As some of you may know already, Stephen Hawking's latest project includes a television series about nomadic aliens who may try to come to Earth and take over. The sad part about this is that this man is very intelligent and there are some major things that he just didn't consider.
Number 1: If there are alien life forms: There is a very great possibility that long distance space travel is just as hard for them as it is for us. Therefore, visits from any existing "aliens" is unlikely.
Number 2: Mr. Hawking talks about these aliens depleating the resources on their planet and then setting out to conquer other nearby planets to take their resources. - Here's what's wrong with this scenario... Remember point Number 1! Also, if the aliens had mastered the technology to travel great distances through space, they probably already have renewable energy sources, planetary peace, advanced medicine, ect. There is no need for them to come to Earth to take over.
Number 3: Mr. Hawking seems to imply that ANY contact with an alien species would be bad for human-kind because it would turn out "like it did for the Native Americans when Columbus discovered the New World" - Why is he assumming that the aliens are going to be bad? Why does he think that they would want our poisoned little planet? If they are technologically advanced enough to travel through space from their planet and find us, there is a high probability that they would be disgusted by the way we have treated our planet and leave. However, if they did take pity on us, I imagine they would share with us ways to correct the damage we have caused and teach us new ways to generate the energy that we need.
All this talk of aliens by a man that I USED to respect... boo to you Mr. Hawking!
