Tag: Soft First Contact

Just For Fun: First Contact… Through the Power of Pop? A Ridiculously Fun Thought Experiment

Okay, folks, buckle up, because we’re about to dive headfirst into a thought experiment so wild, so speculative, and so thoroughly steeped in “what ifs” that it makes Close Encounters of the Third Kind look like a documentary. And yes, there’s a healthy dose of what I like to call “informed magical thinking” involved. This is purely for fun, so leave your skepticism at the door (but maybe keep your tinfoil hat handy, just in case).

The Premise: Aliens Love Our Music (and Maybe Our Memes?)

Imagine this: Voyager 1, that intrepid little spacecraft carrying humanity’s mixtape into the cosmos, actually gets an answer. But instead of a complex mathematical equation or a detailed diagram of their solar system, we get… Adele. Followed by the theme song from “3, 2, 1 Contact.” And then, because why not, John Lennon’s “Imagine.”

Yep, our first interstellar pen pals are apparently big fans of Western pop culture.

Now, before you start calculating the light-years to the nearest record store, let’s be clear: this is highly improbable. The chances of an alien civilization both intercepting our broadcasts and interpreting them as anything other than random noise are astronomically slim. But where’s the fun in being realistic?

The Scenario: A Cosmic Game of Charades

We (well, a very secretive team at NASA, because let’s face it, the government wouldn’t tell us about this for weeks, maybe months) decide to play along. Instead of sending back equations, we send back… more music! A carefully curated playlist designed to say, “Hello, we hear you, we’re friendly, and we’re also kind of awesome.” Think “Here Comes the Sun,” maybe a little “Across the Universe,” and definitely something to show we’re not just about the classics (Coldplay, anyone?).

But here’s where it gets really interesting. The aliens respond in kind. They send back more pop songs. It’s like a cosmic game of charades, played out across interstellar distances with Top 40 hits.

The Descent into Paranoia (Because, Humans):

Of course, this being humanity, things quickly get complicated. We overanalyze everything. A seemingly innocent Britney Spears song (“Oops!… I Did It Again”) is suddenly interpreted as evidence of prior alien contact. A Bob Dylan protest song is seen as a veiled threat. The entire musicology department at Harvard is probably locked in a bunker somewhere, arguing about the semiotics of 90s alternative rock.

And, because we’re talking about the U.S. government, there’s a strong undercurrent of “Are we showing them we’re strong enough?” Cue a playlist featuring “America the Beautiful” and, I kid you not, “We Are the Champions.” (Subtlety is not our strong suit, apparently).

The Aliens Get Sneaky (and Hilarious):

Our hypothetical aliens, blessed with both intelligence and a sense of humor, respond with a playlist designed to gently (or not-so-gently) poke fun at our nationalistic posturing. Think “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Is This It,” and the ultimate troll move: “We Are the World” (the irony!).

But Wait, There’s More! (The Magical Thinking Kicks into High Gear):

Then, things get really weird. The aliens send Pink Floyd’s The Wall, the entire film. Cue mass hysteria and a global shortage of therapists. But here’s the kicker: it’s not just a movie. It’s a Trojan Horse. The aliens, being ridiculously advanced, have somehow encoded their entire civilization (or their consciousnesses, or something) into the data stream of the video and uploaded themselves to the internet.

Yes, you read that right. The aliens are now chilling in our cat videos and comment sections.

The YouTube Takeover:

And because they’re apparently fans of personalized communication, they start messing with our YouTube algorithms, sending subtly curated playlists to “average” people. Imagine your grandma suddenly getting recommendations for obscure psychedelic rock and documentaries about ancient astronauts. It’s chaos, it’s hilarious, and it’s completely out of the government’s control.

