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[Tacitus]

You seem to make the assumption that they put the same value on life that you have. Different societies on earth value life differently. Bees have a hive mentality.

Solid point.

I don't think we should assume that our model is superior across the universe, just because it has shown to be superior for a period of time here on Earth. I think if you read enough SciFi, you will read about many different hypothetical models of civilization that are both alien and successful enough to be threatening to us...and those are only the ones that humans can conceive of.

Then again...who knows??? We are all just speculating for fun here.

 

[SheepDog]

If they have the power to cross the fantastic distances between stars or galaxies then they definitely have the power to destroy a planet.
They probably also have neighbors that would frown upon such activities.
I believe (might be unfounded) that the galactic neighborhood is peaceful if for no other reason than an aggressive population would quickly be consumed by those who want a safer cosmos.

 

[Supervisor42]

...Then again...who knows??? We are all just speculating for fun here.

If they have the power to cross the fantastic distances between stars or galaxies then they definitely have the power to destroy a planet.
They probably also have neighbors that would frown upon such activities.
I believe (might be unfounded) that the galactic neighborhood is peaceful if for no other reason than an aggressive population would quickly be consumed by those who want a safer cosmos.

I sure hope you're right.
Being the devil's advocate, I have to postulate this:
Suppose we finally discovered a planet nearby that had 'life' on it:lil guy:.

...And it was vastly overpopulated with beef-cattle.
Do you think we would spend time trying to educate them into more intelligent beings, carrying the olive-branch of peace with us?
Or would we just make burgers?

 

[Caribou]

I sure hope you're right.
Being the devil's advocate, I have to postulate this:
Suppose we discovered a planet nearby that had 'life' on it:lil guy:.

...And it was vastly overpopulated with beef-cattle.
Do you think we would spend time trying to educate them into more intelligent beings, carrying the olive-branch of peace with us?
Or would we just make burgers?View attachment 27129

Planet Outback? Planet Longhorn? Planet McDonald?

 

[Supervisor42]

Planet Outback? Planet Longhorn? Planet McDonald?

I like 'Planet Longhorn' the best.
Again, the most likely reason aliens would travel so far to reach us is because they have overpopulated their home planet and exhausted it's resources.
I doubt seriously they would be here to just discuss philosophy.
Everybody say Moo!dancing chicken

 

[Caribou]

I like 'Planet Longhorn' the best.
Again, the most likely reason aliens would travel so far to reach us is because they have overpopulated their home planet and exhausted it's resources.
I doubt seriously they would be here to just discuss philosophy.
Everybody say Moo!dancing chicken

Umm, shouldn't that be a dancing cow? Cluck!!!

 

[Supervisor42]

Umm, shouldn't that be a dancing cow? Cluck!!!

I don't have a dancing-cow emoji.
If the aliens were 3-times our size, we'd probably be chicken-equivalents to them.
Cluck-cluck.
Isn't it something how much fun you can have with your imagination?
(@Everyone that is amazed at how fast we can yank a perfectly-good thread off of the rails, I apologize)

 

[Tacitus]

If they have the power to cross the fantastic distances between stars or galaxies then they definitely have the power to destroy a planet.
They probably also have neighbors that would frown upon such activities.

I don't see how the second point follows at all. They may not have neighbors, or their neighbors may be helpless, or their neighbors may not care.

I believe (might be unfounded) that the galactic neighborhood is peaceful if for no other reason than an aggressive population would quickly be consumed by those who want a safer cosmos.

I think the galactic neighborhood is peaceful for no other reason than that we haven't been attacked...and we haven't detected any alien civilizations yet. Of course, if they exist and if they can travel faster than light, then the first news we get of them will likely be their sudden and unannounced arrival here.

Also, if there are aliens out there, I do not think we can make any assumptions at all about their morality...and if there are aggressively hostile aliens out there, I don't think we can make any assumptions about the probability that there are also peace loving aliens nearby with the military capability to keep the aggressively-hostile aliens in check.

It may be that they just haven't seen the need to visit our out of the way location yet.

 

[Caribou]

Have you ever taken a vacation or business trip to some place like Chicago or L.A. and felt good to be rid of the place? Who says they haven't been here?

