Alien Embassies

We often imagine encountering many alien civilizations, and establishing trade and relationships with them, but what would being an alien ambassador be like?
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Credits:
Alien Embassies
Episode 446a; May 12, 2024
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur
Editors: Briana Brownell & Mark Warburton
Graphics:
Darth Biomech
Legiontech Studios
Sergio Botero
YD Visual
Music Courtesy of
Epidemic Sound epidemicsound.com/creator
Stellardrone, "Red Giant", "Ultra Deep Field"
Sergey Cheremisinov, "Labyrinth" "Forgotten Stars"
Taras Harkavyi, "Alpha and ..."
Lombus, "Cosmic Soup", "Hydrogen Sonata"

[@johndegroot3124]

Isaac's depictions of aliens usually are very slender for their height. Obviously the aliens are not grabbing a drink and a snack every time they view one of Isaac's videos.

[@professorracc.9780]

he only uploads once every few days so idk what lembas bread ass snacks youve been eating that it would get you fat

[@spyder4201]

Booooooo!

[@spyder4201]

Who am I lying to? That was great.

[@katarishigusimokirochepona6611]

😂

[@Nehmo]

I've always thought Isaac is somewhat inconsiderate with that suggestion. There are plenty of people who can't get a drink and snack, but they still can view the video. Isaac assumes everybody is on a couch with a refrigerator a few feet away.

[@TiagoTiagoT]

A classic example of interspecies social faux-pas, is how humans tend to see smiles as positive expressions, but for many animals species here on Earth, baring teeth in any way is at the very least an "or else..." kinda of statement, if not an outright provocation.

[@SkorjOlafsen]

If an alien landed and revealed its terrifying Ct'hulhu-tentacled form in the modern era, half the world would just say "hey Squidward" or make a Davy Jones joke, and get on with their day. Overexposure to CGI and gaming has made us a bit jaded with the exotic and bizarre.

[@fatweeb1545]

rule34 artists would have a field day too

[@TheRezro]

The irony is that it most likely would look like human. Using robot to do the talking.

[@user-nx1cc4rq5d]

What's bizarre about a squid face squids have it right here on earth no aliens needed

[@CorwynGC]

If you are worried about their appearance rather than their minds, you are likely to be doomed.

[@captsorghum]

They would just think they were Thermians and try to initiate a romantic relationship.

[@aiautobot]

I can attest to this. As the leader of the Galactic Mechanical Annihilators in Stellaris, I’ve found it very difficult to maintain diplomatic ties with other alien factions. They just don’t wanna work with me.

[@iivin4233]

Let me help you--become a cog in my immortal machine.

[@TheRezro]

They refuse to die for peace?

[@0326jlc]

They scream to loudly while donating spare parts?

[@bengunderson712]

Well, if you would accept my commercial pacts instead of being all "Gestalt," I might keep the embassy open ;)

[@EdT.-xt6yv]

Ahi CARAMBA i

[@yourbuddyunit]

I'm commander shepherd, and this is my favorite shop on the citadel.

[@DavidJohnson-mo7fq]

Another clone!?

[@eh1600]

Diplomatic immuniteeeh!

[@pyeitme508]

Then got headshot. :P

[@eh1600]

@@pyeitme508 gets vaporized by ronald raygun*

[@Russo-Delenda-Est]

So Hammer, you can't sue!

[@genkidamatrunks6759]

-head roll.... it's Just been revoked

[@TempOne-vh4fd]

immuni-ta is the correct way to say it nonhuman.😂

[@Anime10100]

@25:53 When Planet Express from Futurama went to the moon, finding an Bart Simpsons doll saying "Eat my shorts" and Bender saids "OK!" and ate them... HAHA

[@Anime10100]

P.S. Giant Garbage Ball. Not the MOON...

[@adolfodef]

@@Anime10100 [Technically Speaking] Since it was a roundish object big enough to have its own gravity inside the sphere of influence of Earth... it was "a moon" [the actual trajectory does not matter].