The Point (Besides the Fun):

This whole ridiculous thought experiment, while fueled by copious amounts of caffeine and wishful thinking, actually touches on some important points about First Contact:

  • Communication is Hard: Even with a shared medium like music, misinterpretations are inevitable.
  • Context is Everything: Our own biases and assumptions will always color our interpretation of alien communication.
  • We Might Not Even Recognize It: First Contact might not look anything like we expect. It might be subtle, indirect, and even hidden in plain sight.
  • We are probably not the smartest things out there.
  • Humanity is Predictable: Let’s be honest, our response in this scenario is probably pretty accurate. We’d overthink, overreact, and probably try to weaponize the whole thing.

So, is this realistic? Absolutely not. Is it a fun way to explore the possibilities and challenges of communicating with an alien intelligence? Absolutely! And it’s a reminder that sometimes, the most interesting discoveries come from asking “what if?” and letting our imaginations run wild. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a sudden urge to listen to “We Are the World”… and check my YouTube recommendations. Just in case.

Bass, Treble, and Beatles: How an Alien ASI Might Use Pop Culture for First Contact

In the vast emptiness of space, what if our first contact with extraterrestrial intelligence came not through mathematical formulas or binary code, but through the familiar beats of Earth’s pop culture? This thought experiment explores how an alien Advanced Superintelligence (ASI) might leverage our broadcast history to establish meaningful communication.

The First Hello: Simple and Hopeful

After years of monitoring our TV and radio signals, our hypothetical alien visitor makes its first move. Rather than complex mathematical sequences, it opts for something more universally human: music. The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” arrives at Earth’s radio telescopes—a simple, optimistic melody with minimal cultural references that could be misinterpreted.

The message is elegant in its simplicity: “I am approaching from the direction of your sun, and I come in peace.” No complex cultural baggage, just a gentle introduction.

NASA Responds

Under immense pressure, NASA scientists scramble to respond. After brief but intense deliberation, they transmit Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”—a song that showcases Earth’s natural beauty and human appreciation for it, with straightforward descriptive language that’s hard to misinterpret.

Establishing Identity Through Frequency

As communication continues, our alien friend develops an ingenious method to differentiate between itself and humanity: bass represents the alien civilization, while treble represents Earth.

This distinction is established through a series of clever transmissions:

  • The bass-heavy opening theme from Seinfeld, immediately followed by Madonna’s “Vogue” with its higher vocal ranges
  • The deep, ominous bass from Jaws, contrasted with the high-pitched strings from Psycho’s shower scene
  • Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” bass line, followed by clips of Mariah Carey’s highest notes
  • The distinctive bass drop from Daft Punk’s “One More Time,” paired with the chipmunk-like voices from Alvin and the Chipmunks

No mathematical formulas or abstract concepts needed—just culturally familiar sounds with natural frequency separations that any human would recognize. When the ASI wants to reference itself or its civilization, it uses bass-dominant clips; when discussing humanity, it uses treble-dominant ones.

Beyond Single Songs

As communication develops, the ASI begins combining elements. It might send the five-note sequence from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” followed by The Beatles’ “Across the Universe”—establishing both an original communication pattern and reflecting human culture back to us.

This combination effectively communicates: “I am here, I am intelligent, I understand your signals, and I come in peace.”

Why This Approach Might Work

Unlike traditional SETI approaches that focus on mathematical universals, this method leverages what makes us uniquely human: our cultural expressions. It acknowledges that communication isn’t just about information exchange but about establishing connection and context.

By using familiar cultural touchstones, the alien intelligence creates an emotional bridge—starting with hope (“Here Comes the Sun”), moving to mutual appreciation (“What a Wonderful World”), and ultimately establishing distinct identities through something as fundamental as sound frequencies.

This approach reminds us that first contact might not be about proving intelligence through prime numbers or hydrogen atom frequencies. Instead, it might be about demonstrating understanding of what makes us human: our music, stories, and creative expressions.

Perhaps, in the end, the universal language isn’t math after all—it’s culture.

The Big Ring: Soft First Contact?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

This is all very curious. I know it’s kind of loony and out there to suggest this or that strange thing is “aliens,” but…this Big Ring a few billion light years away is kind of blowing my mind.

