I don't know. Lots of people want alien contact for some reason, but people have different ideas about it.

Some think they'll be friendly, but not as good-looking as us.

Some people think they'll just be coming to mine another planet, and all those crawly/walky things (us) will just be in the way.

Personally, if they're out there, they've probably already been here, and when they come by, they stop and look for a while with their invisibility shield on, pointing and laughing and shaking their heads.

Sue

Look what happened to Arthur Dent. Chances are anyway it will most likely be an encounter with a piece of intelligent alien technology rather than the alien whateverself. Hopefully it will be more amiable than this unless of course it has previous orders to make way for the alien interstellar highway.

There's a similar one about going back in time.

They're probably wondering why the otherwise seemingly superior bi-peds spend so much time picking up dog poop.

Twilight Zone, 1961:

http://www.answers.com/topic/will-the-real-martian-please-stand-up-1

LEAVE. NOW.






THIS PLANET IS TAKEN.

A lot depends on how any visitors view us. As with anything else if you're invited to dinner a lot depends on your role in the event. The experiences of honored guest, waiter, and main course tend to differ.

It also matters as to how any visitors characterize themselves. Interplanetary scientists will want to study you. Biologists might be into dissection. Anthropologists into seeing your society function. Better the later than the former.

Interplanetary preachers will want to convert you. Failing that, kill you.

Interplanetary capitalists will want to exploit you and the planet. We might hope they find us cute and entertaining. As a pet don't be surprised if you get neutered, muzzled and put on a leash. We might be trained to perform tricks. Or relegated to a zoo.

I suspect our value as labor would be minimal. Robots are cheaper, stronger and far less demanding. We might be tasty. Which isn't all bad. We have far more chickens on planet earth than the species justifies on its own merits outside it being food for humans. Farmers spend a lot of time and effort keeping their livestock healthy and productive, if not entirely comfortable. We might be bred to have more meat and smaller brains.

That assumes they don't have some way of generating food outside growing it. I suspect that there would be some exploitation of humans as food if they eat meat at all. The desire to try a new species as food is pretty strong. It is like the old joke about whooping crane tasting a lot like bald eagle.

Then again we might not come up to that level. Humans might just be 'something they step on'. As they use the Eiffel tower to scrape humans off his giant boot. They might find this a lovely planet except for the unfortunate infestation of humans. Nothing a good fumigation won't make right.

I think the piece gets it about right. Stand still, practice radical humility, and work on getting them to recognize humans are intelligent. I would work on the cute and entertaining angle. With a lot of luck a pet human might be accepted as an alien's best friend. We will have to work hard on the 'sad eyes' and 'not crapping on the carpets'. So much for dignity.

Pulled this from my CD collection, haven't played it in years, inspired from the discussion. Ahhh the 1970s....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msS8otYxgSc

Much better than the Hollywood films and truer to the original novel.

Some more to think about:
http://scienceblogs.com/seed/2010/04/dont_talk_to_strangers_stephen.php

If our own immediate history of first contact encounters bears out, millions or billions of earthlings will be wiped out by some alien contagion.

And that's if they aren't armored leech-like bloodsuckers latching onto our brains for sustenance - which would be considered a congenial exchange on their world(s).

We'll just have to wait and see what first contact will be like. But we are probably the Aztecs in this exchange.