June 03, 2008

First Contact, The Zoo Hypothesis And The Prime Directive 'You've probably seen the incredible photographs the Brazilian government recently released of an uncontacted tribe deep in the heart of the Amazon... A connection exists between this story and the scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence...'

'If an advanced extraterrestrial civilization is out there, listening to us or even watching us, we should hope they view Earth as a big zoo -- where we are the exhibit and just have no clue we are being observed.'

posted by Hank Mabuse 16 years ago
  • *scratches privates lewdly to make the kiddie aliens giggle and throw peanuts*
  • Srsly, though, leave the nekkid people alone. Looks like they're getting along just fine without us, and who's to say that we lead a 'better' or 'more advanced' life? We probably owe them an explanation when we finally fry the planet with carbon gasses, though.
  • Awesome.
  • The zoo hypothesis sounds to me like they want to treat this tribe as animals. There's no 'us' and 'them'. There is only a collective 'us'. Whether we contact them or leave them alone, they are us.
  • Memo to zookeepers: unless there's an alternative people's culture, who will be left to take up the slack after we implode?
  • Makes me think of the Savage Reservations in Brave New World.
  • Lots of stuff makes me think of Brave New World theses days...not least the availability of soma to the drug-hungry populace.
  • We've already contacted the 'uncontacted' tribes through our effects on the global environment and exploitation of resources in remote areas. We can hardly compare ourselves to the benevolent, laissez faire and invisible alien observers of the zoo hypothosis.
  • I guess islander is right. No man (or tribe) is an island. Just wish we had another planet for them to remain unspoiled.
  • WWJTKD? (What Would James T. Kirk Do?) Okay, bad example. He'd screw the gorgeous female native villager, lay some righteous monologue on Spock's ass about being human, and high-tail it out on the first transporter beam back to Starbase Nine. WWJLPD? (What Would Jean Luc Picard Do?) Much better.
  • Would love to hear the myths created by them due to this contact. And yes, it might be useful for us, 'civilized poeples' for when a big silvery bird with grey aliens lands.
  • For that, see cargo cults and the gospel of John Frum.
  • Rocket88 - There's no 'us' and 'them'. There is only a collective 'us'. Tell that to the religious fundamentalists, racists and political parties that create the "us" and "them" paradigm. At this moment, someone somewhere is scheming how to turn this "them" lost tribe into a profit for "us", that being themselves. When I first learned of this story, my immediate reaction was one of sorrow for the immanent loss of the tribe's (comparative) innocence.