Who would you send to represent Earth?

[Moriarty]

This thread is inspired by the novel Contact.

We make first contact with an extraterrestrial race via radio, and the planet can send a single delegate to represent and introduce the entire human race. Who should be sent?

After grinding this question around for a bit, I've discovered alot of implications in the tentative answers. What qualities, knowledge, beliefs, cultural background, etc would a suitable candidate possess? Who could we possibly consider the ideal human being?

Also, what single piece of information should the delegate carry and present to our new acquaintances as being truly representative of our peoples, our lives, our homes? This can be a physical artifact such as a book, work of art, a set of Ginsu steak knives...or it can simply be an idea, a spoken word or phrase. Make it whatever you'd like.

I personally haven't answered either question to my own satisfaction.

[gadjitfreek]

You want a representative of your typical human being? We already have George W. Bush. I'd be happy to see him sent into space.

[cncracer]

Who to send is a hard question in today's world. I think we are running short on people with the integrity needed for such a visit. I guess we could look at this two ways. If we don’t want them to bother us we could send them somebody like George Bush and they would never come back to visit, or if we wanted to advance the relationship we would need to find some one educated in a wide range of cultures, science, and not prejudiced against other species, or beliefs. Put this with a photographic mind to record everything they had to give us. Rules out all the political and religious leaders, I think I would pick Steven Hawking.

I would take a flash drive with all of our history on it.

[gadjitfreek]

I would take a flash drive with all of our history on it.

Make sure it is in .txt format to save space, and .jpg images. Not much space for video clips....besides, the aliens might not have the right codecs to play them.

[Moriarty]

If you can't think of a specific person (living or dead), make a person up that you think would be appropriate. It's what I'm doing. ;)

[cncracer]

If you can't think of a specific person (living or dead), make a person up that you think would be appropriate. It's what I'm doing. ;)
What are they going to think when you send a dead person up to talk with them? Would sure be a one way conservation. Talk about a real introvert, I think “death” would top all of us. LOL

[Ligda]

Paris Hilton... "That's hot."

They'll never bother us again.

In all seriousness, and assuming they can converse with us on some level and they wouldn't damage the person we sent up, I'd send the current Dalai Lama. Very peaceful, knowledgable, loving and diplomatic. He would bring the idea of curiousity and a willingness to understand.

[Dave C C]

Ben Bernanke with a copy of the current tax code, they would consider us a planet of retards not worth dealing with.

[Ubervida]

A newborn.
No prejudice, open mind, no threat, strong desire to bond.
Anyone else, and you have problems.

The baby is the delegate and the artifact - we have nothing better.

[0330]

Carl Sagan, if he was still alive.

[Antares]

They'll never bother us again.

After her sexy attitude? No they won't seeing all that the human race stands for. Maybe Bush would do too. And thank Austria for their troops. If they make the initiative to contact us, we probably don't want to get in touch with them. They're probably millions of years more advanced than we are if they're here at all. We'd be better off alone.

[enWTFp]

Someone who have never used Internet.

A scientist who have been reclusive for more than 20 years studying and creating in isolation.

The greatest abstract symbol to represent us should be a piece of music. I'd choose BWV 565.

[lisakki]

Jon Stewart

[dragonsscout]

Jon Stewart

Actually, I don't find that half-bad. He's smart and can be really serious. I also like the majority of what his values seem to be.

[notoppings]

I would like to send a teacher not a famous educator but some plain first grade teacher. They would have some basic education and a sense of wonder at a new experience. They would also be great at unexpected situations even if it was a physical manifestation, I've seen first grade teachers deal with all kinds of body fluids with calm dispatch they remain calm and take no guff and are rarely surprised by anything. They can answer questions maybe not specifically but in broad terms and I think they would be able to ask intelligent questions. I also feel that it would show that we value education above most things.

As for what to take, hands down The complete Hitch Hikers series, to show that we have a sense of humor and can laugh at ourselves, they need to understand us not our science and this would show our preoccupation with the universe and all it may hold and also show our ability to enjoy our curiosity.

[Sliderule]

I think there is only one logical choice:

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Or at least send someone along with Hal, I think it would pretty difficult to convey what exactly the entire human race is from just one person, be they gifted or extraordinary average. What better than a computer with artificial intelligence? That would truly be a culmination of all of the things human, as well as many of the contributions made by men of science who if they were alive today would be clamoring to go.

Gun to my head though, I think I would have to pick Steven Hawking (assuming he wouldn't die on the trip). He's a perfect example of human potential to be not only brilliant but terribly weak, broken and frail. Also, one could argue the guy probably deserves to take a trip such as that. While he isn't the only person out there thinking about said things, he is one of the only ones who can do nothing else. It would be pretty cool as well to send a man who can't even crawl across a room halfway to the other side of the galaxy.

To be honest though I doubt a human will ever make contact more than once with another being. We may receive a message, but given the amount of time it takes to get there and vice versa whoever sends or receives a message will long be dead before they hear a reply.

What will more than likely happen is that someday a Hal 9000 of our own will bump into some alien's Hal 9000, meeting long after their creators have faded away to dust. Hopefully, the two don't view each other as a threat to each others mission, because we all know how that will turn out.

[zibber]

The intuitive answer is to send some super intelligent, eloquent human, but that would be deceiving our extraterrestrial friends a bit. They'd come to Earth expecting super intelligent, eloquent people and find, well.. go outside and look around. Imagine how pissed off you'd be.

