Conversations with Extraterrestrials

1963

Noble
Hi guys, just watched Preston Dennett's [always interesting] new video in which it concerns people actually conversing with Extraterrestrials.....


... And whether you believe any of the claims in the presented four cases of alleged conversations with the Alien-visitors ... the point of his video is to make you think just what [if anything] you would like to ask these amazing visitors? ... and I thought it would be a good idea to ask everyone here what might they be tempted to ask if you were in a position to speak directly with an alien being? ... Personally I fear that my head would explode from the massive rush that a billion questions would come instantly! ... but if not, then of course i'm not really sure which of the multitude of questions would stumble out first... but I strongly suspect that I would be more than eager to ask if they could help with any super medical attention for my disabled son. :Thumbsup: ... what would you ask?


Cheers.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
I think my first question would be, 'how many other intelligent species have they discovered during their travels in the galaxy and what percentage of those are able to travel to different worlds?'...

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JahaRa

Noble
I think the first thing I would ask is how and why did you end up on a planet in the solar system at the edge of the furthest spiral arm in the galaxy.
 

Standingstones

Celestial
I would ask a couple of questions. First, are you coming to our planet to help yourself to our natural resources. Also, point out to me what star constellation are you coming from and describe your home planet. Lastly, how far off are humans spiritually and technically from yourselves.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
Michio Kaku thinks it's a bad idea to attempt contact with ET...

Michio Kaku: 'Reaching out to aliens is a terrible idea'

(Excerpt)

Soon we’ll have the Webb telescope up in orbit and we’ll have thousands of planets to look at, and that’s why I think the chances are quite high that we may make contact with an alien civilisation. There are some colleagues of mine that believe we should reach out to them. I think that’s a terrible idea. We all know what happened to Montezuma when he met Cortés in Mexico so many hundreds of years ago. Now, personally, I think that aliens out there would be friendly but we can’t gamble on it. So I think we will make contact but we should do it very carefully.

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nivek

As Above So Below
Hi guys, just watched Preston Dennett's [always interesting] new video in which it concerns people actually conversing with Extraterrestrials.....


I did want to comment on one part of the video, about 30 minutes into it...He mentions that the aliens told him the name of their planet and the name of their species but both names were long and spoken in a language he couldn't understand so he forgot how they were spoken...However a couple minutes later he says the aliens also told him they could speak all the languages of earth, so couldn't they have said the names of their species and planet in a language he could understand?...I understand there may not be an easy nor equivalent way of translating their language to ours but surely for two words, two names, they could have improvised something since they came all this way and even revealed themselves to someone...Would they have known our designation or name for their star and if so they could have spoken that to him?...

Just thinking out loud lol...

...
 

SOUL-DRIFTER

Life Long Researcher
Hi guys, just watched Preston Dennett's [always interesting] new video in which it concerns people actually conversing with Extraterrestrials.....


... And whether you believe any of the claims in the presented four cases of alleged conversations with the Alien-visitors ... the point of his video is to make you think just what [if anything] you would like to ask these amazing visitors? ... and I thought it would be a good idea to ask everyone here what might they be tempted to ask if you were in a position to speak directly with an alien being? ... Personally I fear that my head would explode from the massive rush that a billion questions would come instantly! ... but if not, then of course i'm not really sure which of the multitude of questions would stumble out first... but I strongly suspect that I would be more than eager to ask if they could help with any super medical attention for my disabled son. :Thumbsup: ... what would you ask?


Cheers.


Nice thread.
I did a thread about contact with the UFOnauts long ago.
I would ask what they know about other visitors that have come and gone from our Earth, and what they know about the Multiverse.
 

Rick Hunter

Celestial
I think I would ask them about their beliefs on the afterlife and reincarnation. Assuming that they seemed friendly, I would also ask if we could visit again in the future.
 

1963

Noble
I did want to comment on one part of the video, about 30 minutes into it...He mentions that the aliens told him the name of their planet and the name of their species but both names were long and spoken in a language he couldn't understand so he forgot how they were spoken...However a couple minutes later he says the aliens also told him they could speak all the languages of earth, so couldn't they have said the names of their species and planet in a language he could understand?...I understand there may not be an easy nor equivalent way of translating their language to ours but surely for two words, two names, they could have improvised something since they came all this way and even revealed themselves to someone...Would they have known our designation or name for their star and if so they could have spoken that to him?...

Just thinking out loud lol...