[@keirfarnum6811]

🎼”We’re whalers on the moon! We carry a harpoon, but there ain’t no whales, so we tell tall tales, and sing our whaling tune...!”🎼

[@joelkreissman6342]

The gift shop episode with the alien trying on a human mask was hilarious.

[@UpliftedCapybara]

International relations and sci-fi, it doesn’t get much better than that! I know it is niche, but I love it

[@MrJay_White]

i hate it. far too often it boils down to victorian-esqe ballroom bullshit. pedo politician costumes included. ian douglas' star carrier covered it the best iv seen. aka, virtually impossible, even if you leave it to ai to do the talking.

[@matthewmcbride2893]

First and foremost, your username is an 11 out 10. Absolutely transcendently good. And I agree. I am more interested in the nitty gritty of scifi than the sweeping stories usually haha

[@Dang_Near_Fed_Up]

Then give Babylon 5 a try, just be forewarned you have to set through season 1 and wait for things to get good in season 2. There is so much background material to set up that it takes a full season to get rolling. But it is absolutely worth the wait. I own a lot of DVD's, and Babylon 5 is the only box set that never gathers dust. In fact it's in my player now. No matter how many times I watch it, I always seem to find something new in this show.

[@UpliftedCapybara]

@@Dang_Near_Fed_Up I think I will give it a try then. Thanks for the recommendation!

[@Dang_Near_Fed_Up]

@@UpliftedCapybara I think part of the reason this series didn't catch on immediately is that they actually THINK their way out, instead of blast their way out, many times in the series. Personally I like it more when brains rules over brawn. And diplomacy is the name of the game when possible in B5. It also gives a master class in spotting propaganda, via the so called news media.

[@TheHomelessDreamer]

I think we're in good shape, I translated the Alien Ambassador's book's cover, it says "To Serve Man"

[@keirfarnum6811]

“It’s a cookbook!” 😂

[@NarwahlGaming]

Don't blame me! I voted for Kodos.

[@aj-gd2bq]

Maaan I forget where this reference is from and it's killing me 😂😂😂

[@acadiano10]

A twist on Galaxy Quest where the aliens watched Stargate, figured out the technology, and open a stable wormhole around the orbit of Neptune. And the UN pays Richard Dean Anderson handsomely to make initial contact. Let's get him on longevity treatment just in case.

[@TheRezro]

What is interesting, this show actually address perception differences, unlike most serious shows.

[@PartigradeCannon]

One additional caveat is that the Minbari had stealth technology that prevented the humans from scanning them effectively, so a bunch of aliens whose ships you can barely discern and can't tell if they are readying to fire, knock out their FTL engines and what little sensor data they can gleam is telling them they've got their gunports open.

[@TheRezro]

TBH that was they fault. Good for narrative, not good for showing someone as smart. IRL exchanging contact protocols is extremely important in diplomacy. For example Russians do not understand diplomacy and it make more sense to do backroom deal with them.

[@sulljoh1]

"He insulted our fat queen!" ―Space Bee (Worker) "You try keeping your figure after 10,000 kids!" ―Space Bee Queen

[@crappycomputer77t1]

This is actually hilarious, thank you Isaac Arthur. 👍 As I told my friend yesterday “science can be fun and deadly!”

[@mckylecfc]

Love the sci-fi visuals but i tire of the trope of aliens not having invented clothes despite having figured out how to cross the stars

[@DirtyHippy420]

Aliens dont wear clothes duh

[@mckylecfc]

@@DirtyHippy420 must be getting in the way of the schience..🤔

[@DirtyHippy420]

@@mckylecfc scientifically speaking aliens give the best head

[@avishalom2000lm]

Or what looks like naked bodies is an exoskeleton or skin-tight suit. Perfect if you are in a different gravity field or biome than you're used to

[@friendlyone2706]

@@avishalom2000lm Most likely -- loose clothing could cause problems if it snags on the wrong thing or accidentally actuates a surface sensitive control. Plus skin tight would be easier to set for personally preferred temperature/humidity/pressure levels. If humans can disagree if a room is too hot or too cold, why can't aliens?

