A letter published in New Scientist magazine, 15/8:
Human cull
If a superior extraterrestrial intelligence arrived on Earth, as Anthony Wheeler suggests in his letter (21 July, p 30), then presumably it would be intelligent enough to realise that the sheer number of humans, all consuming resources, causes problems. It therefore seems likely that these beings would do as we do when faced with a less intelligent species becoming too numerous: cull it. It would be for our own good, of course.
– Steve Morrisby, Pinner, Middlesex, UK
Humans don’t hesitate to cull other species for our own convenience, but we would be very outraged if the same were done to us by aliens (or an Artificial Intelligence), though I suppose the action could be regarded as a sort of cosmic karma. A more merciful (though still controversial) alternative would be mass sterilization, with permits required for reproduction.
The previous letter mentioned there:
ET knows best
What is it that the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) expects to gain from contact with aliens (30 June, p 28)? I suspect that like naughty children we are waiting for a superior being – maybe a mother figure – to tell us what to do. We know what we are going to be told: stop polluting the air with carbon dioxide, stop overfishing, stop replacing rainforests with palm oil plantations, and so on. We know what we should do, but we cannot bear to forgo low-cost energy and food to save the future. And when a superior intelligence imposes discipline on us, will it be with a carrot or stick?
– Anthony Wheeler, Mackay, Queensland, Australia
I rather wish aliens would come along and save the Earth, as humans aren’t doing a very good job of it! We need an impartial force to change things. Unfortunately, so far we seem to be alone in this part of the Universe.
