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Stephen Hawking thinks an Alien encounter would be like Independence Day:

post #1 of 46
4/26/10 at 1:50pm
Thread Starter 
From the Article:

“We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet," he argues. "I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonise whatever planets they can reach.”

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04...liens_warning/


So who has Jeff Goldburn's number?
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post #2 of 46
4/26/10 at 1:54pm
Who is Jeff Goldburn and what does he have to do with an alien invasion?
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post #3 of 46
4/26/10 at 2:04pm
Jeff Goldburn sounds like he lost his genitals in an unfortunate smelting accident.
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post #4 of 46
4/26/10 at 2:09pm
Genius or not, Hawking sounds kind of nuts in the article.
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post #5 of 46
4/26/10 at 2:15pm
This seems horribly taken out of context. I saw one of these episodes (another was on time travel) last night, and a lot of what he was doing was speculating and even indulging in a bit of science fiction to explain the concepts he was talking about.
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post #6 of 46
4/26/10 at 11:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evi View Post
Genius or not, Hawking sounds kind of nuts in the article.
Hasn't he been horribly abused mentally and physically by his current wife for quite a few years now? That has to take its toll.
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post #7 of 46
4/26/10 at 11:52pm
Didn't he also say that we should be donating more resources to escaping the planet?
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post #8 of 46
4/26/10 at 11:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeI View Post
Didn't he also say that we should be donating more resources to escaping the planet?
Well I guess we have to escape before 'they' get here.
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post #9 of 46
4/27/10 at 12:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Rain Dog View Post
Hasn't he been horribly abused mentally and physically by his current wife for quite a few years now? That has to take its toll.
Wut?
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post #10 of 46
4/27/10 at 12:18am
Unless they land in Arizona. Then it'd be more like BORN IN EAST LA.
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post #11 of 46
4/27/10 at 12:18am
Actually Hawking is repeating a very common speculation about what an encounter with Extraterrestrials would be like. SF Writers back to HG Wells have written about Humankind being treated as Africans in the 18th century by Europeans..so I don't see what's crazy about Hawking's statements.
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post #12 of 46
4/27/10 at 12:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cylon Baby View Post
Wut?
My bad, ex-wife, he divorced her in 2006 I think...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...using-him.html

http://www.people.com/people/archive...149278,00.html
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post #13 of 46
4/27/10 at 12:22am
The alien apocalypse is nigh! And all this time we thought the zombies would get us...

You know, that's just what this world needs, nothing would unite us better than an alien invasion. Veidt was indeed right.
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post #14 of 46
4/27/10 at 12:24am
I imagine someone asked him leading questions and he deigned to explain that it would probably end badly. Which, you know, he's probably right about.
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post #15 of 46
4/27/10 at 12:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cylon Baby View Post
Actually Hawking is repeating a very common speculation about what an encounter with Extraterrestrials would be like. SF Writers back to HG Wells have written about Humankind being treated as Africans in the 18th century by Europeans..so I don't see what's crazy about Hawking's statements.
That was my original "post of some actual substance" before I took the easy route with a shitty joke.

The guy on CNN, some Sanchez fellow, was barking about it this afternoon and after he quoted Hawking on this, I waited for him to mention Wells. How does one discuss this subject with a straight face and not somehow mention that it actually did dawn on even nineteenth century minds.
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post #16 of 46
4/27/10 at 12:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Rain Dog View Post
God I can't understand why Hawking's students wouldn't fucking drag that witch out of Hawking's house by her hair and then beat the living shit out of her.
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post #17 of 46
4/27/10 at 12:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cylon Baby View Post
God I can't understand why Hawking's students wouldn't fucking drag that witch out of Hawking's house by her hair and then beat the living shit out of her.
He refused to admit it was happening - ever.

Then suddenly divorced her out of the blue.

He very much seemed like the battered spouse in that story.
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post #18 of 46
4/27/10 at 1:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cylon Baby View Post
Actually Hawking is repeating a very common speculation about what an encounter with Extraterrestrials would be like. SF Writers back to HG Wells have written about Humankind being treated as Africans in the 18th century by Europeans..so I don't see what's crazy about Hawking's statements.
I don't think it's crazy. I do think it's an odd thing to ask him seeing as it's so far out of the realm of what he actually studies.

