obviously do not speak in the same language as animals. But we have learned extensive knowledge about so many species that we understand their wants, needs, and intentions without verbal word communication – who says we can’t do the same with aliens? However, the most interesting question that came to mind from reading this blog is what if aliens have already been discovered and/or communicated with, but it is just being hidden from us? A retired worker had been recorded in a documentary before his death and explained how he used to work in Area 51 and that aliens indeed are real. Besides this, not much has been provided to the public, and when tourists went to check out what they could of Area 51, they were met with extreme security measures. So, what do you think they are hiding? The links are below.

    http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/aliens-real-reveals-former-area-4524304
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/weird/655286/What-are-they-hiding-Security-draw-guns-on-tourists-who-cross-into-Area-51-alien-base

  2. Kacey Elizabeth Gill

    I found this post to be interesting. I too have always theorized about the possibility that life on other planets exists and have always been fascinated by the concept of aliens and whether or not they really look like the tiny green men with big black eyes that we depict them as. I have never heard about the Fermi Paradox or the transhumanist party prior to this post so it was interesting to read about and see several different theories and perspectives on the topic. You mentioned in your post, the “aliens” may have to be looking for us too; I think it is cool to wonder if they already are looking for us but they are just so far away that they haven’t reached us yet or if they ever will in the lifetime of the human species or if they were already here before us at one point. Similarly, it could be questioned if this intelligent life would be anything more than small organisms. There is so much to think about when it comes to the topic of extra terrestrial life. Here is a cool article from nasa that discusses the possibility of other intelligent life in the universe and what it may look like.

  3. Mairead Donnard

    This post was really interesting. It is so cool to think about the possible existence of other life that is completely unknown to humans. I have never heard of the Fermi Paradox prior to reading this blog so that was also was fascinating to read. I agree that it is extremely short-sighted to believe that other life is rare or nonexistent. We do not know a great deal about the universe, but we do know is that it is massive and complex so there is no way that no other life exists. I do agree that if humans were able to come in contact with aliens, neither side would have the means to communicate with one another. Here is an interesting article you might enjoy about the vast universe and possible other forms of life: https://sputniknews.com/society/20160913/1045267906/galaxy-space.html

  4. Parker Jax Yochim

    I read somewhere that their are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on a beach. Bear in mind that our Sun is a star, and many stars have planets that orbit them, and moons that orbit those and so on. Given that kind of figure it is hard to believe that no other life exists. If this kind of stuff interests you then check out the movie Interstellar.

  5. Patrick Winch

    This post definitely speaks to me. On my initial blog post, I wrote about how passionate I was about Star Wars. I always thought it was interesting that George Lucas portrayed human characters like Han as being able to understand other creatures, like Chewbacca. According to
    Wikipedia
    , George Lucas actually took from indigenous languages in order to form the languages that aliens in the movies spoke. But, perhaps the bigger question that is somewhat related to Star Wars is: is it possible to travel at light speed? The article I found HERE more or less defeats that idea. Guess we will have to find some other way!

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