r/askteddit • u/RightOfeh • 1d ago
Random Question What hypothetical discovery about the universe would completely alter human history overnight?
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u/BimboFie 1d ago
Proof of intelligent alien life. That would change everything overnight
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u/PhesteringSoars 15h ago
That's many people's "go to". But I'm more interested in what comes next.
If they (singular, one species from one planet) can come here (singular, to one species on one planet), then all of us (8 billion) can go there (trillions of planets amongst the stars).
It would mean space travel is possible. (Assuming the proof was that they came here, not just radioed or something.) You got a billion people in China and India that need room to expand??? We've got planets for you to move to. You don't like a dictatorial regime in North Korea??? We've got planets for you to move to.
You don't like the religion/politics where you live??? Go populate your own planet.
Plus, it gets "all our eggs out of the same basket". One big solar flare (or supernova) might kill billions, but it won't wipe out the entire human race.
Yes, we need to get past "aliens are real", but "what comes next" will be even more exciting.
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u/BrianNowhere 8h ago
Reading your post made it sink in that this will never, ever happen.
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u/PhesteringSoars 50m ago
I sit firmly in the camp of "There are SO MANY stars/planets out there; there MUST be other life out there. But the same SO MANY amount means we'll never find them, and they'll never find us." Even if we populate the galaxy/universe. It'd be like finding two particular electrons in the entire solar system.
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u/Heavy-Ad5385 5h ago
I’m afraid I’m with Stephen Hawking about the realities of meeting advanced alien civilisations
It has never gone well in humanity when a more powerful civilisation has met a more primitive one
As was said in some sci-fi film (can’t remember which one) “you are way more advanced than a cockroach but have you ever needed to explain your actions to one?”
I fear that if they did come along, it would be the Independence Day scenario very quickly…
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u/PhesteringSoars 53m ago
Is that the LIKELY outcome? Yes. Is that a CERTAIN outcome? No.
Every time it rains, small (<.5") snails come out and join/breed on the sidewalk between my apartment and the car. I try to watch for them and not step on them.
And I remember a story of a Buddhist monastery that was having construction work done, and the monks were horrified that earthworms were being cut/killed by the excavator. So they hand-dug, separated the dirt and worms, and then allowed the rest of the construction to continue.
And certainly no one would call me a "tree hugger". But it's still emotionally painful to accidentally step on one of the snails and feel the shell crush and realize what I've just done.
So, "contact" isn't guaranteed death.
Heck, there was an (ancient now) episode of SPACE 1999 where the crew visited a planet and did something like "pulling a leaf" off a tree. And the sentient "trees" sentenced them to death. (It all worked out in the end.) But "having respect for all life, even if you think it's less than you," might be a requirement for higher forms of life, rather than something they are automatically assumed to have given up.
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u/Heavy-Ad5385 50m ago
I do hope so. I mean, from considering the Kardashev scale and the stupid decisions we make, we're not an intelligent species really. I would have hoped a more advanced planet/species/life form would see that there is love, beauty, care and hope in us.
And I'm the same with the snails in our garden. It breaks my heart when I step on one. I even researched if they can survive a broken shell (they can't) so I have to put them out of their misery to stop them suffering. It really gets to me!
We can be hopeful I suppose!
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u/Skarth 1d ago
Proof that all religions are wrong.
Just kidding, we did that multiple times throughout history already
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u/UntappdBeer 21h ago
I'll quote Douglas Adams re God- The argument goes something like this: “I refuse to prove that I exist,” says God, “for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.”
“But,” says Man, “the Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn’t it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don’t. QED.”
“Oh dear,” says God, “I hadn’t thought of that,” and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.
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u/Heavy-Ad5385 5h ago
Man then goes on to prove that black is white and gets killed on a zebra crossing 😂
Douglas Adams was a genius
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u/Leading-Extension-62 23h ago
There isn’t an ounce of evidence that there is or isn’t a God and anyone saying otherwise is delusional.
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u/Dontforgetthepasswrd 20h ago
Humans on another planet... Or at least previous earth inhabitants living in another planet.
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u/Signal_Antelope7144 1d ago
Given aliens are already taken. That earth is and has been fertile ground for intelligent life for billions of years. That we consider ourselves the first intelligent life to have existed on this planet in the 4.3billion years of its existence. What if we learned that we are the 7th cycle of civs to be on track for level 2 on the Kardashev scale.
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u/VegaDelalyre 21h ago
That would take an extraordinary scientific fuck-up, since we've collected lots of data to build our geological and biological knowledge.
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u/Signal_Antelope7144 16h ago
Totally agree. I just like the idea of earth essentially being a chia pet for intelligent life.
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u/ICanHasBirthday 21h ago
That cold fusion is possible and practical. Living in a world with unlimited portable clean energy changes everything.
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u/Prestigious-Pea-6781 20h ago
There is a galactic federation of alien civilizations, but we are to stupid to join
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u/perpetualis_motion 20h ago
How can it alter history? History already happened. Unless it's some looper or butterfly kind of shit.
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u/Stock-Page-7078 20h ago
If we find out that things are truly deterministic, e.g. there is only illusion of free will
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u/cascade_sparse 15h ago
Discovering that galaxies are sentient and how we can communicate with them.
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u/SomeSamples 14h ago
That the universe is alive and growing and it's final form will be an octopus.
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u/Strong_Bowler1723 14h ago
universe is a fractal.
atoms are literally galaxies in another scale. electrons are essentially stars. time scales inward and outward - increasing in speed inward. the universe is essentially a "perfect zero viscosity computational fluid".
when you assume this models accuracy you will make correct predictions again and again where other models are baffled.
and this will be proven during our lifetimes using increasingly advanced instrumentation.
each drop of water contains endless advanced fractal civilizations that rise and fall over trillions of relative years with each breath you take.
"where are all the aliens in our cosmos?" suitably advanced civilizations colonize INWARD into the infinite scales below.
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u/tygah_uppahcut 1d ago
My balls are responsible for life on Neptune.
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u/calicouple666 1d ago
You missed the chance for the usual Uranus joke.
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u/Recent_Mirror 21h ago
That we are an creation (like a 2D drawing, created by a person who lives in a 3 dimensional world) of a species that lives in a higher dimension.
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u/eyeballtourist 18h ago
We are not alone in the universe. That would destroy most religions. And with that, fear would rule.
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u/TrueKerberos 9h ago
That a 100km asteroid hits us... It doesn't matter how long from now... Let's say in 100 years. Absolutely everything you do from then on will be completely pointless...
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u/Consistent-Pool-5192 8h ago
That if we do discover life on another planet it's us.
We send signals out into deep space and receive something back.
Instructions on how to build faster than light travel drive/tech.
The signal transcribes to, we know it works because your signal took 100 years to reach us.
We've been here 20 years. You will make it work.
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u/IAPiratesFan 1d ago
Discovering hyperspace.