I suspect you're joking. But it's interesting that I grew up in the Mormon Church when the Catholic Church was still considered to be the Great and Abominable Church (and etc) by Mormons, but if I had to pick a religious leader to speak with aliens I would pick Pope Francis.
You beat me to it (George Carlin), but since Elvis was nominated above, and he’s dead, then it’s ok that George is dead too. On the other hand, Elvis’ “death” may be a conspiracy anyway. So, who knows.
Dolly Parton because she's a good human, and also very warm and friendly. She could talk to anyone and make them feel relaxed and comfortable. I think she would represent us well. But right after that you would need an entire team of scientists to gather and assess information from the alien -- and hopefully to share information as well.
Hey, you're right, summer. Dolly would be a good ambassador. She's so friendly.
I guess if the aliens are invading, then I'd say that the leaders of many nations should be speaking to them in a united front. Facing a common threat seems to bring people together, even if they're normally enemies.
Which is why we NEED to be invaded by my eight-foot tall, bright white, hairy, drooling, baby-eating spiders!
Consider... There you are, sitting in a foxhole, clutching your favorite rifle, loaded down with a dozen magazines of ammo, staring across newly plowed farmland, looking at an advancing skirmish line of 20 of the above-described foe, wondering how you, alone, can possibly hold them off...
Suddenly two humans jump in your foxhole, one on each side of you, equally outfitted with arms and ammo! You will absolutely not give a whit regarding their ethnicity or the color of their skin.
You won't even think twice about them being garbed in rainbow-colored tutus, polka-dot shower caps, and wearing ballerina slippers!
I'll be the one wearing the pink ones, along with the rainbow-colored sarape!
Screw the Arachnids from The Great Attractor!! Let's give'm hell! Earth rules!!
Name another person who has half of all the satellites in outer space. For that matter, name a country that has more satellites than him.
Name another person or country that started Open AI.
Not only is he the most intelligent engineer on the planet, he’s also one of the most altruistic people on the planet.
Name another person who has installed more solar panels or put more Electric Vehicles on the road. Name another person who engineered then best car in the world and gave away the patent because he didn’t want to keep the design of a bucket secret while the ship sinks.
I’d want Niel deGrasse Tyson to decide what to say to the alien, because he’s an astrophysicist who understands what’s at stake if we screw up this planet, that AND he’s a great communicator and the closest thing we have to Sagan, who decided what to say to aliens with the Voyager.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/27/2023 10:59PM by schrodingerscat.
Dolly Parton is cuter than BOTH of them put together!!!
Besides, EVERY world civilization Science Fiction writers have visited has had a nuclear event that either destroyed the planet or blasted it back to a pre-cartoon-making level of civilization!!
Permit me, if I may, to insert a note of cynicism.
A sociopathic human may be the best to represent the earth in its first contact with aliens. Why? Because you need someone who is capable of seeing right through platitudes to the underlying power relationships, someone who is as willing to distrust as to trust, as happy to deceive as to speak frankly.
I'm reminded of Conrad Black's biography of FDR, whom he openly described as both a sociopath and a great leader. Churchill was close to that too; he was a narcissist who would use and throw people away as necessary to achieve his own aspirations. The key was that these sociopaths viewed their peoples' interests as the vehicle through which to achieve their own greatness.
The key criteria are thus two: 1) the sociopathic statesman must identify with the group he leads, and 2) he must be competent. There are any number of cold calculating sociopaths who do not identify with their subjects and hence could not be trusted to promote their interests. And there are even more who would love to be world leaders but lack the intellect and the self-control to do that effectively.
Elon Musk is the latter sort of sociopath. He does not give a rat's posterior about the people who work for him, the people of the United States, or the people of the world. It's all about him. But even more importantly, he has little managerial skill, even less political judgment, and absolute zero geopolitical expertise.
So you and I are on the same page about Musk. Where we differ a bit is over the larger question. For my part I would prefer someone like FDR or Churchill who could stare Joseph Stalin in the eye, smile, and slit his throat without the slightest hesitation, over a Jimmy Carter or someone else who is a good person but way out of his depth when dealing with profound strategic problems.
schrodingerscat Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Not only is he the most intelligent engineer on > the planet, he’s also one of the most altruistic > people on the planet.
He's rich not intelligent. He pays other people to do the research and design and then takes the credit for it.
He’s only rich because he owns stock in the companies he started that were wildly successful. Most of his focus is on engineering. Name a more successful engineer.
schrodingerscat Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > He’s only rich because he owns stock in the > companies he started that were wildly successful. > Most of his focus is on engineering. > Name a more successful engineer.
