socially how would the real world handle a alien invasion

[blackdragon6]

We haven't been presented with a real-world situation like that to draw on. No one can really know what would happen, but I have a few ideas. If aliens invaded, religion as whole would dissipate over night. Governments would descend into anarchy quicker than any attempt to stop it. We are not equipped to handle it - not militaristically, not sociologically, and certainly not intellectually. There might be some resistance, but it would be too overwhelming too quickly (in people's minds, not necessary the level of their technology or violence) for any real threat to them. In short, we would be utterly screwed.

[DarlingNikki]

poor folks would be sacrificed first. if the aliens are satisfied, that's it.

[Shellhead]

I'm not sure that an alien invasion would ever be practical from an economic standpoint. They would have to expend serious resources just to travel here, let alone conduct an invasion and then occupation. What would they get for their trouble? Some oil? Some radioactive material? Beanie babies? Some ignorant and difficult slaves? If they have the technology for interstellar travel, they probably don't need anything that we have. Except maybe real estate... despite the pollution and overpopulation, they might be able to use this place for its location, if they are able to take it from us without wrecking the planet.

How would we react? I think that after they destroyed some of our biggest population centers, there would be widespread panic, a mass exodus from the big cities, and then famine, as the current food distribution systems failed due to collapsing infrastructure. Likewise, fresh water would become less available, and the resulting drop in sanitation would lead to widespread disease.

Speaking of disease, that's a potential wild card in this scenario. We might catch something nasty from the aliens. Or vice verse, but they are presumably higher tech and more prepared for that problem.

Anyway, I think that we would be defeated so quickly that we don't have time for any serious organized and effective resistance. However, there would be a lot of small-scale guerilla warfare by humans afterwards. Despite the technological difference, we humans are very good at breaking, burning or blowing up things.

[CHEYENNE-BLACKBIRD]

We haven't been presented with a real-world situation like that to draw on. No one can really know what would happen, but I have a few ideas. If aliens invaded, religion as whole would dissipate over night. Governments would descend into anarchy quicker than any attempt to stop it. We are not equipped to handle it - not militaristically, not sociologically, and certainly not intellectually. There might be some resistance, but it would be too overwhelming too quickly (in people's minds, not necessary the level of their technology or violence) for any real threat to them. In short, we would be utterly screwed.
I agree more or less........ since most religions dont believe in aliens. Thats why H. G. Wells book is so relevant today. It still suggests that we still dont have the means to mentally deal with issues of aliens (especially invading earth), we would all probabaly end up killing each other rather than the aliens. Also, the idea of religious beliefs would be invalid because most religions in the world like islam believe that god only made humans to reign in the universe (no matter how big it is). I think everyone would be to confused about everything. Just like in the book....very scary thought

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

i'm catholic but it won't shake my faith,all it will proove is that aliens exsist(wich i already believed).besides i find it hard to belive we're the only INTELIGENT life forms in this vast universe.thats improbable regardless of what relgion says.but yeah the people who aren't really ready to except that there might be life out side earth regardless of religion will just loose it.

[Dennis K]

The French would blame the Americans, then quickly surrender.
The Australians would wait for somebody to do something.
The Arab world would blame the Israelis.
The Canadians would get drunk.
The American, British and Israelis would attack it.

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

what about russia china and japan?

[Shellhead]

what about russia china and japan?

Russia is a scary possibility to consider. They have nukes and delivery systems, and they are the only other country besides the U.S. to have a serious space program. Their economy is struggling badly due to rampant alcoholism, and their population is actually declining. They might go out fighting, or they might just roll over and do whatever their new alien masters want.

Based on history, China will accept the alien invaders and eventually absorb them into chinese culture, only that won't really work unless these aliens are able to mate with humans... unlikely unless we have a common origin. Or else there will be a violent rebellion by a staggeringly large and dense population. China does have nuclear weapons, but I believe they lack any serious delivery system, so they may not be able to do anything more serious than just riot in the streets.

Japan hasn't really had a military worth mentioning for about 60 years now. I don't think they have nukes or delivery systems, although they are technologically advanced enough to have both if they wanted. My guess is that they would try to get along with the invaders or at least avoid confrontation.

[Sam]

Any serious invasion attempt by a culture significantly more advanced than our own would leave little time for a social reaction. Just going by what we should be capable of the next few decades, any significantly more advanced race should be able to kill us with little difficulty.

If they don't care about the collateral damage, orbital bombardment would destroy us before we even knew what was going on. You wouldn't even need nukes. Just chuck a few rocks in our direction.

If they don't want to devastate the ecosystem, a genetically tailored virus or some selective Von Neumann machines should solve the human problem quite nicely.

