Seriously, I doubt it would even take that long. We get used to shit so quickly, and the news cycles have to keep feeding us new things, the only way we’d keep talking about the aliens if they kept doing new and interesting things. I’d be willing to bet a year later there would be some people who straight up forgot about it. “Oh yeah, aliens! Are they gonna, like, visit at some point or just keep exchanging calls with the Whitehouse?”
For a month, we’d talk about aliens. Then, we’d talk about Trump or Musks latest shit takes about aliens.
Yeah, I think there’d be the initial shock of it, but we’ve been pretty well primed as a society for the idea that, yes, life probably exists and it may already be here. So if it turned out they were just communicating with governments, it’d be like, “Oh, so they’re not even here? Huh, that’s… cool… I guess.” Communications would likely only ever come in every few years, so it’d more just be a matter of us having received a signal from intelligent life. Still be cool though, but shrugs would be the general response.
I think 80% of the world would look up, go “huh. Well, anyway…”
The remaining 20% would be split at either side of the spectrum, with 10% on one side freaking out and trying to whip the 80% into a frenzy, while the last 10% would be a mix of, “PLEASE TAKE ME WITH YOU DON’T LEAVE ME HERE PLEASE”, “HnnnnnnNNNGGG IM COOOOOOMING”, and “Why do we all have to wear these ridiculous ties?”
It depends, I would say. If the aliens ask unpleasant questions, they would probably be talked about and reported on continuously. Like:
Alien Ambassador: “Why are you destroying your habitat with your eyes open? We don’t understand. Your scientists have proven beyond doubt that you will become extinct if you don’t fundamentally change your ways. Why don’t you care at all?”
Continuous headlines:
“Aliens want to ban humanity from traveling”
“Space fascists want to raise gas prices”
“Go home job-stealing aliens: How outer world wokeness is destroying {any given country}”
…
Nah, you’d end up with something like
I think something this momental would make it so that the world won’t allow us to forget even if the news does. Think about it. Imagine the fallout that would follow finding out that we’re not alone in the universe, that there’s something out there way smarter than us and have been in contact with our government. How did contact the government? How long have they been in contact? Are they here already? People would probably go a little bit crazy initially. Doomsday peppers would stock up, like what happened during covid, religious fanatics would probably go haywire because what if aliens had something to do with shaping religion? Then there’s the scientific stuff. How are they comminicating? How can the government keep contact? There’d probably be people calling the government into question because how can they hide something so momental from is for however long they have? Then the other governments of the world to. What would they say? Would they be contact to? Would they start fighting because they’re not in contact and want to be? I think the world would go crazy enough that’d we’d feel the effects for a while and definately longer than until Halloween.
Hard disagree. Yes, all the other crazy bullshit would continue, but aliens are here among us isn’t something that would just go away.
I’m with you. Yes, people acclimate to all kinds of things, but sentient aliens are going to take more than a few days.
Idk. A few years ago the US Government released videos of UFOs taken by US Fighter Pilots, and the conversation about the videos didn’t even last a day.
People will absolutely have a hard shit about it when it happens, but I think that, after so much sci-fi exposure in our culture, humanity (or, most of it) would be able to wrap their heads around the idea of extra-terrestrial aliens. Unfortunately, a lot would probably just see them the same way they see any other “aliens”, and be xenophobic (or exoxenophobic as the case may be) jerks about it.
Yeah. It would trigger a shit storm in 10 years time we wouldn’t spend all day every day talking about the day we found out aliens existed, we would be talking about the ongoing wars arising as a result of their tech or some other thing.
This makes me feel bad. But to be fair humans are generally really adaptable. And don’t confuse what the news is talking about with what people are thinking.
Well written, OP.
Thanks!
But don’t feel too badly. Honestly, it’s almost a good thing. Without someone stoking the fires of hatred, that same adaptability means that we’re super capable of accepting each other.
Aliens would be so confused if they tried communicating with the white house.
December: “Ahoy-hoy!”
January: “New pres, who dis?”
Aliens: “Huh?”
stupid aliens never heard of jobs or mortality apparently!
General population: I do agree with you. They’d be looking at the next shiney new celebrity scandal or whatever. But there would also be some people who would act like a dog with a bone and not lose interest in the aliens. Scientists and UFOlogists and such.
Absolutely, but the general populace has so much information thrown at them all day, every day, I really do think most people would just move on from it, because our brains just can’t handle everything all at once. Unless there’s some specific reason to think about it, we’d move on to the things that impact us more directly.
It reminds me of that thing they do on Jimmy Kimmel, where they ask people about fake news stories, and the people invent answers. It’s funny and all, but they do that because it’s considered embarrassing not to know about the whatever the fuck insane thing the news just threw at us, while also there being so much of it that it’s impossible to remember everything. Plus, we’re super suggestable creatures
Shit I’m just a regular dude but I’d be absolutely enthralled with the notion of aliens.
There are no new things in the news. It’s the same ol tired outrage over and over again. I’m over it. I don’t care anymore. It’s all engineered to make us unhappy, and angry, and it works. So, I have opted out.
Tomorrow? Oh, so you already forgot the announcement from last month? Well, I mean I guess we have a lot of our own stuff going on right now…
/s?
People would probably be like are they going to pay my bills? No? Whatever.
I absolutely welcome our new alien overlords
❤️ Zebu!
I would hope aliens, being intelligent, would communicate with other humans before they get to government representatives. We’d probably never hear from them again.
I think it depends on what they have to say…
Honestly; “You’re not alone “ would fuel philosophy for a hundred years…
“Worship our noodles” would start as many holy wars.
“We’ve been trying to reach you about…”
4chan would explode
The news media talks about whatever increases shareholder value. That’s why they…
T-t-that’s why they… always tell the truth, of course!
