Is Humanity Ready for First Contact?

[vorlon13]

Noticed something missing in the thread.


Aliens arriving here don't have to be any more advanced than humanity was in the 1960s.  Nuclear impulse propulsion was (theoretically) worked out in the late 50s, and shortly thereafter, Feynman noted that other than the will to do it, there was nothing stopping us from building and launching an interstellar craft carrying up to 50,000 colonists.


So the reverse could happen, aliens with their equivalent of our 1960s technology might wind up here.  An interesting question would be how many propulsion units would they have left over after braking into orbit around earth ?

And realize, braking into orbit is going to definitely get our attention.  With no malice on their part, they are going to knock most/all of our satellites and could seriously disrupt communications and power generation on the surface via EMP effects.

And then what happens ?    At that point, without even knowing we're here, they've come damn close to defeating us.

While possible, that is ridiculously unlikely. Considering the age spread of stars alone, the chances of that are poorer than being mauled by a polar bear in the Sahara on the same day a leopard changes its spots.

Great idea for a sci-fi novel, movie or TV series though!

Unlike Warp Drive, mélange, Alderson Drive, hyperspace, and a slew of other fictional technologies, nuclear impulse technology is real and can do the job.

The first civilization in the Milky Way galaxy with the technology (that includes us) with the will to use it (does not include us), can colonize the entire galaxy in some millions of years.  A far shorter period of time than the galaxy has existed.

If FTL travel is even possible, it first has to be developed.

Meanwhile, whoever gets nuclear impulse and the will to use it, if they are soon enough, wins the race.

If they arrive with 10 propulsion units leftover, they won't be much of a problem.
Considering however, Feynman estimated the voyage will take ~ 25 million of them, it's quite possible they will have some thousands of spares when (if) they get here.
I wouldn't want to tangle with North Korea if they had a 1000 nukes in orbit right now . . . . what about aliens we hope are benevolent but realistically, are going to be Darwinian instead?