[Dreadstar]

Any serious invasion attempt by a culture significantly more advanced than our own would leave little time for a social reaction. Just going by what we should be capable of the next few decades, any significantly more advanced race should be able to kill us with little difficulty.

If they don't care about the collateral damage, orbital bombardment would destroy us before we even knew what was going on. You wouldn't even need nukes. Just chuck a few rocks in our direction.

If they don't want to devastate the ecosystem, a genetically tailored virus or some selective Von Neumann machines should solve the human problem quite nicely.

Exactly.

Invasion? What invasion? They'd just send the exterminators first and get rid of that infestation before they moved in.

Oh sure, you can never get ALL of the cockroaches, but once you get rid of the majority, you can just step on the ones that are left at your leisure.

It'd be manifest destiny on a global scale.

[dougputhoff]

Speaking of disease, that's a potential wild card in this scenario. We might catch something nasty from the aliens. Or vice verse, but they are presumably higher tech and more prepared for that problem.

.

Yeah, that's a wild card. If I'm not mistaken, that's what killed the aliens in Orson Welles' radio version (I've never read the book). And in the real, much of the Native American population were killed by diseased brought by Europeans. If I were an alien invader, i'd probably send a small inavsion fleet to fight the humans, then I'd just wait for disease to do us in and for our scientists to find a cure for earth diseases.

[Andy S.]

I agree more or less........ since most religions dont believe in aliens. ........ Also, the idea of religious beliefs would be invalid because most religions in the world like islam believe that god only made humans to reign in the universe (no matter how big it is).

Not necessarily. The arrival of aliens would most definitley reshape religion, confuse people (no arguement there), and cause many to re-evaluate their beliefs. But I've actually thought about this quite a bit, and if it were proven that aliens did, indeed, exist, i would still believe in God.

Somewhere in the bible it says that God created the heavens to reflect His glory. In my view, that's very open-ended and can mean anything. The bible doesn't refer to the existence of aliens, but it doesn't refer to the existence of sea-otters, either.

[Biggbuttmcgruff!!!!]

There is quite a lot to consider when thinking about this. The thing that botheres me is,if they are invading the planet,they must have been watching us for quite a while. Iif they see our technology and arent afraid to press an attack,that is a really bad sign. As for the effect on humanity? I think that racism might altogether dissappear.Hopefully we would pull together.

[MatthewC]

Which country are the aliens invading?

I find it amusing that the default assumption always seems to be "all of them", but what reason is there to assume that? Assuming that they don't just use supertech to wipe the human race out completely, surely the aliens would find it more efficient to occupy just one portion of the world to get whatever they want, rather than bothering with the whole thing.

Quick Test:

Aliens with overwhelmingly superior technology invade Germany and announce they aren't interested in anywhere else. How many countries find a reason to forget about their mutual defense treaties?

[Michael P]

The bible doesn't refer to the existence of aliens, but it doesn't refer to the existence of sea-otters, either.
Everyone knows sea otters are a myth created by homosexuals and evolutionists.

[Michael P]

Quick Test:

Aliens with overwhelmingly superior technology invade Germany and announce they aren't interested in anywhere else. How many countries find a reason to forget about their mutual defense treaties?
I don't think the French would shed any tears. Us Americans are stubborn, ornery folks, though, and probably wouldn't let anybody try to bully the world into submission.

After all, that's our job.

[Shellhead]

Which country are the aliens invading?

I find it amusing that the default assumption always seems to be "all of them", but what reason is there to assume that? Assuming that they don't just use supertech to wipe the human race out completely, surely the aliens would find it more efficient to occupy just one portion of the world to get whatever they want, rather than bothering with the whole thing.

Quick Test:

Aliens with overwhelmingly superior technology invade Germany and announce they aren't interested in anywhere else. How many countries find a reason to forget about their mutual defense treaties?

Substitute Kuwait for Germany, and try again. You might be surprised what the answer was in 1990. Then again, maybe it was just about the oil.

[Dreadstar]

Substitute Kuwait for Germany, and try again. You might be surprised what the answer was in 1990. Then again, maybe it was just about the oil.

If it was about the oil, then the response would be the same.

Can't have them damn aliens messing up our energy pipeline.

[MatthewC]

Substitute Kuwait for Germany, and try again. You might be surprised what the answer was in 1990. Then again, maybe it was just about the oil.

On the other hand, there was never much doubt that Iraq could be beaten. The only question was, were the relevant countries willing to put forth the effort to do so.

In the case of aliens, victory under any circumstances not assured.

[BlairH]

I agree more or less........ since most religions dont believe in aliens.
Me and most Christians I know believe in Aliens.

