Questions To Ask An Alien

skoob said:
"How did you learn to speak English so well?"
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Of course, the whole question seems to assume that a single look wouldn't convince even the most cynic sceptic that he was facing a genuine alien. I would expect that an alien would not look human at all, though. Maybe it wouldn't speak at all, since the concept never really made it on their planet.
 
"What do you mean, you've got copyright on the bacterium flagellum and you want them all back?"
 
Rasmus said:
Of course, the whole question seems to assume that a single look wouldn't convince even the most cynic sceptic that he was facing a genuine alien.
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Ever notice how, with some exceptions, almost all animals have similar anatomy? In all basic essentials, there's virtually no difference between, say, the face of a primate and that of an insect. Then, vertebrates have similar organs which are arranged in similar positions. If you look at the bones of a whale's flipper you can almost see a human hand. And so on. I'm told it's all evidence of some very basic shared DNA, and therefore of common ancestry somewhere in history.

What might an alien, who shares no ancestry or DNA with any earth creature, look like?
 
What about clothes? Is wearing clothing going to be a universal concept among technologicaly advanced sentient beings?

Will all space travelers wear them out of modesty, cleanliness, comfort, or for protection?

Will all space traverlers have some form of biological function to excrete waste? Will that then lead to a universal concept of cleanliness and sanitation that would lead to clothing being a ubiquitous invention?
 
Beady said:
Ever notice how, with some exceptions, almost all animals have similar anatomy? In all basic essentials, there's virtually no difference between, say, the face of a primate and that of an insect. Then, vertebrates have similar organs which are arranged in similar positions. If you look at the bones of a whale's flipper you can almost see a human hand. And so on. I'm told it's all evidence of some very basic shared DNA, and therefore of common ancestry somewhere in history.

What might an alien, who shares no ancestry or DNA with any earth creature, look like?
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Impossible to tell. The assumption that all carbon based life shares the same qualities is quite incorrect though. There are animals with much different senses than we share, and that communicate many different ways.

Essitentials would probably be hard to tell...you would think
a) some sort of mouth...but mabye they can absorb nutrients thru skin?
b) eyes.....but mabye then use sonar? or some sort of electromagnatic?
c) limbs....they have to move somehow...but mabye they are disc shaped fliers or swimmers somehow? mabye they are baloon shaped and float around?

It is nearly impossible to tell...we have seen how diverse life could be just on a carbon based system on one planet?! Anything could be out there.
 
Piers Anthony's science fiction books have some pretty ingenious, very alien aliens. In the "Cluster" series, the people of Mintaka, Polaris, and other systems are nothing like Earthers. The plots involve a good deal of woo -- "Kirlian auras," f'rex =9_9= -- but that was a big thing back when they were written. The Omnivore/Orn/OX trilogy involves another completely alien ecology, one based on fungal rather than animal or plant life. These series aren't hard s-f but they're plenty engaging... and they didn't go on until they got stale and tedious as his "Xanth" stories did.
 
Meffy said:
Piers Anthony's science fiction books have some pretty ingenious, very alien aliens. In the "Cluster" series, the people of Mintaka, Polaris, and other systems are nothing like Earthers. The plots involve a good deal of woo -- "Kirlian auras," f'rex =9_9= -- but that was a big thing back when they were written. The Omnivore/Orn/OX trilogy involves another completely alien ecology, one based on fungal rather than animal or plant life. These series aren't hard s-f but they're plenty engaging... and they didn't go on until they got stale and tedious as his "Xanth" stories did.
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I know some of these words but when put all together they stop making sense to me...;)
 
Good adventure yarns with exotic, interesting extraterrestrials. Find them; read them.
 
The question I'd ask an alien is, "shfjefvjk wfrte sfhg ufafagfeib fbvdhjafh?"






Can't believe no one else thought of that one!
 
My question would be, "What's up with these anal probes and what are you hoping to find there?"
 
I think two types of questions are being asked and the PO needs to clarify:

What do we ask a real alien just because we can?

What can we ask a supposed alien to prove they are an alien?

I took it as the first one.
 
Beady said:
Wrong. We would be assuming that the alien knows more than the rest of us; the alien could well be less intelligent than the rest of us. Greater knowledge and accomplishments do not inherently imply greater intelligence; they may result solely from greater experience and opportunity. Call this the "Forrest Gump Postulation."

So, what would you ask Forrest Gump, to find out whether he was from another world?
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In one of the "Treehouse of Horror" episodes of "The Simpsons", humanity achieved world peace and destroyed all their weapons, but then aliens swooped down and took over using clubs and boards with nails in them, all the while saying:

"Your superior technology is no match for our puny weapons!"
 
chacal said:
I would ask "what would be such question no human could possibly know the answers to but where a correct answer would be immediately recognized as such."
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That's the key problem.

I would ask: "Dear Alien, since you are so advanced as to travel the light years, please take a ride to Mars and tell me what exactly there is at 33º 15' 23'' South latitude, 70º 42' 37'' West longitude. A close up picture would be just fine. We, terrestrial beings, will check that up soon, as our probe enters in stable Martian orbit. Thanks for your cooperation!".
 
Meffy said:
Piers Anthony's science fiction books have some pretty ingenious, very alien aliens. In the "Cluster" series, the people of Mintaka, Polaris, and other systems are nothing like Earthers. The plots involve a good deal of woo -- "Kirlian auras," f'rex =9_9= -- but that was a big thing back when they were written. The Omnivore/Orn/OX trilogy involves another completely alien ecology, one based on fungal rather than animal or plant life. These series aren't hard s-f but they're plenty engaging... and they didn't go on until they got stale and tedious as his "Xanth" stories did.
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Some of his Cluster aliens included:

1. Intelligent fish with three genders
2. Beings that moved and communicated by manipulating powerful magnetic fields
3. Aliens that moved by rolling on a single ball at the base of their bodies
4. Beings made mostly of metal and with natural jet propulsion

He also described a long-dead species that had no neural activity but achieved consciousness by means of a complex set of mechanical linkages.

Especially interesting were his descriptions of humans by other species -- he made us sound just as weird from their viewpoint.
 
aggle-rithm said:
In one of the "Treehouse of Horror" episodes of "The Simpsons", humanity achieved world peace and destroyed all their weapons, but then aliens swooped down and took over using clubs and boards with nails in them, all the while saying:

"Your superior technology is no match for our puny weapons!"
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Reminds me of a short sci-fi story I read (wish I could remember the title) where aliens finally come to Earth. After extensive research, it's discovered that their "ships" were hollowed out asteroid generation-ships, the technology was based on 1950's era equipment (vacuum tubes, etc), and the aliens were the inerstellar equivalent of Mormons/Jehovah's Witness (i.e.-door-to-door prosyletizing).

Rather humerous :)
 
@aggle-rithm: Yuppers, great stuff. The Polarians (the rolling guys) had a downright [Spock] fascinating [/Spock] mating ritual. The Jets had a similar routine, slightly kinky to terrestrials IIRC...

(Did you know the Polarians secretly visited Earth and invented roll-on deodorant? It's True. *nodnod*)
 
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