Hawking always makes me smile.

[Atheist_named_Christian]

Sorry but I agree with Hawking on this one.

Let's assume that these aliens are technologically so far advanced that they can reach the Earth. We would indeed be in the same position as the native Americans. We could do nothing against them whether their intentions are good or bad.

There are various scenario's that could play out if a technologically advanced civilization makes contact with a less advanced one, but if history has taught us anything, it rarely ever turned out for the better for the less advanced one.

But then there's nothing we could do about it, anyway. What we could succeed in is killing ourselves before they kill us. And I personally consider the first option more likely to happen.

[leo-rcc]

Sure, but in the mean time, it is not very prudent to advertise where we are until or if we are at least capable of intergalactic travel ourselves. Which is exactly what Hawking is saying. It's like a field mouse wearing a reflective jacket for the hawks to home in on. It's better to lay low in the grass.

[Eilonnwy]

OH SHIT, IT'S LIKE WAR OF THE WORLDS ONLY IN REVERSE.

[Sam]

In reality both of Hawkings points are valid but perhaps a little improbable.

As already pointed out, we have no idea how a techinologically advnaced civilisation would behav to us if they did come across one our many probes or signals. In fact, we have no idea how certain portions of our population would react to the discovery of another sentient species. For the time being, not making 'first contact' with another species would be the safest option.

With regards to the LHC, Hawkings career has been focussed on highly improbable events such as the big bang and other quantum phonomena. It is only natural that he addresses his concerns due to a probability which from his perspective has come to fruition before.

Sam