Why is the UN looking for people to represent Earth in case of alien contact?

Makes me wonder who would represent Earth?

In the interest of making sure we dont come across as deceptive, i vote that instead of just a representetive we have a full board of people. a theif, a maniac, a pervert, a pathological lier, a bunch of greedy people, a scientist, a religious fundamentalist, a con artist, an intelectual, and a room full of idiots.

EDIT: have you got a source for this? i’d like to read more.

@Deja_vu
I unfortunately have little faith in the UN.
I wish the worlds top Scientist could represent us along with very skilled negotiators. I favor American’s but other democracy have people too.
I don’t want to be represented by fascist nations.
I am think aliens who observe us know who are brightest people are and are not. Would they ask to meet with them? Would they understand are insane Political structure?

@philosopher Its somewhat reasonable to assume that if an alien race has developed the technology to travels the hundreds of thousands if not millions of light years from their planet to ours, they probably have the mental capacity to fathom that we have different nations, different people, etc, etc.

Not a for sure, but a pretty likely imo.

IMHO we have been contacted. There are here watching and waiting for our planet to go to it’s next phase of progress/evolution. There have been agreements made and broken but the time is not yet to be globally known.

@tedd
I want you to be right.
However how would they know who the decent humans are?

I vote for Christine O’Donnell to be our alien contact. She definitely speaks their language.

@philosopher

Do you have any proof for your assertion? From what I can find, it’s a bit of a a stretch.

@crisw
If I had proof one way or other I would have posted it.
I have watched shows and heard theories.
This question is to find out what everyone thinks. Not to argue.
Not everything should be turned into a heated debate.
I like to have fun too.

@philosopher

Your question might then better have been posed as “Is the UN looking for people to represent Earth in case of alien contact?” As it’s written, the assumption is that they are looking for such people.

If this is indeed true, it could well be the biggest goddamn waste of resources I have ever seen.

@crisw
They are.
http://bigthink.com/ideas/24239

Because as usual their priorities are completely screwed up.

@philosopher

Thanks for the article. Interesting how so many expect they exist and we will be in contact.

Do you really expect us to commence official contact with you pathetic apes, I mean primitive savages I mean self absorbed, greedy, arrogant, oppressive, violent barbarians worthy only of extinction, I mean “humans”, unless you have some agency that has the authority to participate in negotiations for your unconditional surrender for joining the interstellar community as a worthless slave race?
Your leaders were aware of our presence for millennia, and now you start thinking about a global representative? Talk about being slow.

The referenced source is a blog. Let’s see the actual announcement.

@Jeruba
You can try cbs.com or any news source. It was announced on the news.
This question was for fun. Not for a debate about somethings that has not happened yet.
Not everything has to fit into a box. Not everything has to be practical boring and mundane.
Do you object to people using their imaginations or wondering about things. Why would you?

Object to people’s using their imaginations? Of course not. Object to representing something fanciful as the truth? Absolutely.

To be prepared no matter how unlikely such an event is.

@mattbrowne
Yes I agree. Planning is always best.