[@jimmywrangles]

Thanks for the upload, I just went outside and tried to see the Aurora Australia but alas...no joy. Luckily there's an Isaac upload to keep me happy.

[@TGBurgerGaming]

Same problem. The city of lights isnt all its cracked up to be.

[@pll3827]

'And the scene comes off like an alien ambassador arriving on Earth and walking down the ramp of his ship and firing a machine gun off wildly in the air...' My fellow American!

[@Dang_Near_Fed_Up]

The exact opposite takes place in "The Day The Earth Stood Still" (1951 version) he pulled out a communication device and get's shot by a jumpy soldier. And I dare say this is far more likely to happen than the other to happen. Great movie by the way, if you have not seen it. It is worth the time to watch it.

[@sobertillnoon]

You should come to the station's comedy club. You'll be able to hear my tight 5 about the big five on B5.

[@Preciouspink]

Ambassador Fox: "Diplomacy gentlemen.A thing best handled by diplomats. Engineer Scott: "Aye,the best diplomat i know,is a fully charged phaser bank".

[@reimiyasaka]

Isaac is describing my job as a translator better than just about anyone I've met. The stuff about the "one in a million odds" sounding weirdly specific is true even when translating from Japanese to English. And the decision to use or not to use any seemingly benign idiom or expression is a case-by-case political, psychological and sensory problem that has kept our job secure even up until now with GPT4. Alas, we end up in impossible situations way, way, way more often than people on either side realize.

[@dariustiapula]

Lets not name it "Babylon".

[@darrellhagopian9406]

Not even the fifth one?

[@cosmictreason2242]

Or Zion 👀

[@jasonGamesMaster]

​@@darrellhagopian9406All the Centauri said I was daft to build an embassy in the swamp, but I built it all the same, just to show them! It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third one. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up until it was stolen by a Human who was going to become a Mimbari so they could take it back in time to fight a war against the Shadows! - The guy trying to sell the Earth Alliance on building Babylon 5, probably.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

I think the official in-universe reason is because the station is in the "Euphrates Sector"

[@cosmictreason2242]

@@isaacarthurSFIA as someone who hasn't seen it i truly thought the reference was to many different (alien) languages being spoken there. Huh.

[@kavaskous]

Mass Effect's story was amazing. Their fermi paradox solution truly was terrifying.

[@markymark8]

Can you explain what the solution was? I have never played the games.

[@HOLDENPOPE]

@@markymark8 robot space squids harvesting civilizations. No more detail than that.

[@TheRezro]

@@HOLDENPOPE We do not talk about annunaki here.

[@gimzod76]

Up until the third one. After that it's been downhill

[@TheRezro]

@@gimzod76 They from eldritch horror become generic villain in third one already. It is why so many people prefer to believe that Shepard was brainwashed, instead.

[@BitcoinMoonShot]

I love the Moties. It was a black mirror novel. The "Moties" are us. They were limited by our same space travel limitations and what could happen if we adapted to the solar a system at constant nuclear war after a few million years. Plus the humans in those novels only had 3 real technologies we don't have yet. But we are closer now to a couple of those 😊 That Hell Raiser reference made me giggle too. Great episode.

[@Boblw56]

It must be difficult figuring out the rest room situation for multiple species.

[@acadiano10]

It's difficult enough for just one species 😅

[@tristanbackup2536]

We get confused because of the trans crap going on. Aliens would just make it difficult.

[@f1b0nacc1sequence7]

I realize that this isn't an embassy per se, but Niven's tales of The Draco Tavern might be an interesting subject for discussion in this context.

[@jacoblong756]

What I love about this channel is how Isaac uses science to debunk SciFi classics like Mass Effect, but then show that reality could be even more awesome. Like hey you won't have FTL, but this one little star cluster could have trillions of civilizations bigger than every space opera combined!

[@jodrakhanthewonderful1642]

I highly recommend Larry Nivens "Draco Tavern" stories. Covers the similar topic of running a multi-species drinking establishment and all the problems that go along with it. Including what to do when a Gligsith(click)optok orders a meat broth soup...

