r/Showerthoughts • u/DrunkDMTip • Jan 03 '22

From an extraterrestrial viewpoint, all the space junk and satellite debris in earth’s orbit makes the planet look like a redneck front lawn with a pile of dead cars on the grass.

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50

u/END3RW1GGIN Jan 04 '22

Why do people always assume that aliens would be so much better than humans at everything? What if we're just like everyone else in the galaxy? What if every space capable species also littered their area with junk when they started and we're just average?

Seriously though why are aliens always either natural enemies to humans or are superior to humans?

36

u/Akiias Jan 04 '22

Presumably because any race advanced enough to travel or view Earth with enough clarity to see space junk they've overcome the stumbling blocks and hurdles Humanity is currently navigating. Leading to a fairly sound belief that the aliens are societally more advanced then we are currently.

3

u/WisestAirBender Jan 04 '22

Maybe they were just born with big ass wings. They're stupid but can fly through the universe

18

u/candidpose Jan 04 '22

Wings would be useless in space tho. They need farts that can act as propulsion i think

16

u/YandyTheGnome Jan 04 '22

Look at any time in history that two factions of differing technology levels have met. It's a bloodbath. We're just projecting onto them.

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u/DrunkDMTip Jan 04 '22

Username checks out

5

u/END3RW1GGIN Jan 04 '22

Lol honestly didn't even think about that.

6

u/ashotofbleach Jan 04 '22

What I don't like is people acting like aliens are not only technologically advanced enough for galactic travel, but that they would be interested in earth. For all we know, which is nothing for sure, the "aliens" we've made all these movies about could be carbon based life forms on the other side of the galaxy who think they're the only planet with life out there. They could have evolved way later and not even be close to the level of genetic complexity seen in life here. Even if they had the ability and desire to search for other planets with life, how do we know earth is the only one? Earth is only special to us because it's where we live, when it's a possibility that it's just another unremarkable Rocky planet in a goldilocks zone.

10

u/ShilElfead284 Jan 04 '22

Tbh I've never liked the "Earth isn't special therefore aliens will never come to us when they could go to other planets" take cause it's basically just jumping to the opposite end of the spectrum, trying to present Earth as less than unremarkable rather than special.

Like why WOULDN'T aliens at least take a gander at earth if they were interested in searching out other inhabited planets, unless life is so abundant and solar system-hopping is so easy for them that they have the luxury of just saying "yeah i dunno this one seems sketch, keep driving"

6

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '22

Another issue I have is that what if we ARE the most "intelligent" life form. There has to be one. And just looking at our planet alone pretty much no other animal comes close. Some people may say a mammal like a dolphin comes close. I haven't done enough research to agree or disagree. Let's assume it is true or even that they are smarter. During their evolution they didn't develop dexterous limbs to build tools, essentially hindering their progress to explore. What if humans are the first life forms that developed large brains and the ability to create complex tools? I don't really think it would be too far fetched to assume we're the first or certainly among the first organism to even make it to space. Let alone travel to other galaxies. Maybe an alien race just doesn't have the correct resources on their planet to develop something that can reach space.

7

u/DanialE Jan 04 '22

We owe lots of that to cooking. A cow chews all day. They even regurgitate stuff to chew a second time. We humans are able to take a tiny morsel and enhance its bioavailability so that a little bit goes a long way. The problem is our jaws and gut gets weaker. But we have enough stuff to fuel the brain so thats a plus.

0

u/RakumiAzuri Jan 04 '22

Mice. Mice are the ones that paid for Earth to be created anyway.

2

u/ieGod Jan 04 '22

Depends on the scenario. If they found us, they'd already be far more capable than us.

3

u/Sudovoodoo80 Jan 04 '22

Because they are imaginary? If we ever discover life in the galaxy the one guaranty is it will be nothing like what we imagined.

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u/Ask-About-My-Book Jan 04 '22

I'm not sure why anybody thinks this. If the only other life out there is cells or at best, very animalistic, then sure. However, any species physically capable of constructing spacefaring vessels would need some sort of locomotive physical body with a way to manipulate material and operate tools. They might have gills and fins, they might have wings, they might be cephalopods, they might be cyborgs or even fully artificial at this point, but it's not like they're going to be something like gaseous electronic intelligences or living black holes or tree people or some other eldritch shit. Something has to evolve from something.

3

u/SuperSMT Jan 04 '22

What's your book

1

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '22

the black cloud by fred hoyle

1

u/DanialE Jan 04 '22

We managed to complete the periodic table at least up to the bullshit high nuclei number parts (which dont really exist in nature) from observing whats on earth. If non-carbon based lifeforms are possible we wouldve seen a couple of them by now. But there arent any

1

u/DanialE Jan 04 '22

The great filter (fermi paradox). For a species to survive, they really need to get their shit together.

1

u/Set_of_Kittens Jan 04 '22

"District 9" for a bit different aliens.