Mankind is the precursor race of the universe

[Deleted]

I know people are really pessimistic and really dull about the future of mankind, or mankind in general. Whenever I see someone wishing the human race would go extinct, it's just so annoying. I mean, sure, we have problems, but we have achieved so much as well. I just wish people weren't so pessimistic about our future these days, honestly. "We're going to wipe ourselves out" is basically what everyone says. So let's be positive for one moment, no? Or at least look at other futures which doesn't involve the wipeout of mankind or an Orwellian world government.

So I saw this really interesting io9 article about the Great Silence + the Great Filter theory (http://io9.com/5970501/the-great-fil...-of-extinction), and one of the comments really got me thinking. According to the poster of the comment, we might be this really advanced civilization and all the other alien civilizations are tribal.

So thinking further, what if we are the Xel'Naga of our universe? What if mankind is the race that will colonize planets and experiment with biology and hemispheres, or be the ones that create the Alliance of the Universe etc.?

[Bryntrollian]

Overall I give it a 7.5 out of 10. Great post would read again.



Infracted.

[Catta]

Nice thought but obviously you just cant accept the fact that machines have already surpassed us in ways you cant imagine.

[Evil Inside]

I know people are really pessimistic and really dull about the future of mankind, or mankind in general. Whenever I see someone wishing the human race would go extinct, it's just so annoying. I mean, sure, we have problems, but we have achieved so much as well. I just wish people weren't so pessimistic about our future these days, honestly. "We're going to wipe ourselves out" is basically what everyone says. So let's be positive for one moment, no? Or at least look at other futures which doesn't involve the wipeout of mankind or an Orwellian world government.

So I saw this really interesting io9 article about the Great Silence + the Great Filter theory (http://io9.com/5970501/the-great-fil...-of-extinction), and one of the comments really got me thinking. According to the poster of the comment, we might be this really advanced civilization and all the other alien civilizations are tribal.

So thinking further, what if we are the Xel'Naga of our universe? What if mankind is the race that will colonize planets and experiment with biology and hemispheres, or be the ones that create the Alliance of the Universe etc.?

We cant create alliance on our own home planet, what hope is there of creating a universal alliance.

[Moogie423]

It is a possibility, but given the age and size of the universe, it is unlikely that we are the most advanced race in even just our own galaxy (which was just discovered to be much larger than first thought). I'm a sci-fi nut though, so I will continue sitting here with my tinfoil hat, waiting for the aliens to come and try to probe me.

Edit: Actually read the article after I posted that. Yea yea, I'm one of those nut jobs.

We can't exclude the possibility that we've already been visited by extraterrestrials before, there is lore and myths about just such a thing in most ancient cultures, but because the reliability of such old and rare texts or artifacts is so poor, it can't be proven or disproved either way.

[Deleted]

well... the universe is old ... but it's also vast ...

mankind started pumping signals into space roughly 50-70 years ago ...
so those signals are MAXIMUM of 75 lightyears away ...
taking the size of our galaxy into account there could be numerous civilizations out there that are far superior to us and we won't "hear" of them for another millenia or more...

[Puck]

I hope not, our race is far too primitive for that amount of responsibility.

[zEmini]

Unfortunately we - humankind - are very late to the game. Millions and billions of years have passed and I am sure other races are already out in the cosmos doing what we can only dream of doing.

As for humankind being a true race of good, no we are currently far from it. Doesn't mean that in 20 - 30 thousand years we won't.

[Deleted]

As for humankind being a true race of good, no we are currently far from it. Doesn't mean that in 20 - 30 thousand years we won't.

as long as there is crime, our evolutionary development will be hindered...
think of the possibilities we had, the resources we could use if we hadn't to keep watch all the time...

[Elegiac]

Unipolar power structures never work, or rather they don't last very long. So no.

[Deleted]

as long as there is crime, our evolutionary development will be hindered...

I'm pretty sure any society, alien or not, has a level of crime in it. Crime doesn't necessarily mean that mankind can't evolve - in fact, I think it is a requirement to evolve. To combat crime you need new ways of doing it, a lot of technology could come from crime-solving that can be useful in our universal conquest.

[Buckeye]

The basic necessity of survival will always make utopia impossible. We are intelligent ANIMALS, not beings. Not to mention our own world peace is impossible simply because of religion, let alone humans ever uniting other races without first trying to subjugate them to our own beliefs.

[Elegiac]

The basic necessity of survival will always make utopia impossible. We are intelligent ANIMALS, not beings. Not to mention our own world peace is impossible simply because of religion, let alone humans ever uniting other races without first trying subjugating them to our own beliefs.

Not to mention that if every need is satisfied, then what is the point of progress? Competition and rivalry are good things.

[Dezerte]

I know people are really pessimistic and really dull about the future of mankind, or mankind in general. Whenever I see someone wishing the human race would go extinct, it's just so annoying. I mean, sure, we have problems, but we have achieved so much as well. I just wish people weren't so pessimistic about our future these days, honestly. "We're going to wipe ourselves out" is basically what everyone says. So let's be positive for one moment, no? Or at least look at other futures which doesn't involve the wipeout of mankind or an Orwellian world government.

So I saw this really interesting io9 article about the Great Silence + the Great Filter theory (http://io9.com/5970501/the-great-fil...-of-extinction), and one of the comments really got me thinking. According to the poster of the comment, we might be this really advanced civilization and all the other alien civilizations are tribal.

So thinking further, what if we are the Xel'Naga of our universe? What if mankind is the race that will colonize planets and experiment with biology and hemispheres, or be the ones that create the Alliance of the Universe etc.?

Another possible explanation for that could be that every civilization that has existed before us has destroyed itself.

So I'll keep my pessimism.

[Deleted]

Unipolar power structures never work, or rather they don't last very long. So no.

Though who says mankind is going to be one united entity in space?

Another possible explanation for that could be that every civilization that has existed before us has destroyed itself.

So I'll keep my pessimism.

That's also a theory that I can find likely. However, I wanted to be able to talk positively about the future of mankind for once, and I can't honestly say that we're fucked. Quite the opposite, honestly.

[sugarlily]

as long as there is crime, our evolutionary development will be hindered...
think of the possibilities we had, the resources we could use if we hadn't to keep watch all the time...

And what if all mankind shared all the information found through research & development on all counts (medicine, science, etc.) instead of patents & trademarks, begrudging it all like Gollum & his ring except willing to trade it for lots-o-money?

How much farther might we be then?

[Sunseeker]

Sure, it's entirely possible that we're one of, if not these most advanced race in the universe. Just because the universe is old, doesn't guarantee that life developed elsewhere before us. Though no matter which way you look at it, sentient life, even on our level, is going to be rare in the universe.

[Deleted]

Though no matter which way you look at it, sentient life, even on our level, is going to be rare in the universe.

Still, it's an interesting concept that the only other races out in the universe are at best tribal. "The Road not Taken" remains one of my favorite short stories for that very reason.

[Powerogue]

An alliance of the universe would require other habitable planets, which we haven't found yet.

Still, every awesome futuristic device started with "wouldn't it be cool if...", so we need that optimism back, it's what drives us to make the world better.

[Elegiac]

Though who says mankind is going to be one united entity in space?

You seem to imply it.