This is a clip from a conversation with Michio Kaku from Oct 2019. New full episodes once or twice a week and 1-2 new clips or a new non-podcast video on all other days. You can watch the full conversation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD5yc1LQrpQ
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Michio Kaku is a theoretical physicist, futurist, and professor at the City College of New York. He is the author of many fascinating books on the nature of our reality and the future of our civilization.

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So, if aliens do, alien species were to make contact, forgive me for staying on aliens for a bit longer, do you think they're more likely to be friendly, to befriend us, or to destroy us?

Well, I think for the most part, they'll pretty much ignore us.

If you were a deer in the forest, who do you fear the most?

Do you fear the hunter with his gigantic 16 gauge shotgun?

Or do you fear the guy with a briefcase and glasses?

Well, the guy with a briefcase could be a developer About to basically flatten the entire forest destroying your livelihood So instinctively you may be afraid of the hunter, but actually the problem with deers in the forest is that they should fear developers because developers look at deer as simply getting in the way.

If you read the book, the aliens did not have evil intentions toward homo sapiens.

So I think we have to realize that alien civilizations may view us quite differently than in science fiction novels Yeah, however, I personally believe and I cannot prove any of this I personally believe that they're probably gonna be peaceful because there's nothing that they want from our world I mean, what are they gonna take us?

No, gold is a useless metal for the most part.

It's silver, I mean, it's gold in color, but that only affects Homo sapiens.

Platinum-based elements, rare earths for their electronics, yeah, maybe.

But other than that, we have nothing to offer them.

People love Shakespeare, and they love the arts and poetry, but outside of the earth, they mean nothing.

I mean, when I write down an equation in string theory, I would hope that on the other side of the galaxy, there's an alien writing down that very same equation in different notation.

But that alien on the other side of the galaxy, Shakespeare, poetry, Hemingway, It would mean nothing to him or her or it you


Speaker 0: So, if aliens do, alien species were to make contact, forgive me for staying on aliens for a bit longer, do you think they're more likely to be friendly, to befriend us, or to destroy us?

Speaker 1: Well, I think for the most part, they'll pretty much ignore us. If you were a deer in the forest, who do you fear the most? Do you fear the hunter with his gigantic 16 gauge shotgun? Or do you fear the guy with a briefcase and glasses? Well, the guy with a briefcase could be a developer About to basically flatten the entire forest destroying your livelihood So instinctively you may be afraid of the hunter, but actually the problem with deers in the forest is that they should fear developers because developers look at deer as simply getting in the way.

I mean in War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, the aliens did not hate us. If you read the book, the aliens did not have evil intentions toward homo sapiens. No, we were in their way. So I think we have to realize that alien civilizations may view us quite differently than in science fiction novels Yeah, however, I personally believe and I cannot prove any of this I personally believe that they're probably gonna be peaceful because there's nothing that they want from our world I mean, what are they gonna take us?

What are they gonna take us for, gold? No, gold is a useless metal for the most part. It's silver, I mean, it's gold in color, but that only affects Homo sapiens. Squirrels don't care about gold. And so gold is a rather useless element.

Rare earths, maybe. Platinum-based elements, rare earths for their electronics, yeah, maybe. But other than that, we have nothing to offer them. I mean, think about it for a moment. People love Shakespeare, and they love the arts and poetry, but outside of the earth, they mean nothing.

Absolutely nothing. I mean, when I write down an equation in string theory, I would hope that on the other side of the galaxy, there's an alien writing down that very same equation in different notation. But that alien on the other side of the galaxy, Shakespeare, poetry, Hemingway, It would mean nothing to him or her or it you

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Michio Kaku: Would Aliens Destroy Us? | AI Podcast Clips