Showerthoughts
A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The best ones are thoughts that many people can relate to and they find something funny or interesting in regular stuff.
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The speed of light is so slow as to make communication difficult. The best possiple case is they are about four light years away meaning a round trip question and answer is eight years. That is best case and those stars are generally thought to not be likely to have life. 20 light years gives the first possibility of life.
Which is to say we will never establish communication as you think of it. Instead we become aware of each other and send what we guess is of interest. maybe we ask questions but odds are a question sent is no longer relavent by the time we get an answeri
even the above is a best possible case. If we become aware of life there, is a good chance it is extinct long ago but evidence is just reaching us. The universe is that large*
I think it depends on what they have to say…
Honestly; “You’re not alone “ would fuel philosophy for a hundred years…
“Worship our noodles” would start as many holy wars.
“We’ve been trying to reach you about…”
4chan would explode
I just strongly doubt that. Firstly, heaps of people would be dressing as aliens for Halloween and thus talking about it.
Secondly, there's just way too many follow up questions, about them, their culture, their home, their tech, their goals, their language, their biology, the impact they've already had in our history, who knew and who didn't, etc.
So many fields would begin looking into it and throwing up new angles and facts for people to chew over.
Just think of how much time christians would devote to converting aliens to jeebus.
Hard disagree. Yes, all the other crazy bullshit would continue, but aliens are here among us isn’t something that would just go away.
Yeah. It would trigger a shit storm in 10 years time we wouldn't spend all day every day talking about the day we found out aliens existed, we would be talking about the ongoing wars arising as a result of their tech or some other thing.
I'm with you. Yes, people acclimate to all kinds of things, but sentient aliens are going to take more than a few days.
People will absolutely have a hard shit about it when it happens, but I think that, after so much sci-fi exposure in our culture, humanity (or, most of it) would be able to wrap their heads around the idea of extra-terrestrial aliens. Unfortunately, a lot would probably just see them the same way they see any other “aliens”, and be xenophobic (or exoxenophobic as the case may be) jerks about it.
The news media talks about whatever increases shareholder value. That's why they...
T-t-that's why they... always tell the truth, of course!
People would probably be like are they going to pay my bills? No? Whatever.
I would hope aliens, being intelligent, would communicate with other humans before they get to government representatives. We'd probably never hear from them again.
Tomorrow? Oh, so you already forgot the announcement from last month? Well, I mean I guess we have a lot of our own stuff going on right now…
/s?
Aliens would be so confused if they tried communicating with the white house.
December: "Ahoy-hoy!"
January: "New pres, who dis?"
Aliens: "Huh?"
stupid aliens never heard of jobs or mortality apparently!
General population: I do agree with you. They'd be looking at the next shiney new celebrity scandal or whatever. But there would also be some people who would act like a dog with a bone and not lose interest in the aliens. Scientists and UFOlogists and such.
Shit I'm just a regular dude but I'd be absolutely enthralled with the notion of aliens.
This makes me feel bad. But to be fair humans are generally really adaptable. And don't confuse what the news is talking about with what people are thinking.
Well written, OP.