[@kento7899]

Has Isaac done a video on interspecies dating and possible interspecies cross-breeding? That might be fun.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Yes, cohabitation with aliens

[@TheRezro]

@@isaacarthurSFIA For reminder in Star Wars and Star Trek most species were created by Progenitor specie. It is why they tend to be so similar and even have crossbreed ability. Though in the Trek it demand medical intervention removing genetic conflicts in DNA. Speaking of that one of solutions for this problem is to have aliens to be actually just different races of humans. Either as progenitor civilisation itself. Or species being intentional genetic or cybernetic modifications (rather those later as genetics are unpredictable). With omnipresent implications of cyberpunk, future may be more Furry then people think. Vastly underused solution.

[@xXx_Regulus_xXx]

​@@TheRezronah

[@UrdnotChuckles]

There's definitely a lot of storytelling potential here! Heck, I wrote a book about stuff like this a few years back. Maybe I'll even get it published one day, who knows. :) Aliens showing up and wanting to play nice and build embassies would like catch a lot of people off guard to say the least. Especially if they genuinely meant it with little to no ulterior motives.

[@arcadiaberger9204]

Your final scenario set in the Pleiades reminded me of my idea for a hard-SF reboot of *_Star Trek,_* in which the *_Enterprise_* would be the first of a new class of high-thrust spacecraft which could reduce travel time around the Solar System to weeks rather than months and allowed for the possibility for the creation of a true federation among the planets. The Vulcans were the genetically-engineered settlers of terraformed Mars, while the Klingons were the settlers of the Jovian moons, and people more closely tied to Earth lived on Luna and various asteroids which the *_Enterprise_* would visit, as well as more remote moons of Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, &c., with their own engineered inhabitants.

[@aurigo_tech]

Only now, after so many years, do I realize that Mass Effect is basically an interactive version of Babylon 5 - just slightly renamed and restyled.

[@brianfox771]

Ouch, yeah I figured it out after my first play-through back in 2008. I was and am a huge Babylon 5 fan, so the story seemed very familiar. Mass Effect always seemed an amalgam of Babylon 5 and the newer Battlestar Galactica with a dash of Firefly.

[@juliahenriques210]

Definitely. So much so that they even made a "Sheridan ending".

[@Northerner-Not-A-Doctor]

27:10 Humans can agree on the metric vs imperial issue. It is only one small nation (3,5% of humans) who despite offically adapting it somehow still uses the imperial system on the streets, yet that nation define it using the metric system.

[@ornu01]

Just make sure you don't get on the wrong side of a guy named Retief.

[@rundata]

😂😂

[@iandennis7836]

Indeed......😁

[@katarishigusimokirochepona6611]

? Can someone explain this reference please?

[@katarishigusimokirochepona6611]

Ah, found it: "Jame Retief is the main character in a series of satirical science fiction stories by Keith Laumer. The stories were written over a span of thirty years beginning in the early 1960s, without much regard for chronology or any particular scheme."

[@ornu01]

@@katarishigusimokirochepona6611 Yes, he was a member of the Diplomatic Corps with a certain reputation that was at odds with his bland mannerisms.

[@section8usmc53]

There's an episode of X Minus One (old time radio show) about this titled "The Embassy."

[@marcelgrabowski5939]

Now, persuading aliens in stellaris to name me galactic emperor with thunderous aplause by usage of hilarious ammounts of raw mineral gifts.

[@NarwahlGaming]

Alien: _"These are very valuable on Earth, you say?"_ Marc: _"Extremely."_ Alien 2: _"And what did you call them?"_ Marc: _"Pogs."_

[@MrKIMBO345]

As graduate of the International Relationship, I find this subject as interesting as alien can be different on culture and government.

[@TheRezro]

They are different on literally everything. The term is Eldritch. You would most likely talk with AI anyway. As only it could translate discussion on interpretative tail dance, used by theoretical aliens for communication.

[@johnfairhurstReviews]

Keith Laumer's Retief stories are technically about a pair of diplomats at large, though they aren't set in one location, and Retief himself isn't what one might think of as the perfect diplomat 🙂

[@timedeathe]

Im Happy this topic is getting the light of the day

[@cannonfodder4376]

An excellent sci-fi sunday episode Isaac. I can only hope other sci-fi writers take inspiration from this to make more realistic stories.