[Shellhead]

Me and most Christians I know believe in Aliens.

I can understand that, it was a great movie.

[Guts/Batman]

panis...sheer panic

Therefore, lots and lots of looting.

[Guts/Batman]

Me and most Christians I know believe in Aliens.


I know they are out there. They just aren't talking back to us. They are merely taking advantage of our lack of concrete knowledge.

But when we find out they do indeed exist they will attack. Because this planet is the most hospitable in the Solar System (we assume) but will move back out when our sun goes Red Giant.

[Tadhg Adams]

Step One: Banding together
Step Two: Beat Aliens
Step Three: Cigar smoking

[Alex]

panis...sheer panic

Therefore, lots and lots of looting.
People loot for anything these days.
Cop beats someone up, looting.
Hurricane, looting
Football team wins a big game, looting.
Someone starts looting, looting.

[Guts/Batman]

People loot for anything these days.
Cop beats someone up, looting.
Hurricane, looting
Football team wins a big game, looting.
Someone starts looting, looting.

People can't bring it out for the special occassions i see. lol

[Alex]

People can't bring it out for the special occassions i see. lol
If aliens attack, i would hope the united states government would use the alien spacecraft that they got from Roswell, and used to build lazers and space ships.

[Nitmo]

It depends on what type of invasion they present.
Some pop-culture references spring to mind.


Do they destroy us and take over the planet? (Independence Day)

Do they feign diplomacy and are really just out to kill us? (Mars Attacks)

Do they occupy and force us into slavery? (a DC Elseworlds I have)

Do they just destroy everything and sell the planet as real-estate? (Dragonball series')

Do they just take over our government? (Simpson's Treehouse of Horror/Roddenberry-concieved series I can't name right now)

What sort of invasion are you thinking about?

[M203]

If they invade us they'd better be catgirls. HOT catgirls.

[Gideon Quinn]

We haven't been presented with a real-world situation like that to draw on. No one can really know what would happen, but I have a few ideas. If aliens invaded, religion as whole would dissipate over night. Governments would descend into anarchy quicker than any attempt to stop it. We are not equipped to handle it - not militaristically, not sociologically, and certainly not intellectually. There might be some resistance, but it would be too overwhelming too quickly (in people's minds, not necessary the level of their technology or violence) for any real threat to them. In short, we would be utterly screwed.Most governments would declare martial law right away and impose curfews. Mass suicide by entire families would not be unexpected.

[Gideon Quinn]

It depends on what type of invasion they present.
Some pop-culture references spring to mind.


Do they destroy us and take over the planet? (Independence Day)

Do they feign diplomacy and are really just out to kill us? (Mars Attacks)

Do they occupy and force us into slavery? (a DC Elseworlds I have)

Do they just destroy everything and sell the planet as real-estate? (Dragonball series')

Do they just take over our government? (Simpson's Treehouse of Horror/Roddenberry-concieved series I can't name right now)

What sort of invasion are you thinking about?Or they blow our planet up. (Star Wars: A New Hope)

[Guts/Batman]

Most governments would declare martial law right away and impose curfews. Mass suicide by entire families would not be unexpected.


Agreed. Mass revolutions despite the obvious needed solidarity because some would see this as the perfect opportunity to rebel and succeed.

[Guts/Batman]

Or they blow our planet up. (Star Wars: A New Hope)


That makes more sense to me unless they have an honor code about taking over a world.

[Andy S.]

It depends on what type of invasion they present.
Some pop-culture references spring to mind.


Do they destroy us and take over the planet? (Independence Day)

Do they feign diplomacy and are really just out to kill us? (Mars Attacks)

Do they occupy and force us into slavery? (a DC Elseworlds I have)

Do they just destroy everything and sell the planet as real-estate? (Dragonball series')

Do they just take over our government? (Simpson's Treehouse of Horror/Roddenberry-concieved series I can't name right now)

What sort of invasion are you thinking about?

One more possiblility:

They come in peace, offering to fly us to their world ( a paradise by our standards) only to cook us and eat us.- ala "To Serve Man" Twighlight Zone Episode

[Wesley Dodds]

The Australians would wait for somebody to do something.

Actually, Uluru flips over to reveal our Lucifer Ray, the world's largest particle beam weapon. It unzips matter on the atomic level!

[Wesley Dodds]

Did I just reveal that on the Internet? Shit!

[Dizzy D]

That makes more sense to me unless they have an honor code about taking over a world.

A few hundred lightyear at least is a long way to come just to blow up a basically harmless planet.

I think a V-scenario if we are talking about hostile aliens is more likely: play the humans against each other. Our only hope is that the aliens are as divided as we are.

