Thread: Aliens, closer than we thought?

The squid creature you are referring to was from the Discovery channel special on 300 million years in the future (The Future is Wild). It's interesting, but ultimately just mental masturbation. Any animal could have filled in that niche, they just picked a squid to be different.

My post was describing how aliens could look very similar to us purely because evolution of a sentient species (theoretically) requires bilateral symmetry, forward facing eyes, bipedal locomotion, digits on the hands and a chest cavity large enough to hold several sets of internal organs, all for reasons that make perfectly good sense when guessing about a species arising on another planet.

Just because they look like us doesn't mean they're from the future, it just means that evolution works in similar ways on separate planets.

Originally Posted by Alextanium

The squid creature you are referring to was from the Discovery channel special on 300 million years in the future (The Future is Wild). It's interesting, but ultimately just mental masturbation. Any animal could have filled in that niche, they just picked a squid to be different.

My post was describing how aliens could look very similar to us purely because evolution of a sentient species (theoretically) requires bilateral symmetry, forward facing eyes, bipedal locomotion, digits on the hands and a chest cavity large enough to hold several sets of internal organs, all for reasons that make perfectly good sense when guessing about a species arising on another planet.

Just because they look like us doesn't mean they're from the future, it just means that evolution works in similar ways on separate planets.

What are the chances a bipedal alien looking almost the same as us, arrived to this planet? As you said any animal could have filled that niche.

Originally Posted by Alextanium

My post was describing how aliens could look very similar to us purely because evolution of a sentient species (theoretically) requires bilateral symmetry, forward facing eyes, bipedal locomotion, digits on the hands and a chest cavity large enough to hold several sets of internal organs, all for reasons that make perfectly good sense when guessing about a species arising on another planet.

yes you are absolutely right

because every sentient species that will ever exist MUST be a land walker.

.___. swimming/flying/floating are all out of the question right?

If an alien does resemble a human, I think that would call to question our understanding of life in general. I wouldn't have any trouble accepting it because I don't see the universe as random events happening, anymore than I see earth its own little bubble isolated from the rest of the galaxy.

but I think, it would be very strange to think intelligent aliens would look like us, when the chances of their eco-systems developing like earth is slim. life doesn't have to evolve on other planets like it does on earth. evolution knows no limits.

but I do expect life to evolve in our neighborhood in a similar fashion, but thats because of my spiritual beliefs. scientifically speaking, thats nutty.

You're right, a sentient species doesn't have to evolve on land.

My first rebuttal to come to mind is how would you, as an emerging sentient species, tame electricity or fire underwater? You're going to need both of these things to get off of your own planet and become a space-faring civilisation. Same goes for flying/floating species, they need to use resources from the ground at some point. Planets and their atmospheres might be different, but space is the same everywhere.

This argument isn't about whether sentient life can exist in non-humanoid forms (a somewhat silly premise to make) - it's about whether or not sentient life can exist as a space-faring species if it doesn't even remotely resemble humanoid.

Its true, its all about the thumbs. Big brains with thumbs is all we really are. Let say your arms are cut off, how much can you really do? Maybe you could survive but could you create a civilization if everyone was like that?

If you wanted to get into real sci fi stuff I guess you could say they have telepathy and can move stuff with their mind. Though I am not to sure many people will buy into that.

Originally Posted by Alric

Its true, its all about the thumbs. Big brains with thumbs is all we really are. Let say your arms are cut off, how much can you really do? Maybe you could survive but could you create a civilization if everyone was like that?

If you wanted to get into real sci fi stuff I guess you could say they have telepathy and can move stuff with their mind. Though I am not to sure many people will buy into that.

Nope. Telepathy suggests a spiritual connotation, a link between thoughts and matter. It's like saying that thinking something will make it happen, but there is a literal barrier between the two. Pulsing neurons cannot control objects. The only way you could lift something telepathically is by an invisible force pushing on it, which would mean the pushing caused resistance, so it would have to be matter, like air. Newtons laws. If if were lifted up, by definition what was pushing on it would have to be matter. That matter would have to be pushed in turn...

Meh. Not possible. Sorry for the rant.

Vance, could a species not evolve to have some power of magnetism and charge. It could repel/attract metallic objects by somehow genering a large magnetic force in an area of it's body. Also it could possible attract/repel ionic substances by somehow giving off a strong positive/negative charge in the cells of it's skin.

Then there is the ability, with some kind of chemical reaction( like the bombardier beetle) to create high temperatures( easily over 100c). They, as creatures on earth can, could also create powerful electric charges/fields.

The magnetism ability could attract/repel even heavy objects if it were strong enough, even from a relatively far distance depending on how strong the magnetism was.

The ionic one, if even possible, would probably not have much of an effect. You could guide an ionic liquid or gas though to some extent.

Both of these, especially magnetism and heat, could be used to build. I admit i am not sure if they are possible, but it is a psychical substitute to telekineses.

Originally Posted by cuddleyperson

Vance, could a species not evolve to have some power of magnetism and charge. It could repel/attract metallic objects by somehow genering a large magnetic force in an area of it's body. Also it could possible attract/repel ionic substances by somehow giving off a strong positive/negative charge in the cells of it's skin.

Then there is the ability, with some kind of chemical reaction( like the bombardier beetle) to create high temperatures( easily over 100c). They, as creatures on earth can, could also create powerful electric charges/fields.

The magnetism ability could attract/repel even heavy objects if it were strong enough, even from a relatively far distance depending on how strong the magnetism was.

The ionic one, if even possible, would probably not have much of an effect. You could guide an ionic liquid or gas though to some extent.

Both of these, especially magnetism and heat, could be used to build. I admit i am not sure if they are possible, but it is a psychical substitute to telekineses.

But still not telekinisis. it's like saying an electric eel has telekenisis. That's saying humans have telekinisis, if only very weak manifestations through our magnetic field.