Structurally they are similar enough that we can communicate. The discovery would be altering our science, but every attempt to exchange beyond technicalities and niceties is somehow incredibly boring to both sides.

After the initial awe, it would be like, yeah, we know aliens.

  • Cocodapuf@lemmy.world
    11·
    6 hours ago

    I literally cannot imagine that.

    Even being boring would be fascinating. If their society was identical to ours it would be fascinating and we could learn from that. If all they did was watch TV all day, we could still learn from that.

    We’d also want to study their DNA, their evolution, their planet.

    • knightmare1147@lemmy.world
      1·
      58 minutes ago

      What if it was a cognitive phenomena scp style where it’s like forced ADHD when interacting with the other species?

      Wait, no… That’s still interesting

  • Agent641@lemmy.world
    151·
    14 hours ago

    Stargate SG-1, S05 E10, “2001”

    The Aschen have all the tech that humanity needs to fight the Goa’uld but they are super boring. Also secretly genocidal.

  • sylver_dragon@lemmy.worldEnglish
    14·
    15 hours ago

    Unless we have a way around general relativity, boring will describe any conservation with another civilization.
    Hello.
    wait 1000 years
    Hi. How are you?
    wait 1000 years
    Who the fuck are these guys?

    Space is really, really, really big. And by comparison any form of communication we have yet discovered is very slow.

  • Skunk@jlai.lu
    13·
    18 hours ago

    But what if they taste delicious?

    I’m pretty sure humanity in space will go full dog mode, meaning we will have two basic questions:

    1. Can I eat it?
    2. Can I fuck it?
    • FrostyCaveman@lemm.ee
      3·
      9 hours ago

      Nah you can just rely on a revolving door of new shiny interests and peer pressure your friends into picking up the fad too… because that’s healthy

  • ThirdEyeSlime@lemmy.world
    7·
    16 hours ago

    I think this says more about you and your mindset. When I was a kid and the internet was a big new thing, I was blown away that I could play chess with someone from Poland, or Venezuela, or India. I did nothing but explore as a kid on the internet. I know this feeling you’re talking about because I get it now in middle age quite a bit. This feeling of bored. Why go on vacation and spend all this money, I know what a beach is, there’s nothing novel. Even visiting monuments or going to concerts. Eh the music sounds better on my stereo anyways. For a revelation like this to actually be… not boring, I think access and curiosity need to be strong. If they are individuals like us and we can communicate, wouldn’t you want to talk to them? Ask them how they think? What their history is? Someone else mentioned in this thread, and I think it’s likely, that they would be so different thatcommunication or common ground like this is probably not likely. But I don’t think it makes it boring, just different. Even to be able to talk to another species and communicate complex ideas would be mind blowing. Honestly, I think the vast majority of people would take your stance, and actually, technically already do. There are other species on this planet like dolphins and whales that regularly talk to each other. They have names and make sentences. The fact that humanity largely doesn’t care, and proceeds stomping on them and their habitats makes me think that the ridiculous unobtainium plot line from avatar is actually more likely than I think it is. In my mind, life and intelligence is rarer than any mineral we could ever use, but we don’t recognize its value. It’s fucking sad. We’re all on this rollercoaster called life for a short time. I’d rather talk to dolphins than wear shiny golden Prada bags.💀 </rant>

    • 5714@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
      2·
      10 hours ago

      Bold accusation.

      Sure it would be mind-blowing, but society-wide awe about other(ed) societies on this planet has largely waned off and many people do not care about the lives of people deemed other.

    • Godort@lemm.ee
      9·
      19 hours ago

      I know you’re being blithe, but I’d question any galactic federation representative that couldn’t comprehend that the slab of glass just happens to be the most efficient method of sharing information we as a species ever devised.

  • lurch (he/him)@sh.itjust.works
    6·
    19 hours ago

    i think it’s more likely that they are so different from us, that just a few nerds of both species keep communicating, because there isn’t much to gain. for example, they could live in a gas giant and would instantly explode in our atmosphere and we would be crushed in theirs. they communicate with each other with radio waves and would go batshit near our planet with its many radio devices and they use echolocation to see because their atmosphere is not as transparent as ours. we couldn’t see them if we visited, not even from space etc… and that’s just an example. there are so many ways we wouldn’t match in a way that would make sense to spend time together.

  • seven_phone@lemmy.world
    4·
    18 hours ago

    I think the truth would be that they would be so utterly alien that we would never be able to truly communicate with them and also we would never find them not terrifying.

    • Deceptichum@quokk.auEnglish
      3·
      16 hours ago

      We bond with inanimate objects and people can find the ugliest animals we can and try to keep them as pets.

      We’re such an overly empathetic and social species that I don’t think we will have too much issue wanting to befriend aliens if we could communicate.