this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2024
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[–] HobbitFoot 17 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Or they would manage us to their own desires. I wouldn't say imperialism of conquered peoples went well for people on Earth.

Hell, there are several noted cases of deindustrialization, like the British Raj in India, where the imperial power pushed a civilization back into resource extraction. Why would an alien civilization colonize us for anything other than natural resources?

And there are several examples where humans weren't treated well in a resource extraction economy. Sugarcane plantations in the Caribbean were where slaves went to die.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Why would an alien civilization colonize us for anything other than natural resources?

Space is full of mineral resources, going to a random planet with a relatively high gravity well just for some rocks would be counter productive. And an advanced civilization would probably use a lot of automation for resource extraction.

And there are several examples where humans weren't treated well in a resource extraction economy. Sugarcane plantations in the Caribbean were where slaves went to die.

That part is true. But the question is what could the aliens get from us that couldn't be made for cheaper closer to their planet?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)
[–] HobbitFoot 1 points 1 day ago

It doesn't have to be mineral wealth. It could be biological in nature, like cash crop farming.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Eh, natural resources are far easier to extract from asteroids and moons than to haul out the gravity well of the biggest rocky planet in the area. And they wouldn't have to mess with the nasty apes for any of them.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The only interesting thing on earth is life itself, as well as intelligent life and its culture. Literally everything else can be found everywhere else

[–] HobbitFoot 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Resource extraction includes farming.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 23 hours ago

Why would they farm on alien soil? That sounds like a terrible idea. Just make space bases dedicated for farming

No, they'd just use earth for scientific reasons, exploring and cataloguing our life. And perhaps maybe for artistic/cultural reasons, enrichment basically

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Escaping the gravity well is difficult for us. They can travel who knows how far or how fast. The gravity might be of little importance to them.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 12 hours ago

Regardless, there are far more resources much easier to obtain in deep space than we have down here. That doesn't change even if gravity is less of an obstacle to them.