[Avid]

I would volunteer myself (might not be ideal exactly). I'd take the risk of being vaporized or eaten. I'd take a collection of world history books with info on all of our cultures and countries (and hope they don't get pissed off from it).

After that it would be easy to pass the ET's over to some other person depending on their interests. I mean they might be really spiritual (NOOOOOOOO) or maybe super tech or....warmongers?

[dogwoodlover]

This thread is inspired by the novel Contact.

We make first contact with an extraterrestrial race via radio, and the planet can send a single delegate to represent and introduce the entire human race. Who should be sent?

After grinding this question around for a bit, I've discovered alot of implications in the tentative answers. What qualities, knowledge, beliefs, cultural background, etc would a suitable candidate possess? Who could we possibly consider the ideal human being?

Also, what single piece of information should the delegate carry and present to our new acquaintances as being truly representative of our peoples, our lives, our homes? This can be a physical artifact such as a book, work of art, a set of Ginsu steak knives...or it can simply be an idea, a spoken word or phrase. Make it whatever you'd like.

I personally haven't answered either question to my own satisfaction.

If you mean an individual who represents the pinnacle of humanity, then perhaps some sort of scientist or philosopher.

If you mean someone who will represent the majority of the Earth's inhabitants, some kind of a moron probably, like a celebrity.

[Jakalwarrior]

I would say an INTJ, ENTJ, or INTP with a degree in sociology and a love of the human race. Send someone like me and they are likely to tell them the blunt truth and have us quarantined until our social evolution catches up with our technology.

[PHS Philip]

Food for thought: the first image broadcast from Earth was Hitler at the Olympics.

I second Sagan, or failing that I second Hawking, or failing that...um...I dunno.

[dogwoodlover]

Sagan, in my opinion, would have been the best man for the job.

[SirJac]

The Dalai Lama, I can think of no one who understands human nature more completely. He may not best represent who we are as a whole. But I imagine he would be the best guide to answer questions about the positive and negative aspects of humanity. As for an artifact, I suppose the flash drive idea is as good as any.

[thr4im]

Something tells me it probably would not matter who we sent as they'd not be interested in anything we'd have to say anyway.

Wouldn't it be like amoebas asking who they should send to an Quantum Mechanics seminar?;)

I suppose they would have to be as learned as possible in mathematics, philosophy, religion, and biology. Pretty much the crew of the Enterprise...

-- Timothy

[OneHertz]

Vladimir Putin hands down.

[TheLastMohican]

Vladimir Putin hands down.
His judo skills scare off hostile aliens.

[tp6626]

Has anyone suggested the David Hasslehof?

[TheLastMohican]

Chuck Norris!

[tp6626]

I just thought the Hof did a good job with that Germany / Berlin Wall thing; who know's where we'd now be without him.

I'm sure the aliens would love him... he's how we all want to be.

[rewhu]

In all seriousness, I'd vote for this guy (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.). He's would be armed with complex mathematic equations, proving to the aliens that our species is an intelligent one. Also he's a kind, well-spoken person, which would represent our ability for compassion. Let's take up a collection to send him to space. If we start now by the time the aliens contact us we might have enough to by him a real swanky set of matching luggage.

[searcher]

I would agree with sending the Dali Lama...
Or failing that, TLM would do :p

[TheLastMohican]

Or failing that, TLM would do :p

What kind of extraterrestrial experiments are you setting me up for?

[ElstonGunn]

My first impulse was Gandhi. Unless of course, it has to be a living person. But that would be too practical, wouldn't it? I mean, we're not talking about planning an actual alien-greeting mission for next week, so what's the difference (...We're not planning that, right? Right?)?

But that's a first impulse. I'm sure that if I thought about it more, I'd be paralyzed with indecision.

[Monster]

In order to begin galactical imperialism, they should send G. W. Bush.





Monster added to this post, 16 minutes and 30 seconds later...

What kind of extraterrestrial experiments are you setting me up for?

You are going to star in Resident Evil 5 "The Space Mohican"

[Deliberator]

Michael Jackson of course. He's a very accurate representation of the typical human being...

Besides, he already looks like an alien, he'd make them feel more at home.

[punkyplatypus]

I don't have a serious answer, but for fun Steve Whitmire, puppeteer. Of course, he'd have to communicate to the aliens through Kermit the Frog. :cheesy:

[Antares]

His judo skills scare off hostile aliens.

That's the point.

[TheLastMohican]

That's the point.

I know.

[OFF-TOPIC]Jgib5328 must be jealous of your new avatar.[/OFF-TOPIC]

[Cicatrix]

Great question Moriarty.

I thought about this for a while but I'm struggling to find the perfect person. My criteria would be someone with a true worldview, someone who has experienced a number of diverse cultures. Someone with a lot of life experience and a great deal of knowledge about humanity. They would have to be a good communicator and have had lead a rich satisfying life.

Maybe...

Kofi Annan.

[lisakki]

Actually, I don't find that half-bad. He's smart and can be really serious. I also like the majority of what his values seem to be.

Yeah, I didn't mean that sarcastically.

Jon Stewart is extremely intelligent, very affable, and has a pretty solid ethical record. I'd definitely trust something like this to him.

[ame]

Gandhi.