[@Kargoneth]

I can't imagine how intractable diplomatic relations might be. It may be impossible in many circumstances. Diplomacy requires great communication skills (not just verbal, but all other possible ways to communicate), great imagination, great patience, and great research.

[@TheRezro]

I'm 99% sure AI would do most of the job. I don't see Earth Ambasador learning synchronic farting.

[@dagnation9397]

@@TheRezro Beans beans the diplomatic fruit....

[@Dang_Near_Fed_Up]

@@TheRezro I wouldn't trust AI with something so delicate. Case in point, I saw some AI "art" where the dragon rider had fiery breath instead of the dragon, because the instructions had no punctuation. Adding a simple comma fixed it. Would you want to risk the life of everyone on Earth to AI, when it can be messed up so simply by a mere missing comma?

[@smoore6461]

I love sci-fi Sundays!! Always great food for thought!

[@greggweber9967]

23:15 There was a short story in which communications with the recently arrived alien could only be in one room. It turned out that the TV on the wall was really a one way mirror with the alien in the next room. They didn't want us to get the wrong impression of them. Shining enough light through the glass and a cup shape muzzle allowed seeing the alien which looked like a medieval drawing of the Devil.

[@Tundra.]

Are you just describing Childhood's End? That's a whole book.

[@alfredlaalpacadeageofempir9215]

"¡Ahora no Robin! Necesito tener una pequeña charla con el Alfa Centauriano Cyborg."

[@jasonGamesMaster]

The Babylon 5 episode! Wooot

[@mrnnhnz]

When you said, "...Interacting with an alien species with completely different social cues is like trying to understand modern internet slang as a Victorian: baffling, slightly horrifying, but profoundly educational." I'd thought, after the word "modern," you were about to say, "art." ...which the same could be said about it!

[@dkall8101]

That comparison to Pinhead made me laugh out loud

[@aceundead4750]

If my coworker doesn't keep real eyes in a jar anymore where am i supposed to get the jelly for my bread?

[@JAGzilla-ur3lh]

Actually, it's quite good on toast.

[@wk8219]

I love the ending. Zaphod Beebelbrox gets a lot fewer mentions thanthan I think he deserves.

[@mikemoore4033]

My nomination for best depiction of an alien ambassador (written SF) is Speaker-to-Animals from Larry Niven’s Ringworld.

[@OmusKnowsAll]

Thanks Isaac! This informs my diplomatic writings for my galactic Commonwealth saga.

[@michaelpettersson4919]

Have you noticed how Vulcans are typically depicted in Star Trek from a cultural point of View? Apperantly while allied with humans there tend to be a lot of cultural friction in between them. However I do get the impression that the Vulcans serving on Human dominated starships have shown that they can overcome that friction. Point being two cultures can be generally uncomfortable around each other but you probably will find individuals that can handle the stress and eventually get along fine. An alien empire are unlikely to appoint someone with a "kill all humans" attitude as an ambassador. That is unless the idea is to declare war.

[@comentedonakeyboard]

The main purpose of Alien Embasies is to provide your Diplomats Acces to familiar Snacks and Drinks.

[@Alexander-tu3iv]

A memory called empire actually does a really good take on an alien ambassador story, even though everyone involved is human.

[@joefarah06]

I didn’t think this would be so interesting but great job!

[@mandogundam5779]

Everybody sounds so smart in the threads. I'm over here in the first few seconds thinking like, 'why does the alien get to be naked but the human has to wear a space suit.?' 😆

[@PorElBienDelGuion]

Perhaps their "skin" is an artificial exoskeleton, like a far more advanced version of a human spacesuit.

[@cillianennis9921]

Like 30 minutes ago I was looking for this & bam you release it. Thank you. After watching Babylon 5 it really makes you think about how interesting space diplomacy will be. Like say what you will about the star wars prequels but they definitely show an interesting & corrupt system of a semi-united space alliance.