Elon Musk grew up in a wealthy family like Bill Gates did. They had mining interests in South Africa.
schrodingerscat Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > He’s only rich because he owns stock in the > companies he started that were wildly successful. > Most of his focus is on engineering. > Name a more successful engineer.
Tell that to the head of NASA who wants to replace all of her rocket engineers because Musk engineered a way to reuse rockets, thus cutting costs by 90%. But Congress won’t let her, because, JOBS (for constituents of senior senators on appropriations committees) the rest of us get survival of the fittest.
He is a scientist and an economist.
Good things to study if you want to engineer the worlds only reusable rocket in history of mankind, doing NASA’s job better than NASA.
"Anything said by a person with a lot of a subscribers is worth more than what is said by another person with only a few subscribers ... except when it's something timely, like 'Look out!!!'"
It seems as if our ambiguously animated friend has forgotten that both the space shuttle and the booster rockets that carried it were reusable.
I also wonder if, when Mr. Cat dreams in his head of Elon, sitting at his table with pencil and square, doing all the laborious invention, there are any other persons involved. Or if Elon is there alone, in a flowing superhero cape, conjuring, building, and pushing the big red launch button with a dramatically large and masculine, maybe even God-like, finger.
I'm not sure a "wise human" is a good choice. The more I think about it, the more Dolly Parton seems like a pretty decent pick. She might even clear the "wise" bar.
She's got a great personality for it, but the alien might be confused by her wig and body. The alien might think she is a different species from the rest of the observed humans. ;-D
Plus, he may be able to get some ideas from the Aliens on how to protect our beloved flora and fauna from ourselves. Although I suspect the Aliens would just roll their eyes and leave knowing full well it's too late, baby, now it's too late.
Done & Done Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > he may be able to get some ideas from the > Aliens on how to protect our beloved flora and > fauna from ourselves.
Ah yes, David Attenborough who for much of his career took more flights in a week than most people take in a year or even a decade in some cases.
I doubt he'd last the journey to the landing site. He's very old these days.Maybe he'd try a d persuade the aliens to buy a British TV License.
Oh my gosh yes. There are 87,000 Airline Flights per day in the U.S. and David Attenborough was on every one of them.
But lets ignore his immense contribution to the world that he brought with his flights and concentrate instead on the great contributions of those millions an millions flying over the holidays to get too drunk, fight with family, go into debt, and assault flight attendants. If Attenborough hadn't flown so much there would have been room for more of the "consumers" who are eating the planet alive.
I just remember a year ago when the Artist Presently Known as Watutsi posted a message from a bus in London. He was apparently proud of the fact that he'd flown there and could assure us that it was raining.
Somehow other people flying on airplanes is bad but his flying by plane is a sign of importance.
It meant something once, but here we are now, these days, I find claiming to be "leader of the free world" to be on par with Kanye West's claims about himself. Although "Ye" may actually have something to back his up.
summer Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Is the "leader of the free world" even a thing > anymore?
Of course it's not. That phrase made a sort of sense during the cold war, when there was arguably an "unfree world," but the East Bloc has been dead for 34 years and people who use the phrase "free world" are in danger of appearing like atavistic demagogues.
Lot's Wife Wrote: ----------------------------------------- > during the cold war... there was arguably > an "unfree world," but ... people who use the phrase "free > world" are... like atavistic > demagogues.
Lot's Wife Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > the East Bloc has been dead > for 34 years
China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam still qualify. There is still very much a "Bamboo Curtain" between Communist Party states in Asia and their rivals. There is still a blockade between Cuba and the USA. Chavez's Venezuela and Morales' Bolivia wanted to be in the club too.
Russia is run by a KGB alumnus. Germany was run until 2021 by a woman who was an enthusiastic member of the FDJ. Most Eastern Bloc countries kept a significant number of (ex)Communist politicians in power throughout the 90s, 00s and 10s. The "Mafias" in most of these countries were created by their secret police forces.That isn't paranoia but hard fact. Old habits die hard.
summer Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Is the "leader of the free world" even a thing > anymore? The European Union has double the > population of the U.S.
The European president is not directly elected, and its government isn't very transparent either. (One major reason that many Europeans wish to leave the EU.) The European Parliament is also set up so that politicians get barely any time to speak, meaning that no proper debates ever take place. Like most western "caretaker" governments, the politicians are paid well and the real decisions made outside the parliamentary chamber. Ursula von der Leyen was part of this culture from childhood thanks to her father.
In the eastern parts of the EU, the rurn out for European elections is often under twenty percent. No wonder, since many of these countries are riddled witb corruption on account of their recent past behind the Iron Curtain.
The US federal government has more popular support and interaction than rhe EU's does.