Hello Internet - and welcome back to the most
inquisitive channel on YouTube - Life’s
Biggest Questions - the place where we stick
on those oversized headphones, ping the satellite
and scour the universe for alien chatter - before
we awkwardly realise that’s just not how
wavelength works.
What’s going on guys - as per usual I’ll
be your disembodied voice Jack Finch - as
we peel back the layers on over a century
worth of science fiction - speculate on who’d
have the better volleyball team - and curiously
ask the question, What If We Discovered Humans
On Mars?
Roll the clip.
Doesn’t that clip just get you absolutely
pumped to be a Martian?
I mean - sorry, what am I talking about - of
course my loyalty is to Earth.
Forget I said anything.
Sorry.
Anyway - before we jump into that steaming
pile of interplanetary patriotism - you know
the drill by now folks, if you’re a fan
of this video, Mars, Space Flight, Earth - or
just LBQ in general, then hit that thumbs
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On with the show.
Now - forgive me, because there is going to
be A LOT of speculation in this video, but
curiously enough - a lot of that speculation
is actually based in some pretty hardcore
theoretical science.
Did you know that NASA already has a protocol
in place to protect Mars and other solar system
bodies from Earth’s contamination - and
vice versa?
Theoretically speaking, we’re already prepared
for some kind of discovery, kind of.
NASA’s Office of Planetary Protection is
the protocol of protecting solar system bodies
from contamination by Earth life and also,
protecting Earth from possible life forms
that may be returned from other solar system
bodies.
Just like how the Maya were extremely susceptible
to Old World diseases during the Spanish Conquest
- the same principle is applied to the solar
system and further galaxy.
Hell - we don’t know what the hell is out
there, right?
And as I always like to say - better safe
than sorry.
It’s kind of comforting, isn’t it?
To know that if one of our many space probes
unearthed an entire other lifeform that we
have a plan in place - just like that heart-stopping
moment in an RTS game when you discover another
civilization hidden perfectly behind the fog
of war, despite you thinking that you were
safe and sound.
But that’s not the question - is it - the
question is if we somehow missed, despite
a constant global probing effort since 1971
- an entire civilization of people living
right up there on the surface of Mars.
And not just any old people - no.
Humans.
Our people.
At the least - it would be a landmark event
for the human race as we know it - and at
the very, very least - our shared existence
would never be the same again.
There are quite a few models throughout science
fiction that can shed an insight into this
event - and more importantly, humanity’s
- sorry, Earth’s - reaction to this hypothetical
Martian scenario.
Probably one of the most well-rounded examples
is The Expanse, a series of science fiction
novels by authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck
- which has gone on to spawn four television
series by the Syfy Network.
If you haven’t seen or read anything in
The Expanse world - I would highly recommend
them - sidenote over.
In The Expanse universe, Mars is originally
a colony of Earth settlers - which eventually,
after becoming an advanced society of self-sustaining
scientific leaders - seceded from the rule
of Earth - similar to the American colonies
of the 1700s.
Eventually - after a series of near-miss conflicts,
the society of Mars eventually formed the
Martian Congressional Republic to serve as
its governing body for the people of its planet.
Interesting, right?
Well - we can form the basis of our hypothetical
situation on a similar timeline, but there’s
one thing missing in this formula - the fact
that Human life was there before us.
How long before us?
Well, that depends - and that particular variation
makes a hell of a lot of difference.
Say that the SETI Institute’s probes - the
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence founded
by Carl Sagan and Frank Drake - picks up a
series of heavy metal signatures, which would
usually be associated with smelting and other
types of simple industry - indicating that
we’d discovered a Bronze or Iron Age level
civilization.
Also, say that they’d developed as a subterranean
society for sake of argument, living in the
many tunnels and chasms of the Martian surface,
evading detection this whole time.
I’d just like to segway this point with
the fact that the chances of an alien civilization
developing so closely to our own planet would
be extremely unlikely - and the odds of that
civilization being within two to three thousand
years of our own advancement are astronomical.
But hey - don’t you worry about that.
For Earth - this would pose an ethical dilemma
that our civilization has never faced before
- but, like always - Science Fiction has got
us covered - with the hallmark of the entire
genre, Star Trek - and more specifically,
the Prime Directive.
As explained in the 1968 episode, Bread and
Circuses - the Prime Directive is a protocol
that handles the discovery of new life, and
has special implications for civilizations
that have not yet developed the technology
for interstellar spaceflight.
As the Prime Directive states - the discovery
of alien life should be handled with no identification
of self or mission.
No interference with the social development
of said planet.
No references to space or the fact that there
are other worlds or civilizations.
Why?
Well because how the hell would you react
if you were busy smelting your iron shortsword
or cleaning your tunic in the river - when
a spaceship floated down from the atmosphere,
and a man in a white costume and giant glass
helmet stepped out?
Exactly.
Your very existence would be shattered.
But how would our civilization, right now
in 2018 - face the knowledge of knowing that
we’re not alone in the universe?
Would we be able to resist ruining the development
of another planet?
Well - one thing's for sure, it’d be a test
of the future blueprint that our species would
lay out for itself - and it’d require global
scale coordination: politically, scientifically
and economically - in an effort to constantly
monitor the well being of another lifeform.
Maybe it’d be the one thing we’d need
to finally get along.
Well, either that or we’d find a way to
sell the latest iPhone to a Martian.
I dunno guys - what do you think?
Let me know your thoughts in the comment box
down below.
Cheers for sticking around, if you’d like
to continue your questioning binge - then
go ahead and hit that playlist floating shortly
above.
Hit that thumbs up - hit that subscribe bell
- and I’ll be seeing you in the next LBQ
Video.
As always, I’ve been your host Jack Finch
- you’ve been watching Life’s Biggest
Questions - and until next time, you take
it easy.