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Hi Nivek, hope you are well my friend :Thumbsup: ... Yes, I also noted that [and a couple more things about Kevin's story] ... and as I mentioned earlier, it's not that I intended to endorse any of the Preston-presented-claims , I merely used this video as a vehicle for the premise of the thread. Because as you know mate, i'm not the world's biggest cheerleader for the genre's phenomenal amount of Alien Abduction claims.
... And I also forgot to mention that I also think [wrongly or rightly] that the actual appearance of the Aliens would probably have a tangible bearing on what we might 'ask of our visitors'. ... Suffice to say that the more at ease we might feel, the easier some of the more 'sensitive questions' be to ask about. eg. "are you a anthropophagist ?", or "do you believe in the practice of oppression over inferior species?" [as we do] ... you get my drift, but once that's all sorted then the rest should be plain sailing , as they say. ... And when all's said and done, the truth is that no matter the duration and amount of visits that these initial 'early-contacts' there could be , at least 99% of the questions posed to 'the visitors' would have very strong "what can I get out of this?' connotations from the inquisitor at some point of the conversation. ... And "hell!, why not, it's human nature!" .... and no matter how much anyone would like to profess innocence in this regard, that's just the way it is. :Tongue:

Cheers Buddy.
 

karl 12

Noble
Thanks for posting mate - off to watch.

Did see there was an account as far back as 1940 where an Aussie miner had a chat with UFO occupants who were collecting water through a tube.

See 8:30



Cheers.
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
Probably find a better way to put it but 'what do you want' would be a good one to put at the top of the list

Some stranger knocks at your front door that's what I want to know, not how they got here. I guess maybe the spaceship and squishy eyestalks might give pause first .......
 

pepe

Celestial
" why in the world haven't you provided us with sufficiently sophisticated algorithmic artificial intelligence to neutralise the damage to our civilisation perpetrated by social media ? ".
 

JahaRa

Noble
" why in the world haven't you provided us with sufficiently sophisticated algorithmic artificial intelligence to neutralise the damage to our civilisation perpetrated by social media ? ".
You do know that an AI solution would be to wipe out humans, right?
 

nivek

As Above So Below
... And I also forgot to mention that I also think [wrongly or rightly] that the actual appearance of the Aliens would probably have a tangible bearing on what we might 'ask of our visitors'. ...

This is a key point, an inconvenient truth, that definitely the visitor's appearance would have a direct influence over what would be asked and said during the conversation if there's a conversation at all...If the visitors were scary looking creatures dripping acid from their mouths like the creatures in the Aliens movies, then I doubt there would be any conversation at all lol...However if their appearance was more appealing to our eyes then a human of earth would feel more comfortable engaging in conversation with them...

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pepe

Celestial
I think it comes down to who finds who.

They come to us unannounced and we find that they knew we were here then I think we would seek to undermine them and retake our spot as number one. If we find them we would make subtle contact and things would have a chance.

If they look as we do there would be an immediate divide and then all us indigenous would be on the same side as a bigger fish has turned up for frying.

We can't even get along with ourselves properly so I would hazard a guess we would ultimately seek to eradicate any other with the smarts to hone in in us.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
Here's an interesting interview concerning this topic of conversing with aliens if/when they land on our world...

If Aliens Landed Tomorrow, Could We Communicate with Them?

An interview with Dr. Arik Kershenbaum, author of "The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal About Aliens—and Ourselves."

It’s difficult for some of us not to allow our minds to wander toward scenarios where we’ve finally answered the ultimate question. Are we alone in the universe? Will we ever make first contact with a non-human, off-world intelligence? Even more intriguing is the question of whether or not we would even be able to communicate with aliens should the ever arrive.

Barring some incredible technological advancement such as Star Trek’s universal translator or finding a convenient fish you can stick in your ear like Arthur Dent, if we want our relationship with a potential extraterrestrial intelligence to be productive, we’ll have to figure out a way to talk to each other. Without having any aliens hanging about to use as test subjects, the only other examples of non-human intelligence available to chat with are other terrestrial animals, such as chimps, dogs, birds, or, one of the most popular candidates, dolphins. The results thus far have been, I am sorry to report, less than promising.

That’s why I was thrilled to be able to interview author and University of Cambridge zoology researcher Dr. Arik Kershenbaum. Dr. Kershenbaum is an expert in animal vocal communication and the evolution of language. Throughout his career, he has studied the vocalizations of wolves along with dolphins and other cetaceans. But he has also delved into the question of human communication with aliens, mainly in a hypothetical fashion. He’s the author of a new book, “The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal About Aliens—and Ourselves,” making him the ideal person to tackle these questions. The Debrief invited Dr. Kershenbaum to discuss the possibility of intelligent alien life, why it’s so hard to talk to the animals, the nature of language, and even subjects as far afield as telepathy. Here is what Dr. Kershenbaum has to say.


CAN WE COMMUNICATE WITH ALIENS?


The Interview:
The Debrief: When you wrote your book, “The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal About Aliens—and Ourselves,” you seemed to be focused on the fundamental elements of and definition of language. There is currently a growing public interest in the possibility of contact with a non-human intelligence at some point. But what was your focus? Was it more about the possible challenges of establishing communication with a hypothetical non-human intelligence, or more of an effort to define how we think of language and communications in general?

