If an Alien Life Form...

[Lacewing]

I'm guessing that advanced alien life/energy forms would view humans as very primitive... going through the motions of evolution.

Depending on the aliens, they could view us with compassion (and want to protect or help us)... or with disgust (and want to take advantage of us or wipe us out). Both potentials seem reasonable and could exist simultaneously.

Or, they might have a sense of humour and decide to do stand-up about such things.

Yes! That would be wonderful! I would like to see it.

[attofishpi]

I'm guessing that advanced alien life/energy forms would view humans as very primitive... going through the motions of evolution.

Depending on the aliens, they could view us with compassion (and want to protect or help us)... or with disgust (and want to take advantage of us or wipe us out). Both potentials seem reasonable and could exist simultaneously.

Or, they might have a sense of humour and decide to do stand-up about such things.

Yes! That would be wonderful! I would like to see it.

Well then, I know I shouldn't out him, but Jim Jeffries is ET.

[commonsense]

Must the aliens be from this universe (dimension), or can they be from a higher?

They could be from any universe. They could even be from a dimension so different from ours that they are observing us by means other than by visiting us.

Regardless of what/who they may be, I wonder what they would find to be common or uncommon human behavior or thought, and why they might think so.

Hatred? Compassion? Altruism? Success? Science? Technology? Art? Participation Awards? Laws? Law Enforcement? Prayer? Hero-Worship? Wealth? Poverty? Current Events? Historic Precedents? Et al?

Would they consider any of these to be common occurrences or rather to be uncommon events or characteristics?

And why?

(Admittedly these questions are tangential to the OP, but they may make for an interesting corollary to the discussion thus far.)

[Sir-Sister-of-Suck]

That's your way of interpreting it... and that's why I said you're projecting.

..I mean, I'm showing a pretty strong line of correlation. I'm actually not sure what you're objecting to, here. A person who has the opinion that humans are primitive, is not projecting their own opinion when they say that's what an alien race would also believe?

Maybe there are people who don't necessarily have the opinion that human culture is primitive, and still think that's what an alien race would believe - but I'm not talking about those people, and I never was. If you fit into this category, then feel free to glide over all my comments.

I think you're smelling your own farts. Lighten up and take some Gas-X.

That's great, throw the insult right back at me without even explaining why. 'NO U' responses seem to be the general go-to on here.

[Sir-Sister-of-Suck]

Ultimately the reason I think projecting your own opinion onto an alien is a massive issue to finding out the actual truth of the situation, is because you're letting your own bias cloud the way of your judgement, and it's an unseen bias not immediately known to people. In a more transparent example, imagine if this super-super progressive user came in and told us all about how the aliens probably have a form of socialism. That would be absolutely ridiculous to most.

Then we have someone who has this super-nihilistic view of our world - particularly humans - but that's an okay thing to project onto the minds of an advanced alien race? I realize you claim to have reasons to think that an alien race would also believe this, but then you might as well just say that an alien race would share all of your opinions, because everyone has reasons to believe they're right about anything they've formed an opinion on.

[Sir-Sister-of-Suck]

my view is from a more extreme viewpoint.

I think it was extremely something. You just said a bunch of random shit that barely had any connection to what I said. The things you said barely had any connection to each other, in fact.

[Lacewing]

A person who has the opinion that humans are primitive, is not projecting their own opinion when they say that's what an alien race would also believe?

I don't think those conditions must translate in one particular way or another -- although you seem to think that they do. I already described my perspective of why aliens might assess humans as primitive on a scale of evolution, if the aliens have been observing us. The fact that I think humans behave primitively in some ways does not mean that I am simply projecting my opinion onto aliens, nor that I think I'm brilliantly thinking as aliens do. That's your line of reasoning that I think is your own projection. You're deciding that people who make such a guess about aliens, are self-masturbatory in an attempt to inflate their own opinion about people sucking. I'm saying, that potential must be something about you, because there are other potentials.

[Lacewing]

I realize you claim to have reasons to think that an alien race would also believe this, but then you might as well just say that an alien race would share all of your opinions, because everyone has reasons to believe they're right about anything they've formed an opinion on.

You don't seem to be hearing the broader view. ALL OF THESE GUESSES ARE A POTENTIAL. You are condemning ONE, and attributing it to motives you are guessing. If you are going to condemn one, then condemn them all, blah, blah, blah. I'm simply responding to your accusations of intent, to show you that there is other reasoning. But you will believe/ignore what you want to, and evidently argue regardless. In this context, you seem to be the one who thinks people suck.

[Sir-Sister-of-Suck]

A person who has the opinion that humans are primitive, is not projecting their own opinion when they say that's what an alien race would also believe?

I don't think those conditions must translate in one particular way or another -- although you seem to think that they do. I already described my perspective of why aliens might assess humans as primitive on a scale of evolution, if the aliens have been observing us.

It's not just about us being primitive in a comparative, evolutionary sense, generally I'm more fine with this reasoning here because it could be described as apparently true - what you're saying here is more about deductive reasoning.

I'm talking about when people mean that we're 'primitive' in some sort of moral or cultural sense. I originally used the word 'barbaric', and I should have kept it when mentioning their viewpoint. This is where we get into the realm of opinion that can't really be argue for from anything but that person's own reasoning. That's the crux of the issue that I have with it, and why I compared it to a progressive using his own political opinions as a reference for what an alien race's own politics would be like. Same principle.

The fact that I think humans behave primitively in some ways does not mean that I am simply projecting my opinion onto aliens, nor that I think I'm brilliantly thinking as aliens do.

Think about that some more; That is almost necessarily what you're doing. It's not to say that you're wrong, because maybe you're right that the aliens think as you do. What I will say, is that it makes your judgement wrong.

I'm saying, that potential must be something about you, because there are other potentials.

What other reason is there, other than that person's own reasoning when it comes to an opinion about something? Like I said, I'm fine with the aliens thinking we're 'primitive' in the sense of being less intelligent than they are. That's a reasonable enough assessment we can deduce from what they're capable of. But I haven't just been talking about that, these people believe the aliens would believe we're primitive in more ways that do go into a far more subjective territory.

[Noax]

If an alien life form could observe global human behavior, what would be the human events and activities that would make the greatest impression on the alien?

What would stand out as the most ordinary or representative behaviors? What would be the most unusual or extraordinary human endeavors? What could the alien conclude from observations about preferences, tendencies or values?

I think we are a 'type M culture'. Nothing specific in that statement, just that we probably fall into a category seen frequently enough elsewhere to give it a 'type' from a limited list. All the type M's are likely to meet the same fate, and as such they know more about our probable future than we do ourselves.

[Sir-Sister-of-Suck]

You don't seem to be hearing the broader view. ALL OF THESE GUESSES ARE A POTENTIAL.

Well I can still show how some judgements are fundamentally flawed.

I mean, could I not say anything about aliens that would be ridiculous to you? So if I said that aliens have a form of socialism, that's just as valid as claiming that they wouldn't have a brain like a mammal? What if I said that the aliens would want to destroy us because Mcdonalds removed their Hi-C orange drink - a sweet, sweet currency on their home planet?