 

[Tacitus]

Have you ever taken a vacation or business trip to some place like Chicago or L.A. and felt good to be rid of the place? Who says they haven't been here?

Reminds me of a great movie...a cult classic: John Carpenter's, "They Live." If you haven't seen it, it is worth it.

 

[Sentry18]

I would say that this thread has derailed and we should get it back on track, but it's so far off of them now there isn't enough wood and steel to get her back on again.

Besides, we all know that any alien species advanced enough to have developed aircraft with the capacity for interplanetary travel would be a peaceful utopian society based on feel-good socialism who only want to explore strange new worlds and civilizations and boldly go where no Xaxon has go before.

 

[Supervisor42]

Have you ever taken a vacation or business trip to some place like Chicago or L.A. and felt good to be rid of the place? Who says they haven't been here?

Well the 3 visits so far, they obviously realized we needed a lot of help and only gave assistance.
I'm sure it's about like watching a 'Forge Of Empires' game to them.
Others probably just fly by without even waving the DILLIGAFF flag.
The worst we've suffered so far is a bruised ego and an inferiority complex.

 

[SheepDog]

They are not going to come for our resources. The galaxy is full of anything you can find on earth and a lot of stuff you can't. Just in the asteroid belt there is more than enough materials to supply the earth for longer than the 4.5 billion years before the sun swallows us. They aren't coming here for food because the genetic makeup is not likely to be what they need, besides with all that power there is more than enough to produce food and water from elemental matter.
Just imagine how the world would change if everyone had unlimited electrical power and it was free. Add to that shared technology. If you can have or make anything you want there is no need of war. There is no "profit" in it.

 

[angie_nrs]

In an effort to get this train back on the rails......

Do the LIST.

Joel - care to share your list?

I have a 12 hour list, but not a 15 minute list. At that point, you are about as prepaared as you're gonna get. I'd attempt to call the family, hope they can get home in time, get the pups and my own butt in the basement, secure the doors, and keep the radio and TV on. Then.....pray!

 

[Terri9630]

They are not going to come for our resources.

Your so sure of this how? Maybe they need oxygen for a vital system "back home".....

 

[Terri9630]

In an effort to get this train back on the rails......


Joel - care to share your list?

I have a 12 hour list, but not a 15 minute list. At that point, you are about as prepaared as you're gonna get. I'd attempt to call the family, hope they can get home in time, get the pups and my own butt in the basement, secure the doors, and keep the radio and TV on. Then.....pray!

I'd be interested in that list too.

 

[SheepDog]

Your so sure of this how? Maybe they need oxygen for a vital system "back home".....

Terri, Oxygen is an abundant element found throughout the galaxy. Why would they want ours?

 

[Terri9630]

Terri, Oxygen is an abundant element found throughout the galaxy. Why would they want ours?

Cause were special.

 

[Sentry18]

Cause were special.

Maybe their air smells like fish cooking in a microwave and ours smells like cotton candy.

 

[SheepDog]

Yeeesss, And our air is full of microbes and viruses which they have no resistance to but they can always filter it out.
Still, it seems like a long way to go to get something that the universe is full of.
Really the only thing that is special on earth is the life here. The species that evolved here are not likely to have evolved on another planet, but they also require food from this biosphere because it is compatible with their own biology. If they wanted to take live flora and fauna they would have to take the nourishment for them too.

 

[angie_nrs]

Reminds me of a great movie...a cult classic: John Carpenter's, "They Live." If you haven't seen it, it is worth it.

I saw this post after I revisted it last weekend. I watched They Live. I can't believe I hadn't seen it before now.....it's right up my SciFi alley, especially for an 80's movie. Even my kids had watched this. Where the heck have I been??? Ah.....so that's where the bubblegum quote comes from.

 

[Tacitus]

The bubblegum quote is a classic line. Kind of a campy movie, but still good, in my mind. Probably due for a remake...except why would they remake that movie now?...they wouldn't want the common people to get any ideas....

