Steven Hawking is concerned about our search for alien life which might show aliens where we are. While most alien life might be limited to microscopic organisms, he is concerned about the development of intelligent life on some planets which would behave far too much like humans:
Hawking believes that contact with such a species could be devastating for humanity.
He suggests that aliens might simply raid Earth for its resources and then move on: “We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet. I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonise whatever planets they can reach.”
He concludes that trying to make contact with alien races is “a little too risky”. He said: “If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn’t turn out very well for the Native Americans.”
This is obviously an idea which has been used in many science fiction television shows and movies, including this year’s remake of V. Other science fiction shows have speculated that there is a greater risk of humans creating their own threats as opposed to threats coming from space, such as in Battlestar Galactica and the Terminator series.
Obviously we have no evidence as to whether Hawking is correct and can only speculate. I tend to think that it would be far easier for aliens, regardless of their ethics, to use the vast number of uninhabited planets for resources as opposed to traveling all the way to earth. I also wonder if a race advanced enough to travel to earth will have already found renewable energy sources and ways to supply their resource needs.
Perhaps evil aliens might come to earth due to the presence of humans. They might see humans as a useful slave source, but such an advanced race might also manage to manufacture robots or train their version of intelligent apes to be servants. Of course we have seen science fiction examples where that would be a mistake–but if they wiped themselves out by trying this they would not be a threat to us. Another danger from alien visitors was suggested in an old Twilight Zone episode in which a book entitled To Serve Mankind turned out to be a cookbook.
