I have this fantasy often. Aliens come in, and are like
“Whilst we find the creative potential of your species commendable, the Gini Coefficient of your Planet is too high for you to join our Federation. Please rectify.”
And then every month they just post the names and active addresses of all the wealthiest people on the planet, until the Gini Index goes down. The implementation of this transition is left as an exercise to the reader.
I’ve seen too many alien-themed horror movies to buy into the “aliens are gonna be Vulcans” trope. I think it’s more likely that we see one of many variations on the “aliens are unknowable horrifying parasites that will consume/transform all life on the planet to suit themselves.”
I live in the hope that they’re so evolved that they literally need nothing from us, and just want to preserve the ants nest of humanity as an anthropological curiosity
I like the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy version: Earth has been scheduled for demolition by the Vogons in what really amounts to be an interstellar boondoggle!
My dream is for The Culture to stop by for a visit. They just scan everything and make digital copies of the entire civilization’s total output, become fans of our TV shows, dance to our music, read our books, learn our entire history, then disguise themselves as humans to come down to see the real thing for themselves, view our natural wonders, party hard, and do little things to help us fix ourselves.
If a civilization that has mastered FTL shows up we are fucked. The best odds for survival are jumping to their side because they could destroy us easily. Maybe we’ll get lucky and it will be a civilization of space amazons who want to use us for sex stuff.
I have this fantasy often. Aliens come in, and are like
And then every month they just post the names and active addresses of all the wealthiest people on the planet, until the Gini Index goes down. The implementation of this transition is left as an exercise to the reader.
I’ve seen too many alien-themed horror movies to buy into the “aliens are gonna be Vulcans” trope. I think it’s more likely that we see one of many variations on the “aliens are unknowable horrifying parasites that will consume/transform all life on the planet to suit themselves.”
I live in the hope that they’re so evolved that they literally need nothing from us, and just want to preserve the ants nest of humanity as an anthropological curiosity
I like the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy version: Earth has been scheduled for demolition by the Vogons in what really amounts to be an interstellar boondoggle!
My dream is for The Culture to stop by for a visit. They just scan everything and make digital copies of the entire civilization’s total output, become fans of our TV shows, dance to our music, read our books, learn our entire history, then disguise themselves as humans to come down to see the real thing for themselves, view our natural wonders, party hard, and do little things to help us fix ourselves.
ISTR that canonically, Earth is under non-interference by The Culture (except for Special Circumstances) as a “control group”.
Sadly they also aren’t real. Probably.
Space hippies!!!
If a civilization that has mastered FTL shows up we are fucked. The best odds for survival are jumping to their side because they could destroy us easily. Maybe we’ll get lucky and it will be a civilization of space amazons who want to use us for sex stuff.
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is bruised and spongy.
Death by snu snu!