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?”
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.
The clue is in the name. The U stands for unidentified, which means you don’t know what it is, which does not in turn mean that it’s aliens. The only thing those videos proved was that someone’s camera recorded something weird. Prove that those weird things were actually aliens and not some obscure sensor glitch or weather phenomenon or a secret government tech demo, then we’ll freak out.
I remember watching them and the conversation about them. But that’s different than proof and admission that sentient alien life exists. It’s one thing to suspect while also having other possible explanations (could be secret tech that we or adversary nations developed, could be sensor errors or optical illusions) and another for the president to be like “I want you to meet ambassador Xlurg”
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.
Oh, wow, you’re totally gonna love Star Trek when you finally see all 58 years of the shows and films. Then there’s Dr. Who and Star Wars…
Sci-fi has been a very profitable genre for at least 60 years. Arguably over 150. From Jules Verne to Gene Roddenberry to George Lucas and Russel T Davies, the imagination of humanity has been ignited— even stoked to wildfire - by these visionaries.
And they’ve existed and continued far beyond the realm of simple profit, as many times, they weren’t profitable. Yet they endure.
Ad astra per aspera— through adversity, we reach for the stars.
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.
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
It could go that way, but on the other hand they could be more like MorningLightMountain in Peter Hamilton’s Pandora’s Star, i.e. fascists who exterminate every other organism that competes with them for resources.
Great book if you haven’t read it!
It’s not because of a lack of interest. It’s not because we “get used” to things to quickly. It’s because it doesn’t matter. Like, alright. So aliens are real. Aliens have secretly been communicating with all the world’s government.
So… What actually changes?
Is this new information going to fix the housing market? Is capitalism going to change? How is this information going to change corporations squeezing everything dry? Aliens being confirmed is awesome, wondrous news! But… How will I, an average dude, be part of it? What is the point if I wake up tomorrow and everything around me is still the same? Wars are still the same, religions are still the same, the economy, hell, even the information these aliens bring to Earth, only benefits the top 1%.
If I still have to work a shitty job just to barely afford living in a single room, what difference does knowing aliens exist make?
If nothing else developed from the talks, then yes.
But if it started a new conversation with academics, if it opened trade opportunities, if it brought meaningful new technology, it would dominate world discussion for decades.
But if it was a single message sent at the speed of light and we had to wait 50 years for our reply to get back to them, and then 50 more years to hear any more communication…
Yeah, nobody’s going to remember that happened.