Dr. Arik Kershenbaum: The two are inextricably linked. When we think of establishing communication with another human culture – i.e. learning another language – we don’t need to make any conceptual leaps. All human languages are just minor variations on a theme. But if you want to communicate with a non-human intelligence, you can no longer rely on what you instinctively understand about “language.” That will necessarily be constrained to our understanding of human language, and may not in any way resemble the communication system of a dolphin, or a bird, or even of an alien. So we can’t even understand the challenges of inter-species communication, without getting to the bottom of what is the fundamental nature of language, and of communication in general. Actually, we’re very familiar with this idea. When you communicate with your pet dog, you don’t (usually) expect him or her to understand full sentences. But you know how to convey everything from commands to emotions, and even simple questions. Next time you do that, examine what you’re doing. You’ll see it’s nothing like any human language that we know. But it’s still meaningful communication.

TD:
And do you find the idea of a non-terrestrial intelligence that may have visited the Earth plausible?

AK: This just seems incredibly unlikely to me. The energy and technology required to travel between the stars is so vast that any civilization capable of visiting us must be hugely more advanced than we are. In that case, if they wanted to remain unknown, we would certainly never know about them at all. If, on the other hand, they wanted to be known, they certainly wouldn’t have anything to fear from us. So they would just walk up to the White House (or, in the much more plausible scenario of Robert Sawyer’s book, “Calculating God,” up to the steps of a really good natural history museum). Given that, I don’t see why alien spaceships should be appearing occasionally and randomly in the skies, as has been suggested. It worries me that, in an age when we are genuinely redoubling our efforts to detect and understand extraterrestrial life, we should be distracted by a set of phenomena that may indeed be unexplained, but are actually far less interesting!

TD: Anyone who has read your recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal could come away with the impression that you are skeptical of the idea that non-human animals on Earth have “languages” in the sense that humans do, or at least that their languages are very limited. People like Dr. Denise Herzing have been studying the language of dolphins for virtually their entire careers. To explain this for the layman, if dolphins, with their very large brains and apparently complex series of clicks, whistles, pulses, and buzzing sounds have a simplistic “language,” how is it that we’ve apparently never managed to exchange a single, meaningful question and answer with one of them? Is the challenge too great, or are dolphins simply not smart enough?


AK: The definition of what exactly is and isn’t a language is probably less important than the concept: we humans seem to have something in our communication that no other species has. My own definition is that to be called a “language,” a communication system should have the ability to convey an unlimited number of different concepts. We don’t believe that other animals can do that. But I don’t have a problem if people prefer to call the complex communication of dolphins and apes “language.” The reason that we haven’t managed to exchange a single meaningful question with a dolphin is probably more to do with the fact that their concepts of meaning (and even the very idea of what a “question” is) don’t necessarily map onto what humans understand by “meaning.” Remember that dolphins evolved to solve very different problems from humans, and their social relationships are of a different nature than those of our primate ancestors. So both their cognitive and their communicative solutions are different in nature. Denise Herzing is a good example of a researcher who has made great progress understanding dolphin communication on their own terms, rather than imposing human-centric ideas of “question and answer.” I believe that we will eventually understand enough about the way that dolphins transfer and perceive information to make meaningful exchanges possible. But it won’t be “translation,” in the sense that we translate French or Mandarin.

TD: Your editorial seems to suggest that any hypothetical non-human intelligence would have developed the amount of language they need to overcome the challenges of their environment, but no more. If life evolved elsewhere under very different conditions than humans have experienced on Earth, is it a given that we would recognize it and be able to decode it, particularly if they are thousands, if not millions of years in advance of our own development?

AK: This idea of language being balanced between complexity and simplicity is not about how smart we (or aliens) are or how advanced their civilization is. It’s about how the complexity of the language grows with the complexity of the communication. Imagine that you are an alien hunter-gatherer before such a species evolved into a sophisticated technological civilization. As your world becomes more complex, you need a more complex language. Let’s say that after a few tens of thousands of years, your language is now ten times more complex. Does that mean your brain also needs to be ten times more complex? I hope not. Because if you’re suggesting an alien civilization is a million times more sophisticated than us, then their brains might be a million times larger than those of their ancestors! The great thing about language is that it can be complex in its content without being complex in its structure – and this is a property that should be true for complex communication everywhere and anywhere.

Would we be able to recognize it? Possibly, if that structure – complexity with simplicity – is something that we can measure mathematically, and scientists are working to develop such tests and algorithms. Would we be able to decode it? That’s much more contentious. The two main obstacles are, what if an alien’s very concept of meaning is as different to ours as a dolphin’s? The other problem is how do we understand the very nouns of an alien language? You can point to a dog, and a French person will say “chien.” That’s much harder to do when messages take decades or possibly centuries to travel from one planet to another. There’s even one theory that language can only exist as an interactive communication, and a one-way message could never be adequately translated.

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nivek

As Above So Below
Would anyone leave and go with the visitors if offered and knowing up front it may be a one way trip?...Leap of faith or would this be too big a leap?...

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JahaRa

Noble
Would anyone leave and go with the visitors if offered and knowing up front it may be a one way trip?...Leap of faith or would this be too big a leap?...

...
I would not. I am happy here and want to watch my grandchildren grow up.
 
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