Message to Anthropologist David Orenstein

Hi David,

I loved your presentation for the Freethinkers today.  It seems to me if we are already being visited by extraterrestrials, as recent disclosures suggest, then the are almost certain not to be "takers," otherwise, they would already have taken us.  They are apparently just studying us now, and perhaps they may help us later.  There is only a remote chance they are takers but they are just biding their time, perhaps waiting for us to do ourselves in and save them the trouble.  But it seems unlikely they would want to wait and would have better means at their disposal to get the job done more quickly, perhaps sterilizing the planet with heat or radiation.  Which gets to another thought of mine.  It doesn't seem worthwhile for ET to come here just for raw materials, which can almost certainly be obtained more cheaply elsewhere.  The most useful thing they might want would be The Planet Itself situated in a wonderful orbit for carbon and water based life.  But anyway, if they've been here a long time, it seems more likely they are studying or even perhaps helping already.  I wouldn't think they would be needed for the Pyramids, but what they might be needed for is saving us from nuclear accidents and the like.  It seems we have already survived great dangers against difficult odds.  Finally I think Hawking and others are thinking too much of the limits.  With billion year science and technology, it might be more like the Heart of Gold spaceship and Infinite Improbability Drive, where you can just set the coordinates to any point in spacetime.  And then, given that such god-like technology were available, such ET's would no doubt be everywhere in the universe already.  Why?  It would seem most reasonable to believe because they would like to see more natural beauty, even if they have to help it along in most cases.  I too love Sagan and am watching Episode 13 of Cosmos tonight.  Just because you brought it up, I finally unwrapped my box set.  Thanks!