There is a different example that may point to how we would approach contact with Martians. The Inuit (Eskimos) tribes of the North have not been shoved out of the way en masse as some of the tribes in the lower 48 states. The land they inhabited was generally not suitable for agriculture but what it did have was gold. The amount of land that gold was discovered on was small and did not impact these northern tribes. Living on land that is for the most part undesirable allowed these people to not be force out. Even with gold discoveries the Inuit continued to live their normal lives. Many of them became a part of the growing “white” society and adjusted normally. The biggest impact was the Europeans and their collection of diseases they shared with each group of people they discovered.
In more modern times matters like oil discovery and native property rights have handled to their benefit. Their problems have been in assimilating into society, taking on traditional roles in the factories and offices. Much of it relates to the change from rural to an urban setting. Alcoholism seems to be one of the most common problems that the Eskimo and Indian populations have been susceptible to.
The Martians may welcome us on their planet; we could even cooperate on many levels. Sharing technology, histories, philosophies, and values would lead to a greater understanding of how other beings exist. We are very likely to be cautious about diseases being passed. We would easily be the ones decimated by their polymorphichauntavirus (disease from Martian mouse droppings). They may have no knowledge of alcohol, and if they take to binge drinking could have dire consequences. There are more vices than drinking, Sir Walter Raleigh learned about tobacco from the Indians. The Martians could turn us on to something strong that would put a lot of people on a nasty jag.
Most humans have simple needs for survival: air, water, food, and shelter. I wonder if the Inuit tribes found that they could attain the simple needs easier in a “white” society than their traditional one, they would pick the easy way.
ReplyDeleteThere have been many good contributions from other explorations to new lands. When Christopher Columbus went back to Spain, he took with him beans, corn, pumpkins and chilies. Chocolate, turkeys and sweet potatoes were also ne discoveries. Maybe the explorers from Mars will bring back foods that can grow on a dry, cold and barren piece of ground.
If there is intelligent and living life on Mars, we can make room for them at the United Nations. This way our new found friends can pick who on earth are the one's they wan to hang with.
I think what I was trying to get as was that we can always expand on a topic and find new connections and ways to use it. Either things are not yet discovered or a discovery is expanded further into new ideas. There are certain things that we know, things that were discovered through trial and error. But there is always going to be discoveries made in this world, and we will never stop finding new things or coming up with new ideas. Some discoveries that have already been made can be transformed into new ways of use, thus, the idea is the new discovery rather the discovery itself. I think that is what I am referring to when I say that some discoveries are not absolute. New ideas are transformed from one discovery and then that discovery results in many other discoveries. (And just as a side note: I said discovery/discoveries nine times in this little blurb. Eleven if you count this sentence)
ReplyDeleteThree D's brings in an important point, though the inverse of what I think a trip to Mars could show us. Taking hardy plats used to say desert or arctic environments. These plants would become the basis for Terra-forming that planet. If there are plants there, they would definitely be useful in arid locations that are difficult to utilize for agriculture.
ReplyDeleteYana showed interest in the use of the word discovery. Her mention of trial and error is a fitting comment to the space program. It seems that some of the biggest disasters with spacecraft shows us a weakness we were previously unaware of. Tell the families of the shuttle Challenger that it was just a case of trial and error and they are likely to rip your head off and sh**t down your neck. So be nice and just offer your condolences.