But when a guy as smart as Hawking tells me that we should keep our heads down to not alert our presence to the aliens because chances are they will not be pleasant and will be vastly superior and that we should seriously consider evacuating the planet because it's going to die... I worry.
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post #19 of 46
4/27/10 at 1:42am
I've always thought that if Intelligent Aliens ever were able to check us out long distance there is no way they would ever risk so much as saying hello to us. Would you? The shit we do to our own people is horrific enough, I wouldn't want to mess with a species like us. At all.
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post #20 of 46
4/27/10 at 1:47am
My thoughts on this are:

Yes, alien races may just want to steal our resources, but it's very unlikely. The only reason they would have for doing that would be because they're dying and they need our resources to survive. The fact that they're capable of interstellar travel, and can sustain themselves while living in space makes that need highly improbable, however.
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post #21 of 46
4/27/10 at 1:55am
That, and we could totally kick their ass.
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post #22 of 46
4/27/10 at 9:13am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Litmus Configuration View Post
Jeff Goldburn sounds like he lost his genitals in an unfortunate smelting accident.
That will teach me for not proof reading a post.
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post #23 of 46
4/27/10 at 9:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeI View Post
Didn't he also say that we should be donating more resources to escaping the planet?
As a long term goal, he did. The Earth is on a timer that expires when the Sun enters its "red giant" stage of its life, if a random asteroid doesn't trigger another mass extinction first. Timothy Leary was saying the same thing in the 70's. Self-sustaining colonies on a number of other planets would be the only way to cataclysm-proof the human genome.
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post #24 of 46
4/27/10 at 11:47am
I always appreciated this bit of wisdom from CONTACT, even if it comes from the douchey-ist character in that movie:

ELLIE: We pose no threat to them. It would like us going out of our way to destroy a few microbes on some ant hill in Africa.

DRUMLIN: And how guilty would we feel if we went and destroyed a few microbes on an ant hill in Africa?
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post #25 of 46
4/27/10 at 12:08pm
All I know is... if they do show up, don't get any of their bio-fuel on you.

It causes mutation.


And anal leakage.
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post #26 of 46
4/27/10 at 12:58pm
I still believe in Douglas Adams assessment of mankind when push comes to shove:

Mostly harmless.
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post #27 of 46
4/27/10 at 10:04pm
Bah, if we just get all the lizard people hooked on ginger they'll all be too monged-out to complete the invasion...
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post #28 of 46
4/27/10 at 10:07pm
He's describing V. Was Independence Day that big a deal to you poor sonsabitches?
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post #29 of 46
4/27/10 at 10:08pm
Well I was going for a Turtledove reference so it looks like I lose out all together.
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post #30 of 46
4/27/10 at 10:09pm
It's kinda sad that we are so used to and accepting of our own natures as douchebags that it's almost impossible to imagine an Alien races first course of action upon coming across us wouldn't be trying to help us out or just hang for a bit, but rape and plunder our resources, planet and presumably, women.
If a bunch of happy, friendly aliens ever did front up and say hi we would probably try and nuke them out of the air. Just be sure etc etc.
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post #31 of 46
4/28/10 at 3:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by OCallaghan View Post
It's kinda sad that we are so used to and accepting of our own natures as douchebags that it's almost impossible to imagine an Alien races first course of action upon coming across us wouldn't be trying to help us out or just hang for a bit, but rape and plunder our resources, planet and presumably, women.
If a bunch of happy, friendly aliens ever did front up and say hi we would probably try and nuke them out of the air. Just be sure etc etc.
Where's that gif of a Vulcan getting shotgunned when you need it?
Im even more dissapointed a Kent Brockman quote didnt made it.
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post #32 of 46
4/28/10 at 4:25pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
He's describing V. Was Independence Day that big a deal to you poor sonsabitches?
To my wife, yes. Hence that was my first thought reading the article.
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post #33 of 46
4/28/10 at 7:22pm
I could be wrong here, but I feel like this might just be bitterness on his part. He knows that due to his physical ailments, he won't live long enough to see the human race become immortal via downloading of consciousness/soul into a hard drive, adn therefore will most likely not live to see alien contact. So he just wants to ruin the idea of first contact for everyone else