The quote:

 

[Alaskajohn]

I am late to this thread. Lots of discussion about nuclear in the thread. I purposefully purchased this place to be out of the predicted fall out radius of any of the military and ports of Alaska. I did the plots myself from my old Army NBC (what they called it then) manuals, and confirmed with some of the modern website that can do the prediction. Of course there are lots of other threats as well. So pick your TEOTWAWKI scenario.

If I had 15 minutes, I would make a cup of coffee, grab my wife, have a sip of coffee, and pray for divine protection. Then if I had time I'd call family members thousands of miles away and tell them that I loved them and prayed for them.

 

[UrbanHunter]

When I think about TEOTWAKI there are several scenarios that you could face:
I the event is a bend over and kyagb event, I think I would just call the kids to say goodbye and hold the wife's hand till it's over...
If it is a coming EMP like event - I would gather as much drinking water as possible, try to protect some key electronics (laptop, phone, inverters, chargers, and batteries), then open the windows and throw the power main.
Anything less would just be called a weekend...

 

[Morgan101]

I too am late to this thread. Thanks for bringing it back, Alaskajohn. The chances are highly likely that my wife, son and I would be together. I would collect supplies from other parts of the house, and head for the basement, which is a pretty good bunker if the threat is nuclear. If we weren't together the first calls would be to get home.

I would call my daughter on the East Coast to make sure they were safe, and my Brother and Sister in Arizona. Turn on the radio, and see how long we had to hunker down. In 15 minutes we would be very comfortable if we were bugging in.

 

[SLADE]

I am late to this thread. Lots of discussion about nuclear in the thread. I purposefully purchased this place to be out of the predicted fall out radius of any of the military and ports of Alaska. I did the plots myself from my old Army NBC (what they called it then) manuals, and confirmed with some of the modern website that can do the prediction. Of course there are lots of other threats as well. So pick your TEOTWAWKI scenario.

If I had 15 minutes, I would make a cup of coffee, grab my wife, have a sip of coffee, and pray for divine protection. Then if I had time I'd call family members thousands of miles away and tell them that I loved them and prayed for them.

The first thing I thought of was have a cup of coffee.

 

[Alaskajohn]

The first thing I thought of was have a cup of coffee.

Clarity of mind and calm will be your most important earthly asset. The act of making that cup of coffee would give me that.

 

[SheepDog]

If it was a worst case solar event and I had 15 minutes I would walk out to the power meter and turn the main breaker off.
It is unlikely that any power surge would survive the many safety fuses (electronic cut offs) from the high voltage transmission lines but it doesn't hurt to disconnect. After a couple of days if the power is not restored then it might be a while to a couple of decades before it is back on.
There is no need to protect any electronics because the CME or flares are slow build up and long lived events. They only affect long transmission lines and the stuff coupled to them. Once the generators and big transformers are welded together there isn't enough energy to get into your house.

If I was down wind of a nuclear power plant I would attempt to get to a safe spot up wind because the waste fuel rods that are kept in cooling tanks will begin to boil the water off a day or so after the power is shut down.Shortly after that the rods will start burning releasing clouds of high level radiation carried by the wind. Part of that cloud will be plutonium dioxide, the most toxic compound we know of.

If you stay out of the radioactive plumes and can raise your own food you will be fine. Just remember that anyone sick is likely to be radioactive as well. Those folks will only live a week to ten days after breathing the plumes.

 

[Aklogcabin]

I'm kinda with Akjohn. We built our remote cabin with this sinareo in the back of our minds. We have quite a few cans of dehydrated food there n I'm transplanting some rhubarb, raspberries n such there. As well as learning about the plants around me for food n medicine.
As life will have it. Our family already had a practice run.
As a dad, handing our 2 kids a pillow case n telling them that we have to leave our home. What they can put in the bag is all they could take.
After the forest fire destroyed our home. Going over what was in the back of our old truck. Our kids 5-6 years old, took fishing poles n gear, toilet paper n bedding.
Man I love my kids.
We didn't have insurance, we built out of pocket and owned our home. But we still had each other. And rebuild our lives together

 

[Jay]

I already retired to the mountains, so unless there was a forest fire, there is nowhere further I can go. figure I can last out far longer then most people.