Whether you’re a skeptic in a tinfoil hat, an X-Files, or just someone who is into the paranormal and extraterrestrial, you’re bound to have fantasized about what it will be like when humans finally make contact with life from outside of our planet. There are tons of theories about it, and it’s fun to imagine the possibilities. Will they share their technology with us? Will they bring peace and understanding? Will they even be able to communicate with us? Those are good questions, but scientists have begun to point to a new possibility. If aliens do visit us, scientists say they will be hostile.
A Divided Opinion
Of course, when it comes to aliens, science is very divided. Some scientists are dead set on finding alien life while others believe the search is completely pointless. Some sects believe that alien life could exist inside our galaxy while others doubt the possibility of ever finding anything. No one can really agree on what to expect, and that’s because it’s such an unknown. Aside from small town newspaper stories about UFOs, there really is no knowledge to go off of in terms of understanding alien life forms. For this reason, science has yet to come to a conclusion about what we should expect aliens to look like or do.
Human Life Versus Alien Life
Because the opinion over aliens is so divided, there isn’t one idea of “alien” in the world of science. One theory, however, states that aliens will be just like us. This theory doesn’t view human evolution as a completely statistical anomaly; instead, it states that our evolution was the result of a long process that was completely logical… and likely repeatable on other planets. The scientists who subscribe to this theory think that alien life on other planets would need to resemble humans at least somewhat. If they were to get intelligent enough to actually get off of their planet and visit ours, they think it’s likely we can expect something that’s quite familiar.
Stephen Hawking’s Opinion
There is one thing about this theory that is a bit unsettling. You may have noticed that human beings have a tendency to consume and destroy everything in their paths. If alien life is much like us, it is believed that they wouldn’t visit Earth just to say hi; they would be coming here with hostile intentions. Stephen Hawking is one prominent thinker that subscribed to this idea, saying, "Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach.” That doesn’t sound too promising for our humble Blue Planet. If they can get to us, their capabilities for invasion would probably be quite high as well.
Evolution of Aggression
To an extent, this theory relies on the idea that aliens would evolve in a way that is synonymous with humans and certain ape species. Our species had to compete with others in order to survive, so we learned early on that being aggressive and hoarding resources was necessary to continue growing. It is likely that aliens would have the same sort of aggressive psychology? Well, that’s an answer we can only guess at.
A Counterargument
While many scientists agree that aliens visiting us might be a very bad thing, others think very differently. They say that a civilization that has progressed to the point of being able to visit other planets - or even other galaxies - would also need to have grown past their aggression. In other words, technological advancements on such a grand scale would require an intense height of intelligence that would also result in peace and understanding. But as is the case with any subject revolving around aliens, there is no consensus. There really is only one way to find out, and that’s by watching what happens if - and when - aliens do decide to visit the planet we call home.
