Gedankeneksperiment: Leaving on an alien spaceship

[Valheru]

Let's say aliens visit your back yard one night when you're home alone. They are friendly, but cannot communicate with you.

As they get back on their spaceship, they look back at you and motion, while pointing at the stars. You get the impression that they're offering you the trip of a lifetime, but it's only you, and you assume that you might not return.

Assuming that you accept the offer, you rush and grab a single item from your house. You only have time for a single item.

Which item would that be? It could be anything you have on you property and that can be carried.

[Christina]

Can I bring my dog? Can they tap into the internet so that my laptop would be useful? I suppose there's no point in bringing my meds or my camera and one additional item of clothing wouldn't make much difference. If all else fails I'd grab a peanut butter sandwich in case I got hungry on the trip.

[Valheru]

I think what I'm looking for is a discussion on what it would be like for you as "abductee" amongst aliens who don't speak English. We'll assume that these lil' green guys are swell blokes, and are very interested in you, what you think, and your well being. All your biological needs are met without you even wondering about it. What would you do to make the interaction more meaningful, and what could you take along to help that specific cause?

We'll assume for whatever reason that they cannot linger on Terra and have to leave in a hurry (a galactic wormhole is scheduled to dissipate or whatever :D), and can't take anything else except you and your one item.

[Christina]

I want my dog. I think that I could cope with the idea that they didn't speak a language that I knew and communicating by hand gestures would be fine but I would get very lonely and (if I can't have Joe) having my dog to love would be the best and warmest reminder of earth that I can think of. It would probably tell them more about us humans than anything I can think of and no other personal item would matter to me.

Maybe I'm still missing your point but it would all sound like a wonderful adventure if my dog was with me. There may be things that they would find more meaningful but I would be looking at it from my own selfish perspective.

[tjakey]

They got an "alien - English" dictionary on board? Otherwise its going to be a long trip.

[Valheru]

See, I was thinking of taking a dictionary. A descriptive encyclopedic one, not a translative one.

I'd assume that they would have the ability to learn English better than you'd have the ability to learn Martian.

A stumbling block to teaching them English would be your own limited short-term vocabulary. It would also serve as a link to your own identity.

Maybe they could perform some lexicographical analysis on it and have their computers act as interpreter?

So many assumptions one has to make though. The thought processes of an advanced alien race will likely be totally, well, alien.

[Christina]

I think that I was assuming that if they have the technology to get here and take me away that they have a plan for the language issue, otherwise we'd be very boring company.

[willynilly]

Honesty my iPod. I can't imagine not taking my music with me. I can't communicate and I am far from home forever, definitely the iPod. Who knows maybe Led Zeppelin would be appreciated there too.

[dancer_rnb]

They got an "alien - English" dictionary on board? Otherwise its going to be a long trip.

It's a cookbook! :eek:

[tjakey]

lol dancer...and I wonder how many others caught the reference...

[frazier]

It's what I was going to say - "To Serve Zorg", or something like that.

[Worldtraveller]

I'm going to bend the rules a bit, and say that I would grab something I could quickly.

I usually have a backpack with a few things in it packed most of the time. It usually has my binoculars, bird book, digital camera. It often has some trail mix and a bottle of water too. I'd probably just grab that, throw in a dictionary or thesaurus (whichever I found first), and off I'd go. :)

I'd take my cat, but she hates travelling....

[Christina]

C'mon - someone has to say that they'd bring a towel. Oolon, you should be ashamed of yourself.

[Zebulon]

I was just gonna say "towel". Beat me by two minutes! :D

Peril-sensitive sunglasses would be helpful, too.

[Zebulon]

Oh, and are we talking "aliens" of the kind that James T. Kirk always managed to find and fall in love with? ;)

[Mediancat]

Oh, and are we talking "aliens" of the kind that James T. Kirk always managed to find and fall in love with? ;)

In which case you'd bring what? Condoms? body oils?

Rob

[Anne]

oh! there's a character in some comic--- Empowered?--- who gets his powers from catching an STD from an alien...

[Eudaimonist]

Only one item? Most likely it would be some novel or non-fiction book to keep me entertained, unless I could bring my laptop and could at least do some hobby game programming or whatnot. If those aliens don't speak my language, it could be a boring trip.


eudaimonia,

Mark

[dug_down_deep]

Fresh pair of underwear, to wear while I'm washing the other ones.

[Eudaimonist]

Fresh pair of underwear, to wear while I'm washing the other ones.

Why? These are aliens. Might as well go nude.


eudaimonia,

Mark

[JamesBannon]

My Babel Fish.

[Garrett]

Oh, and are we talking "aliens" of the kind that James T. Kirk always managed to find and fall in love with? ;)

In which case you'd bring what? Condoms? body oils?

Rob
Oh, for I moment I thought you signed Rub.

[dug_down_deep]

Fresh pair of underwear, to wear while I'm washing the other ones.

Why? These are aliens. Might as well go nude.


eudaimonia,

Mark
To be polite, if nothing else. I wouldn't want to dribble on their carpet.

[mecca777]

I would probably grab one of my guitars; if other forms of communication proved too difficult at first, with the ability to produce music it may be that I could find some way of relating to whatever they listen to (assuming, of course, that they find sounds in the same frequency range as human hearing to be pleasant or even audible). Even if the aliens didn't have any music of their own, I would be able to entertain myself.

[Hevvin Machine]

Fresh pair of underwear, to wear while I'm washing the other ones.

Why? These are aliens. Might as well go nude.


eudaimonia,

Mark
To be polite, if nothing else. I wouldn't want to dribble on their carpet. Well, if you commonly "dribble' I suppose it would be polite to wear absorbent clothing amongst humans.:D But maybe an alien would see this as like holding your breath while you're inside their ship. Maybe they expect you to function normally, without having a preconceived notion about what "normal" is. Would you care if an alien expressed a bit of water vapor or argon in your house if you invited them in? How could anyone possibly know what is or is not polite in an alien culture?
Hev

[frazier]

As a slight derail, this reminds me of the famous (to me) Sergio Aragones cartoon, in which Luke Skywalker was in the bar, surrounded by dozens of strange creatures. He heads off into the bathroom to relieve himself, and is confronted by dozens of strange receptacles.

[Jaecp]

Only one thing to bring,

A kindle, loaded with everything Douglas Adams ever wrote.