[@MrJay_White]

both those settings boil down interspecies diplomacy to psudo-victorian apes posturing in barely sentient shit slinging matches.

[@kinnellian]

Embassadorial interaction tends to be 'Like goes to like' together with it's handmaiden - the concept of 'Going native'. Ambassadors seldom interact with the plebs - it's intermediaries all the way down. By the time you are in a position where there are multiple 'High' Ambassadors in the same room - they have coalesced around a common, acceptable cultural and language point, with a long history of weeding out the 'incompatible' elements. One may well interact with 'Alien Ambassadors' but they'll be the ones mutually suited - probably you will have very little chance of being anywhere near the top of the Ambassadorial rung. Possibly you might, but if you want to be, well... you'll have to know what (and who) you have to do to climb there. There will also be many above you who have a lot of experience (and vested interest) in making sure you don't get anywhere near anywhere, or anyone where you could be an embarrasment - you uncultured swine. I believe it's an universal constant: There are no great difficulties surrounding interstellar, or interplanetary Embassies and Ambassadors - those great difficulties no longer... exist.

[@greggweber9967]

8:24 Until someone starts drawing dashed lines. Then you can have a war.

[@Dang_Near_Fed_Up]

The fact that man can understand each other is nothing short of a miracle based off of common experiences, given the number of languages man speaks. To be able to understand an alien is likely to be impossible. Case in point, think how many ways "animal protector" could be translated. Everything from dog catcher to zoo keeper to exterminator could be inferred, and that's only 2 words.

[@I-02]

That opening one-liner got a good chuckle out of me.

[@realChewky]

This episode is perfect for my snack. I got 12 air-fried cheese sticks, 4 jalapeño poppers, 3 chicken tenders with reaper seasoning, a bag of white cheddar popcorn, a two liter ice-cold mr pibb, and ten pizzas. I'm ready! 😊

[@melvinjansen2338]

Best video on the citadel

[@fanOmry]

Hey... had a thought. Inspired by the tethered ring. A cheaper, easier version. Instead of a ring, Use a bunch of airships, they are anchored to the ground with kevlar ropes, and meat at the middle point that in closer by air to all the anchors, than the point it is over... Now make connecting ropes between them. A spider web. And that is your basis for a launch platform. You make that join, base, peak top point at around 10k up, and you are now over 90% of the air mass. You can now have an SSO(Single Stage to Orbit) as an easy possibility.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Load-bearing Buoyancy gets tricky at altitudes high enough to usefully clear the atmosphere

[@fanOmry]

@@isaacarthurSFIA Honestly, the Boyncy here is just so it doesn't need as much fuel... It can drones, too, whatever. They are there to just drag the Kevlar ropes and join them to begin a spiderweb base for a platform.

[@caitgems1]

My favourite channel ❤️

[@PennyAfNorberg]

I have a filter idea: The moon, ie lagre moon to earthlike planet, can't be that that common in the galaxy

[@sexyshadowcat7]

That's under "Rare Earth" and it's been discussed in the series.

[@larrye.goinesjr.1535]

"In-Situ", Is Out Of This World?!?

[@Versudan]

Can't wait for the day when a specific Hub with an iconic jingle to the start of every video adds 'interstellar' as a category. Not to be confused with 'interspecies', which is considered illegal or at least questionably ethical by every major star fairing civilization.

[@michaelfonda5409]

The DMZ space station in Battlestar Galactica was kind of an embassy too

[@TGBurgerGaming]

Mass Effects citadel is great machinations, imposing sanctions, hegemony, genocide, conquest, slavery, break away regions, secrets, an elite club at the top, forbidden artifacts and uplifting primitives.

[@TheRezro]

It is a space opera. Harbinger is closer to how actual alien relation would look like. Until they F it up.

[@AleksandrPodyachev]

Thanks!

[@franckmalers2299]

Imagine an alien race coming in and willing to exchange tech for a place to live or raw materials like soil. I'd be very suspicious because it means their tech did not save them from crumbling ecosystem.