[J Dog]

Here is the Patented J Dog method of world invasion:

Step 1- Grab all of your guns

Step 2- Shoot anything you see

Step 3- If you see a flying saucer that is in the shape of a ashtray or a garbage lid, it's a hovercraft from Switzerland. Shoot it. If it is NOT that, still try to shoot it.

Step 4- If they get you, punch them. Or do anything to avoid an anal probe.

Step 5- Once the whole world goes to hell, blame the leaders of the countries for this mess

Step 6- Still shoot anything

[Flawless P]

Me and my friend would get into an argument with them about the time space contium and all the little quirks of time travel... there heads explode from thinking in circles.

[Guts/Batman]

A few hundred lightyear at least is a long way to come just to blow up a basically harmless planet.

I think a V-scenario if we are talking about hostile aliens is more likely: play the humans against each other. Our only hope is that the aliens are as divided as we are.

That sounds better than what i said now that it said and makes sense to me. I think playing the humans against eachother would be easier than they think.

[BlairH]

Personally, I'd try and form a rag-tag bunch of rascals (who play by our own rules, nobody elses, not even our own) who would save us from the evil opressors Red-Dawn stylee.

[Mr. Nobody]

Well i'm assuming our new alien masters would need to select a group of humans, who know the customs and can act as middle men, between themselves and whatever's left of the newly enslaved human population, following the unconditional surrender, to help things run more smoothy and also so they wouldn't have to filthy themselves by interacting with the masses of human cattle directly.
Yes, that's right, i'm selling you all out.

[Guts/Batman]

Anybody here believe that the Roswell Incendent didn't happen?

[CHEYENNE-BLACKBIRD]

Me and most Christians I know believe in Aliens.i never said there wasn't any exceptions.but i do believe your in the minority i could be completly wrong though.

[CHEYENNE-BLACKBIRD]

Anybody here believe that the Roswell Incendent didn't happen?
something DID happen...........

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

Mass suicide by entire families would not be unexpected.how you figure?...................SERIOUSLY

[Guts/Batman]

how you figure?...................SERIOUSLY


I don't think he means the "well balanced" families who have plans for such an occassion (not specifically an alien invasion per se, but something where the family might be put in danger)... but the families that are prone to panic and all that good stuff.

[estee]

For us Canadians...

The opposition Tories would blame the Liberals...they wouldn't know for what reason, but the invasion just has to be their fault.

The Parti Quebecois would think it would be the best time to separate so they could negotiate a separate peace with aliens to ensure their 'distinct society' within the new order.

Alberta would whine about how western alienation is more important than alien alienation...

Everyone else here begs the aliens to destroy Canada so they can get away from all that bullshit.

The aliens, being a wise and advanced race do that very thing. ;)

[Grazzt]

For us Canadians...

The opposition Tories would blame the Liberals...they wouldn't know for what reason, but the invasion just has to be their fault.

The Parti Quebecois would think it would be the best time to separate so they could negotiate a separate peace with aliens to ensure their 'distinct society' within the new order.

Alberta would whine about how western alienation is more important than alien alienation...

Everyone else here begs the aliens to destroy Canada so they can get away from all that bullshit.

The aliens, being a wise and advanced race do that very thing. ;)

That only happens if the aliens don't land in BC or the Maritimes. If they land in the Maritimes, they get screeched in. If they land in BC, they get stoned out of their minds. Either way, after the drunken cod kissing or the mind blowing narcotics, they import mind altering substances to their homeworld, and humanity is forever a blessed race.

[Lightbend]

I'd got for the 'Advent Rising' scenario-humanity is actually considered a divine race by these superintelligent beings due to their talk shows and cartoons and prodigious amounts of fermented grain, showing great drive and imagination. We are destined to bring the other races of the galaxy to a new level, higher than ever, and are revered by all but one of the collective races of the galaxy.

Problem is, we're invaded by that one race of unbelieving alien darwinists, who kill us all.

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

Problem is, we're invaded by that one race of unbelieving alien darwinists, who kill us all.you don't stop and explain your self to a roach do you?

[Grant]

I don't see what have to offer aliens to be worth invading especially if they can travel this far to conquer us. Other then to keep a few of us in a zoo.

[Rachel Grey]

I don't see what have to offer aliens to be worth invading especially if they can travel this far to conquer us. Other then to keep a few of us in a zoo.

Earth chicks.

Duh.

[Michael P]

Earth chicks.

Duh.
I hear they're easy.

[Michael P]

Oh, and our only hope is to get William Shatner within speaking range of their main computer.

[Smell]

Earth chicks.

Duh.

Earth chicks make me feel like an alien!

Dom

smells like ET