I could be calling that wrong, but that's my take anyway. I think that if aliens got advanced enough to travel distances that vast, whatever resources our small planet has would not matter in the least to the star dwellers
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post #34 of 46
4/28/10 at 7:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Princess Kate View Post
I could be wrong here, but I feel like this might just be bitterness on his part. He knows that due to his physical ailments, he won't live long enough to see the human race become immortal via downloading of consciousness/soul into a hard drive etc.
... as opposed to all us normal people who'll be there when the soul hard drives arrive?
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post #35 of 46
4/28/10 at 7:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Princess Kate View Post
I could be wrong here, but I feel like this might just be bitterness on his part. He knows that due to his physical ailments, he won't live long enough to see the human race become immortal via downloading of consciousness/soul into a hard drive, adn therefore will most likely not live to see alien contact. So he just wants to ruin the idea of first contact for everyone else
What the hell colour is the sky in your world?
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post #36 of 46
4/28/10 at 7:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Princess Kate View Post
I could be wrong here, but I feel like this might just be bitterness on his part. He knows that due to his physical ailments, he won't live long enough to see the human race become immortal via downloading of consciousness/soul into a hard drive, adn therefore will most likely not live to see alien contact. So he just wants to ruin the idea of first contact for everyone else
Right, cause that's only a few years down the road...


Where the fuck do you get these opinions from? Has the man given you any indication that he's bitter about not being able to live forever in a computer, and thus wants to to taint the eventual alien takeover of Earth for the rest of us? I'd like to see some quotes that lead you to that conclusion.
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post #37 of 46
4/28/10 at 7:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evi View Post
... as opposed to all us normal people who'll be there when the soul hard drives arrive?
I don't personally expect to be there, but I just think that his condition might lend him to be prone to bitterness about happy and hopeful future developments
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post #38 of 46
4/28/10 at 7:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott View Post
Who is Jeff Goldburn and what does he have to do with an alien invasion?
Look into this man's eyes and you'll know the answer to your query.






I suck at MS Paint.
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post #39 of 46
4/28/10 at 7:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin Macken View Post

Where the fuck do you get these opinions from? Has the man given you any indication that he's bitter about not being able to live forever in a computer, and thus wants to to taint the eventual alien takeover of Earth for the rest of us? I'd like to see some quotes that lead you to that conclusion.
I use my brain and viola! I get ideas and opinions

As I stated, it's just a guess. I have felt bitter about stuff before because I've been sad or whatever, I assumed it must be the same for him given the fact we're both humans
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post #40 of 46
4/28/10 at 7:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Princess Kate View Post
I use my brain and viola! I get ideas and opinions

As I stated, it's just a guess. I have felt bitter about stuff before because I've been sad or whatever, I assumed it must be the same for him given the fact we're both humans
It's plaid, isn't it? It a big ol' tartan kinda sky, ain't it?
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post #41 of 46
4/28/10 at 8:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryan S~ View Post
It's plaid, isn't it? It a big ol' tartan kinda sky, ain't it?
In a perfect world it would be blue, but we had a very gray and depressing winter in Massachusetts
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post #42 of 46
4/28/10 at 9:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Princess Kate View Post
I use my brain and viola! I get ideas and opinions

As I stated, it's just a guess. I have felt bitter about stuff before because I've been sad or whatever, I assumed it must be the same for him given the fact we're both humans
Are you sure? Are we human, or are we dancer?
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post #43 of 46
4/28/10 at 11:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by OCallaghan View Post
I've always thought that if Intelligent Aliens ever were able to check us out long distance there is no way they would ever risk so much as saying hello to us. Would you? The shit we do to our own people is horrific enough, I wouldn't want to mess with a species like us. At all.
There is a series of stories in which the Scourge Of The Galaxy is us. We are pricks. We either conquer or exploit the races we deem worthy of conquering or exploiting and ignore the rest.

I can't see aliens colonizing Earth. For what? Not resources, because there's nothing here that isn't out there. Space is where everything is, not Earth. If they want a place to live, well, if they can get here they can get anywhere, so they can find a planet that's habitable and not ours with no problem. The galaxy's lousy with planets, the odds of them needing ours and of it being the closest they could find are pretty slim. For that matter, the odds of two races being around at the same time aren't necessarily that great. For all we know this hypothetical race of alien invaders really did exist, but it and all its conquests have long since gone the way of the dinosaur, and had before our sun even formed.
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post #44 of 46
4/28/10 at 11:07pm
Still, if I had my way? Vorlons.
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post #45 of 46
5/1/10 at 4:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Princess Kate View Post
I use my brain and viola! I get ideas and opinions
!
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post #46 of 46
5/1/10 at 11:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BTSMGL View Post
!
Ironically I played the Viola for like a year when I was in third grade.
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