[@donperegrine922]

Soil might be extremely intricate! It's made of silicates, clays, decaying wood,.... But it's also very specific to earth. If they came asking for soil (more than a researchers quantity) I'd be suspicious ..because they are building an earth ecosystem, som where. Not illegal, just very weird

[@franckmalers2299]

@@donperegrine922 Soil appears early in evolution of a planet. There was soil before micro organism learned to digest dead wood. early micro organisms should be the same everywhere in the cosmos and as soil is made by them, I tend to think soil should be almost the same everywhere as well. that's just an opinion of course but it makes sense to me.

[@cosmictreason2242]

@@franckmalers2299 that is the logical conclusion of cosmic/stellar/chemical/biological evolution. I don't even agree, am YEC, but i can consider a worldview from its own merits by taking its premises for granted. Basic reasoning I'm baffled more people can't do tbh. Anyway yes, if single celled life evolves on a planet, there should be soil, because all that really is is a mixture of mineral and organic matter

[@donperegrine922]

@@franckmalers2299 hhmm....now I don't know. That makes sense too.

[@franckmalers2299]

@@cosmictreason2242 what is "YEC" ?

[@troydavis1]

You forgot one of the most iconic exemples of space ambassadors, the 1975 french comic book classic of Valerian, voyageur spatio-temporel, aka Valerian et Laureline, called the Ambassador of the Shadows, in the setting of Point Central, the place where races in the galaxy meet, a giant space habitat built piece by piece by each race adding their piece ! You may not know this series but its been around since 1967 !! Please read the original comic book series!!

[@nihilusdirus]

Its sad that there's few details on the alien faces in the thumbnail, as it used to be one of my greatest joys to see the crazy imaginations of the artists who made the thumbnails, and being able to identify the deliberation of their brushstrokes around a froglike face with orange hair, or an insectoid face with laser-like eyes....etc

[@S.ASmith]

Commander Sheppard, the galaxy's best diplomat We'll bang ok?

[@netherportals]

10:08 nice portal

[@f1b0nacc1sequence7]

Watching this, I am reminded of the brilliant opening scene from "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets"

[@aishalotter9995]

I like most of that film some of it was a bit shit though !!!

[@vincentcleaver1925]

And one part tailor!

[@jimflask1164]

The guys we met. Our decade together. What we learned is so incredible. One day people will have a positive attitude. Instead of the extreme violence at any mention of the word "alien". We will be able to share our story. Understand the technology being discussed. The better questions we can ask the better our lessons will be. When your teacher is an alien. You can only imagine what we have already learned from just our tiny group. That was willing to dig in and research instead of reacting in completely blind RAGE!!!. All the diplomacy is already settled. There is nothing to do but prove we want to be humans.

[@businessmonkey4726]

I need an "Isaac Arthur" approved SciFi book list!

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

My website has a tab of recommended books isaacarthur.net

[@Jean-Luc_Renard]

Funny. It just so happens that I'm writing a story about a human ambassador to an alien civilization. I guess I won't have as much competition as I thought. Cool.

[@TheRezro]

Yeh... common trope in Sci Fi. Completely unrealistic IRL.

[@Dang_Near_Fed_Up]

No ambassador negotiates like Delenn, though Korben Dallas comes close. Of course what do you expect from someone who had to pass inspection from the Vorlon, and by Jack The Ripper himself to get the job.

[@House_of_Zodd]

Listening to this while playing Mass Effect 3

[@MidwitObservations]

Love you SFIA!!!!

[@Arational]

Peter Jackson's first movie 'Bad Taste' explores the aliens harvesting humans genre.

[@Johnrich395]

"Humans can't agree on metric vs. imperial" Me sitting here listening at work as I convert an imperial machine into a metric machine for international customers.... 🙄😖😣😮‍💨😓

[@stonergaming-vy8ub]

Let's gooooooooooo new sfia

[@jssomewhere6740]

By the time we find aliens will those aliens be us. Sending out explorers that are basically one way trips. It Could turn the descendants of those explorers into what would appear to be aliens.