The Big Ring

The issue about The Big Ring is it just doesn’t look naturally made. It looks like some sort of intelligence was involved in its creation. But, it’s one of those things were we just don’t know.

It’s not like it’s a signal from outer space saying, “Hi! We’re aliens!” So, it’s too easy for Very Serious People to dismiss The Big Ring as just a fluke that we can’t explain, and, as such, of very natural design.

But I Want To Believe, as they say on The X Files.

I will note, however, that we are entering an election year and just imagine how the political dynamic would change if we did have some sort of Hard First Contact later this year before the election and the issue wasn’t about building a wall, but rather who would be the leader of humanity.

I think the funniest part of all of this is if First Contact happened…and nobody cared.

A Theory Of The Case: Are We Experiencing ‘Soft First Contact?’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Something…strange…is going on. It seems as though my Tik-Tok feed is full of UFO sightings just as Congress is taking the UFOs seriously. It’s enough to make you wonder if Something Is up.

And what might be “up” is something akin to First Contact…but in a very gentle way, ambiguous way. The idea would be to bust our cherry in the softest way possible so by the time Hard First Contact is necessary, we won’t be so spooked and scared by it all.

But all of this is EXTREMELY speculative. And, most of all, it brings up the question of, “Why now?” I have no idea if it’s actually happening, much less have an answer for, “Why now?” But the case might be made that relative to the metrics of some sort of galactic civilization, we’re heading towards something akin to the Singularity and, as such, we are ready for some sort of First Contact.

But I still find all of this very dubious. I guess I want something a lot closer to Hard First Contact before I will give all the bullshit being seen about UFOs here or there any credience.

The JWST & The Possibility Of ‘Soft First Contact’

By Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve written about this some before, but given that we’re about to get our first imagines from the James Web Space Telescope today and tomorrow, I thought I would talk about it some more.

I noticed that the first exoplanet that the JWST is going to look at is a bigger planet that is highly unlikely to have life on it. I’m no expert, but it sounds like they picked such a planet instead of a more Earth-like planet because they wanted to calibrate their instruments before looking for a planet that might actually have life on it.

But if you really wanted to get paranoid about it, you might suggest that they avoided an Earth-like planet for a reason. They just aren’t prepared for the consequences of “soft” First Contact so early into the project and they want to make sure that when that event happens they’ve given it some thought. The great irony would be, of course, if they picked a planet that they didn’t think would have any signs of life on it, only to find signs of life on it.

I suspect if that was the case, however, there would be intense chatter about Something Big being announced soon. But, to date, that has not been the case. NASA is not exactly known for not leaking. Or, at least, I seriously doubt they would be able to keep Soft First Contact a secret if it happened.

Now, I am a strong believer in the idea that whenever there is “soft” First Contact it just won’t matter. The public’s interest in this momentous discovery won’t last a news cycle. The only way anyone is going to care is if Little Green Men land on the White House lawn.

Otherwise, it’s all a lulz.

‘Soft First Contact’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Before I begin, let me set the stage a little bit. I, in general, don’t believe UFOs are real and generally believe the conventional wisdom that it’s impossible for Little Green Men to cross the vastness of space to actually visit earth.

And, yet.

A number of very interesting developments on the whole ET front give me pause for thought. Everything from the Chinese maybe hearing signals from another civilization to the James Web Space Telescope going on line soon are enough to make you think –are we about to have a “soft” First Contact and what would be the implications?

As I have said before — if we have “soft” First Contact, it’s going all be a lulz. No one is going to care. Yes, people like me might flip out at the implications, but in a world where America’s birthright of democracy is being stolen in broad daylight….I think it’s safe to say the average person isn’t going to care.

It would have to be something sexxy like Little Green Men landing on the front lawn of the White House in a very Day The Earth Stood Still type of situation for the average person to care. So, I think we could all know for a fact that life — including advanced life — is all over the universe and the average person just won’t care.