An Alien Invasion?

After viewing Dr. Stephen Hawking's first documentary show on the Discovery Channel and then subsequently reading his thoughts on alien life forms, I feel it is necessary to propose a response to him.

I understand Dr. Hawking is a tried and true scientist with very excellent theories and has helped in our understanding of the universe. However, I feel he hastily jumped to a conclusion in this program. While he states, that the laws of nature would have to apply on other planets (which I am in full agreement), that does not govern our thought. Sure, for the basic needs of shelter, food, and survival are instinctual to us as animals, we have evolved in terms of social psychology.

I am not refuting that an alien life civilization would come here for an invasion (remember Independence Day? You know, when Will Smith was still the Fresh Prince and Randy Quaid still had his sanity.) I am simply stating that that can not be the only reason for them visiting.

Let's say a distant planet was destroyed. They could find us by accident and seek refuge. I also need to point out that these life forms would either have to be nitrogen/oxygen tolerant or have vast amounts of their planets atmosphere in breathable containers. They are just looking for a place to land, recharge the batteries, figure out what the hell they are going to do, maybe even try to hit the jackpot at Caesar's Palace. Again, they would also have to tolerate our food sources or have a vast amount of rations.

Another scenario could be they are simply curious and are seeking out other intelligent life forms just like us. I mean, that was the basis of Star Trek (to seek out strange new worlds, to seek out new life and civilizations). With people claiming to be probed, this does show a curiosity to see how we tick and it would be arrogant to say we would not do the same to them if we were the ones in the saucers.

Maybe we are not advanced enough for them to even care. Sure, we have touch screen computers, excellent medical technologies, and the ability of space travel. However, we have not physically gone past the moon. We've sent satellites into the depths of our galaxy, but we as the human race (whether public or privately funded) have not ventured very far from our home. We also still fight wars and hurt people in order to fulfill our desires, regardless of consequence. Maybe we are not worth the hassle to get to know. Watch Star Trek: First Contact, it brings that point into perspective.

And to get at Dr. Hawking's point of an alien invasion. He claims that they would invade, consume our resources, and then carry on to the next one. Sounds a lot like the plot to Independence Day. First, these creatures would have to solely rely on our resources for them to get by. Also, could they consume our resources? What might be abundant on their planet may not be on ours. Why would they drain massive amounts of their own resources (which you can postulate are already low or why else do they need it? Don't get all "Pandora" on me either, that was an abundant mineral and it's properties plus mining costs is why it was worth $20 million/kilo). Also, what is their fuel source? If they use solar power or something way more advanced (like an element that has not yet been discovered) what would they need oil or wood for? Furthermore, their biology could be composed of different materials (most life on Earth is carbon based) such as Boron. Germanium could be extremely poisonous to them (poisonous to us to, but you would have to ingest roughly a pound of it in oxide form).

I stated earlier I don't disagree with Dr. Hawking with a scenario that involves an alien invasion. I am, however, stating that there should not be a definitive statement, if such an event occurs, it will be that particular one. Furthermore, I am not calling Dr. Hawking "dumb" or anything of the sort. He is a very notable scientist with large contributions to his field as well as to our understanding of the universe. I encourage you all to read his work and watch his documentary series.

We can barely understand why we and how we do things. I find it a little supercilious that we would have any thought on the social psychology of an alien civilization that we have yet to meet, let alone discover.