[maxperenchio]

I was watching CNN yesterday and the two most interesting reports were on illegal aliens, and actual aliens. In the USA everyone is shitting themselves over this illegal aliens law in Arizona which gives local police the authority to ask for proof of citizenship with the penalty of arrest and deportation. People think it will lead to A) cleaner cities with less crime. B) racial profiling. I don't really care about your thoughts on this, but feel free to comment.

What I actually want to discuss is aliens. Actual aliens. This retarded-looking but supposedly brilliant Stephen Hawking guy is telling everyone that he's pretty sure aliens exist, only to add that we shouldn't try to contact them which is kind of like saying your hot cousin is going to be changing in the bathroom so don't go in even though its your house. Anyways- I need to hear the trustworthy BEA.com lounge opinon on this.

1. would every alien capable of intergalaxy travel only be interested in earth due to its natural resources? and, to use Hawking's example, approach the Earth with only Columbus-esque intentions?

2. The classic question- do you really think we could even see/experience aliens, or would they be outside our sensory perception?

3. Which member of KISS would be the aliens prefer.

ps I was kidding about Hawking so dont get all PC on me... but i wasn't kidding about my cousin

[Elston]

1. A species advanced enough to travel light years across the galaxy would probably have no need for our resources. They would have such a mastery over matter that we wouldn't have anything to offer from our planet, not our resources, nor technology. I mean, they prolly get their fuel from like crazy gas clouds and such.

2. This is hard question, I mean aliens could be so inconceivably advanced that their presence would be unnoticeable. It would be like an ant being aware of a human being, very unlikely. But even if an ant was aware of us, how could we begin to communicate. AND, even if we could communicate, what possible use could we have for one another? Humans still think they are the center of the world, but if we made contact with aliens it would obliterate our lofty opinions of ourselves and our world would likely crumble. It would be like those anthropological studies where a secluded race of people are introduced to a much more advanced civilization that has a completely different lifestyle and beliefs. I mean how would you feel if you're a primitive tribesman and you realize people can fly in planes. Everything you thought you knew would turn out false. This is the biggest threat for humans, not that aliens are hostile, but that it could make us aware of how insignificant we are.

3. The aliens would hopefully be into good music.

ps. no hard feelings about Hawking, and I sympathize because I also have a very hot cousin

[maxperenchio]

I totally agree with Elston-point-number-deux... that either way, our planet and way of life would be fucked for good. If we were exposed, even to a generally benevolent alien race, our culture would become drastically different, we would feel inferior, and we would most likely begin to borrow from their culture and technology, but then again that might be sweet.

I'm still 50/50 on the whole natural resources thing. A part of me thinks that aliens from another water-based planet might find ours useful- perhaps for resources, tourism, or even slave labor... maybe a society more advanced than ours but still as imperialistic and competetive. Maybe theres just no more space on their planet? An alien race might simply want to visit our planet for encyclopedic reasons- just to document and understand different ways of life...

the correct answer to question number three was "Ace Frehley" though...

[Richie Hunt]

1. Yea i think so. Though like you say there is the chance there is the David Attenborough type alien who documents our planet etc for Intergalactic Geographic Channel on said alien home planet. Also this earth has been around for a few years so aliens have probably visited already and are watching us on a different channel like the Truman show. But yea, i guess if resources are truly scarce in our world, then no reason why they aren't scarce within the context of a larger scale like the galaxy and beyond.

2. I think we will be able to see aliens. I'm sure there are beings which given our human limitations we aren't able to see, but given our world i believe its more likely we will see them in the sensory form.

3. Im more interested in both your cousins then the members of KISS. Any chance we can have each BEA member submit photos of their best looking cousins? Then i will tell you which cousin the aliens will prefer. Even Hawking probably has a hot cousin, so Stevie if you are tuning in, feel free to post a photo of your hottest cousin.

[maxperenchio]

Richie, I am so, so down with the hottest cousins thread.

[purple]

Fuck yeah there are aliens; very likely not human-like, but there is a shit-ton (scientific unit) of amino acids floating around space which just need to find a good liquid to hang out in to start life (i.e. it's probably something like bacteria, which doesn't hold very interesting conversations).

And, if there were space people, they'd obviously go for their star-child, Paul Stanley

[purple]

actually fuck, I forgot Ace Frehley was "Spaceman;" the space people would probably take both, because obviously the two are great twins of adventure sent here to teach us how to rock and roll and party, like Castor & Pollux, or left nut & right nut

[Bork]

1. No, not likely, there are several reasons why they would be interested, the most perceivable one (though not necessary the most likely one as we have no knowledge of this alien race) being for the same reason as us, namely "WHOAAA! There's others out there. Let's find out what the hell they're all about!"

2. No, if there are aliens out there (which is highly likely due to billions of trillions of gazillions of possible locations) they would likely be within our sensory perception, however, if Einsteins theory is true that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light we are never likely to actually meet aliens because of the vast distance away from us they would be, nor likely to ever see them no matter how good visual aid technologies we develop, as nothing will be able to travel fast enough to hit that visual aid. Hawkings of course has his own theories about wormholes and stuff, so it might not be impossible. Of course, if they should come here we will all die from some mysterious space flu.

3. Umji, because she is the better looking.

Note: If you didn't read Stephen Hawkings A Brief History of Time yet, please do. It took me years getting around to it because I thought it would be dry and dull science stuff. Turned out it was a very easy read, brilliantly explaining the theory of relativity and almost brilliantly quantum mechanics. Get it!

[cartoken]

i'm asking myself, if never an alien come to earth tomorrow, and had an account in this web site, what would be his favorite albums from earth ?

i guess he'll have these albums in his top 50: (if he has good tastes !!)

- Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion
-OutKast, Stankonia
-Pixies, Doolittle
-Radiohead, Amnesiac
-The Flaming Lips, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
-Beck, Odelay
-MGMT, Oracular Spectacular

[telefunker]

1. the human mind as it is does not even understand the origins of the universe or the nature of its own existence, so who's to say what's possible, perceivable and why?

2. see above

3. i'm not sure aliens would be so taken with the likes of the ephemeral, culture-specific and highly politicised music referenced on this site.

perhaps they would not even experience emotions and thus care not for heart-wrenching melodies. perhaps they have attained physical immortality and transcended reproduction, so 'dance' music could be redundant to them because it's chiefly a tool facilitate mating rituals in nightclubs and discos. perhaps they prefer music for its ability to induce physiological change. perhaps they find the whole concept puzzling or utterly rediculous.

either way, if they take one look at kiss they'll probably kidnap them and dump the whole lot on some far-off moon surrounded by a vacuum and observe the curious primitives from a distance with a powerful telescope, perhaps occasionally throwing them a worm.

4. how do you know i'm not an alien
_________________
no fat chicks