You are the representative of an alien high civilization...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1452774

by zeynel1 • 16 years ago

2 6 16 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

... who want to buy the planet earth to exploit its resources - who would you talk - or who do you think owns the earth

koeselitz• 16 years ago

This is a trick question, right? Presumably a high civilization wouldn't be simply buying up rich, sustainable, highly bio-diverse planets and just consuming them; and if it were, it's hard to see what point there would be in having a conversation with one of the soon-to-be-doomed (or at least orphaned) inhabitants beforehand.

zeynel12• 16 years ago

Good point. But no, not a trick question. You are sent by an alien civilization to find out the contact "person" as defined in legal documents =person=corporation=a natural person or a state= to contact to buy the earth.

Hume• 16 years ago

You could look to China as an example; a country that has re-entered the world economy fairly abruptly and is looking to acquire raw materials.

They might follow their lead and do deals with countries like Australia, Canada and Russia or they could just acquire stock in corps like BHP Billiton or BP.

So it would boil down to stock trades and board meetings.

rbanffy2• 16 years ago

I would just send nanomachines to disassemble and process the materials and dismantle the planet according to my needs.

If I were a member of a space faring civilization many million years older than mankind, there is a huge chance I would regard humans as high as humans regard bacteria. Or insects.

You don't think twice before cleaning your floor with disinfectant, do you?

zeynel12• 16 years ago

--I would regard humans as high as humans regard bacteria--

but this is the question - you are assuming that -humans- own the earth - this is not clear - as another poster mentioned - he would deal with china - a state - or a corporation -bp- and even perhaps the -bacteria- that humans have a hard time controlling

rbanffy2• 16 years ago

They wouldn't deal with humans the same way we wouldn't deal with bacteria.

From a very advanced - and very alien - civilization's point of view, we are nothing more than nice sources of complex carbon chemistry.

Our only chance would be if we, somehow, reminded them of what they were eons ago so as to elicit some empathy.

You are the representative of an alien high civilization...

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