[@evensgrey]

This episode reminded me of another of Larry Niven's Draco Tavern stories. One of the first humans to travel outside the Sol System is at the bar, when he suddenly blanches and turns away from one of the species that's known to like meat broth and vodka, and have extremely high biotech. When asked, he explains that the species he turned away from is Earth's main source of off-world currency. In the form of a small royalty payment for...vat grown meat, cloned from all the members of the team that went to their world. Everything from individual steak equivalents to a whole, headless human body as a roast. This time, the man-eating aliens are completely civilized and harm no humans at all, and save a fortune on shipping costs. The team leader blew his brains out once they got home. The story ends with the waitress coming up to the bar and not quite being able to say what kind of meat broth the aliens just inquired about the availability of, and the bartender tells her to tell them they'll take Campbells, and like it. (For those from places outside North America, Campbells is a popular and long-standing brand of canned soup of many kinds.)

[@DanielGenis5000]

There’s a fine novel on this subject called Embassytown, by China Mièville. He has some compelling fantasy work, the Perdido Street trilogy, and my favorite of his is The City & The City. BBC made a great four part show out of it. Unfortunately, the man is a committed Marxist.

[@NotHumanPerson]

What do you think about Perry rhodan?

[@JAGzilla-ur3lh]

The ambassadors are Jedi Knights, I believe...

[@Toven_WaveWatcherFi]

"New forehead of the week"🤣🤣🤣

[@Arational]

Zaphod is just this guy, you know.

[@lgjm5562]

If assuming social cues is a potential problem with xenos, then maybe people with high functioning autism may make good diplomats to the galactic council. In that they are used to studying social cues like a foreign language.

[@sergiotorres1069]

Favorite alien embassies are in earth final conflict

[@timezone5259]

For some reason I read it as alien embarrassments

[@jasonGamesMaster]

I mean, waving seen Babylon 5, I'd say that embarrassing aliens is a key component of most of the individual episode plotlines, lol

[@prophetofthesingularity]

If we ever did meet an Alien civilization or even if somehow we could communicate with them it could show us just how much our evolution on this planet has shaped our nature. I always find it interesting that the most natural element that almost all animals share is being either hunter or prey. Many animals have to kill to survive, including us for most of our evolution and suppose we met a form of alien life where every life form on the planet simply got energy from photosynthesis or heat and they did not have to kill other species to survive. Would that have shaped them to be peaceful or would they have still become like and want to expand and conquer. Maybe our view of colonizing space and expansion would not be shared by them.

[@ArawnOfAnnwn]

It's worth noting that conflict and territory are not concepts dependent on carnivorous diets, just competition which is baked into the very process of evolution. A completely herbivorous or even photosynthetic species may very well have such concepts.

[@juliahenriques210]

They don't need to view what we could call harmful it as competing. Symbiotic fungi might see sporing our brains and killing 90% of humans as uplifting us, since with time we'll all benefit and our species will be much more cooperative and flourish to at least 100 times our current population. They know better. They've done this dozens of times before, and they've even had entire species begging them for the privilege, but turned some down. They'd never understand why we'd fight so hard against what's clearly best for us. Sentient plants could just act neutral and negligently, destroying our infrastructure and changing our ecosystems at will, since they know we'll either adapt around them or die, and as long as we don't cut them down they couldn't care less.

[@garrygriggs1888]

How can a hive mind which has no concept of aggression have escalation or de-escalation policy's

[@Dang_Near_Fed_Up]

Yes imagine trying to negotiate with the Borg

[@MusikCassette]

27:10 humans did agree on metric.

[@Dang_Near_Fed_Up]

Not everyone uses the metric system, USA for instance still has both in common use. And even when the metric system is adopted countries can not even agree on what size is correct for the measure of the same name. A meter in most metric countries is 39 inches, in others it is 42, and in 1 country it is closer to 50. That's a huge difference for something with the very same name.

[@MusikCassette]

@@Dang_Near_Fed_Up that is just muricans being weird. to your second point, the meter is actually well defined. It is the inch and foot and so on, that has different length in different places.

[@joserubenrodriguezfuentes]

Babylon 5 in real Life !!!!....