What if martians invaded?

[Litmus]

If an alien invasion occurred, what would it mean for humanity and human civilization as we know it? How would our way of life change? Would humanity attempt to defend itself? Does civilization adapt and reorganize, or slowly fracture? I’m interested in realistic perspectives on how humanity and civilization would respond.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

If an alien invasion occurred, what would it mean for humanity and human civilization as we know it? How would our way of life change? Would humanity attempt to defend itself? Does civilization adapt and reorganize, or slowly fracture? I’m interested in realistic perspectives on how humanity and civilization would respond.

There ARE no Martians.

But if the Gnfrzk invaded from, say, Proxima Centauri, our response would depend on their intentions, I suppose. This is not something I spend a lot of time thinking about.

Boru

[Litmus]

If an alien invasion occurred, what would it mean for humanity and human civilization as we know it? How would our way of life change? Would humanity attempt to defend itself? Does civilization adapt and reorganize, or slowly fracture? I’m interested in realistic perspectives on how humanity and civilization would respond.

There ARE no Martians.

But if the Gnfrzk invaded from, say, Proxima Centauri, our response would depend on their intentions, I suppose. This is not something I spend a lot of time thinking about.

Boru

Intentions would matter if they were knowable. But how long can a society afford to wait for intentions to become clear, especially if the arrival itself is large scale.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

There ARE no Martians.

But if the Gnfrzk invaded from, say, Proxima Centauri, our response would depend on their intentions, I suppose. This is not something I spend a lot of time thinking about.

Boru

Intentions would matter if they were knowable. But how long can a society afford to wait for intentions to become clear, especially if the arrival itself is large scale.

Intentions would made themselves clear, I think. I mean, if the Klingons arrived with energy weapons a-blazin', blowing up cities and boiling off the oceans, we'd probably get the message that they don't come in peace. On the other hand, if the Vulcans showed up and taught us how to build starships and cure cancer, we'd probably be OK.

Does the prospect of an alien invasion worry you?

Boru

[Litmus]

Intentions would matter if they were knowable. But how long can a society afford to wait for intentions to become clear, especially if the arrival itself is large scale.

Intentions would made themselves clear, I think. I mean, if the Klingons arrived with energy weapons a-blazin', blowing up cities and boiling off the oceans, we'd probably get the message that they don't come in peace. On the other hand, if the Vulcans showed up and taught us how to build starships and cure cancer, we'd probably be OK.

Does the prospect of an alien invasion worry you?

Boru

No it's more a concern about how fragile complex systems are. Civilizations don’t usually collapse because of one dramatic act. They strain and lose cohesion. I wonder how people would feel about having their way of life fundamentally altered from outside without choosing it. After all, hypothetical aliens would naturally have their own way of life and would probably wish to maintain it.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Intentions would made themselves clear, I think. I mean, if the Klingons arrived with energy weapons a-blazin', blowing up cities and boiling off the oceans, we'd probably get the message that they don't come in peace. On the other hand, if the Vulcans showed up and taught us how to build starships and cure cancer, we'd probably be OK.

Does the prospect of an alien invasion worry you?

Boru

No it's more a concern about how fragile complex systems are. Civilizations don’t usually collapse because of one dramatic act. They strain and lose cohesion. I wonder how people would feel about having their way of life fundamentally altered from outside without choosing it. After all, hypothetical aliens would naturally have their own way of life and would probably wish to maintain it.

If I cared about this, I'd be more concerned with trying to come up with a reason for aliens to want to invade in the first place. 

I wonder how people would feel about having their way of life fundamentally altered from outside without choosing it.

You could learn a lot about that by reading history, both ancient and recent. It happens a lot. I'd suggest Genghis Khan, Vladimir Putin, and the history of Rome as good places to start.

Boru

[The Valkyrie]

We're already here, Earthlet!

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

We're already here, Earthlet!

Explains a lot.

Boru

[Litmus]

No it's more a concern about how fragile complex systems are. Civilizations don’t usually collapse because of one dramatic act. They strain and lose cohesion. I wonder how people would feel about having their way of life fundamentally altered from outside without choosing it. After all, hypothetical aliens would naturally have their own way of life and would probably wish to maintain it.

If I cared about this, I'd be more concerned with trying to come up with a reason for aliens to want to invade in the first place. 

I wonder how people would feel about having their way of life fundamentally altered from outside without choosing it.

You could learn a lot about that by reading history, both ancient and recent. It happens a lot. I'd suggest Genghis Khan, Vladimir Putin, and the history of Rome as good places to start.

Boru

That’s fair. History is full of examples where outside forces reshaped societies, often dramatically.

What interests me about those cases isn’t just why the outsiders moved in, but what happened afterward, especially when the change wasn’t a single conquest, but an extended presence. Rome didn’t fall the day anyone crossed a border, and many of the shifts people argue about now were gradual, uneven, and hard to notice while they were happening.

I guess that’s where my curiosity sits. Not with motives, which can be debated endlessly, but with capacity. How much external change can a complex society absorb before cohesion starts to fray? And who bears the cost during that adjustment?

History gives examples of dramatic invasions, but it also shows long periods where societies changed fundamentally without a clear “moment” to point to. Those seem harder to learn from, but maybe more relevant.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

If I cared about this, I'd be more concerned with trying to come up with a reason for aliens to want to invade in the first place. 


You could learn a lot about that by reading history, both ancient and recent. It happens a lot. I'd suggest Genghis Khan, Vladimir Putin, and the history of Rome as good places to start.

Boru

That’s fair. History is full of examples where outside forces reshaped societies, often dramatically.

What interests me about those cases isn’t just why the outsiders moved in, but what happened afterward, especially when the change wasn’t a single conquest, but an extended presence. Rome didn’t fall the day anyone crossed a border, and many of the shifts people argue about now were gradual, uneven, and hard to notice while they were happening.

I guess that’s where my curiosity sits. Not with motives, which can be debated endlessly, but with capacity. How much external change can a complex society absorb before cohesion starts to fray? And who bears the cost during that adjustment?

History gives examples of dramatic invasions, but it also shows long periods where societies changed fundamentally without a clear “moment” to point to. Those seem harder to learn from, but maybe more relevant.

The evolution of societies is certainly a valid field of study, but I'm puzzled as to why you'd start off with such an extreme scenario.

Boru