If Aliens contact us, who should answer?

[Debi]

If aliens contact humanity, who decides what we do next?

Scientists setting up ‘post-detection hub’ in Scotland are concerned humans would react ‘like headless chickens’

www.theguardian.com

From the article:

But there is little guidance on what to do next. How should the message be studied? Should it be released in full before it has been deciphered? Would governments allow that? Should humanity respond? If so, who decides what we send back?

“After the initial announcement, we’d be looking at societal impact, information dissemination, the media, the impact on religions and belief systems, the potential for disinformation, what analytical capabilities we’ll need, and much more: having strategies in place, being transparent with everything we’ve discovered – what we know and what we do not know,” says Elliott.

 

[Paintman]

Always thought that Steve Martin should be the spokesperson for the whole human race.

 

[Debi]

You just know by the time governments and different projects get done figuring that out, some old guy somewhere will already have sent a text saying "Get off my lawn!"

 

[GoneWestUtah]

I only speak for myself, they know that.

 

[ozentity]

I don't think we should respond.

 

[Selectric]

I would like to think we would've been studied long enough for a period of time 'they' would know who to contact and when. Hopefully a down-to-earth person is chosen, someone with a view of things not political, strategic or individual in nature. Of course that is assuming it isn't going to be...

 

[crux]

Alex Trebek.

But, the answer should be in the form of a question.

 

[Paulm]

someone who is well rounded and unbiased, who can show them art, music, and the growth of humankind, someone who can explain we are a young species still in development, but there are those who understand the need to adapt to a more less greedy way of life. maybe just their revealing themselves could help with the silliness of mankind and push us faster in the right direction. sometimes a shock to the system is needed. if we new we arent the only things here and there is a balance in all there is, maybe we could better see the place we should occupy in the grand scheme of life.

 

[GoneWestUtah]

They are choosing who they will speak through, have been for a while.
When the time comes, the most sensitive & articulate contactees will begin to come forward, en masse. There will be verification. Without proof, many of these people would be misunderstood, feared, persecuted, even killed. And even with proof, some people still won't believe it because it doesn't fit their personal narration.

 

[tribute22]

The best thing to do is to not answer. Throughout history there is a pattern that when a technologically advanced civilization meets a less advanced one, the less advanced one eventually is subjugated or destroyed. Example: European civilization vs. civilizations in the Americas. The Native Americans, Mayans, etc, had a basic level of civilization in relation to weapons. The Europeans had guns and the American colonists had guns and also used biological warfare by, for example, giving Native Americans blankets infected with smallpox.

In World War II the Japanese military did very well until the Allies military produced advanced fighter planes and a military strategy that effectively drove the Japanese army off of one island after another, pushing them towards Japan. Then the U.S. developed the atomic bomb and that was it for Japan. (They did argue amongst themselves about whether to surrender or not, though, not knowing that the U.S. had one more atomic bomb ready to go and were considering using Tokyo as a target.)

All this is a moot point, of course, if the UFOs actually are from an advanced race of beings from this reality or an alternate /parallel reality. Any announcement that would be official that would say 'the aliens are real, they are here and we can't do anything about it' would cause massive panic. religious upheaval and a whole host of other societal problems that would make what is going on today look like child's play.

I think we should keep SETI going but if a signal is received and acknowledged as a repeatable signal we should not answer. I think the record on the Voyage spacecraft should never have been put on the craft. It's the old 'keep your heads down, you never know who might be shooting at you' approach but I think it's the most practical one at the moment.