Why not? Maybe they would have excellent defenses, maybe they don’t. What if they intentionally send unmanned(?) recon ships to do first contact that are vulnerable to see how your interaction with a first contact would go. Maybe they want to see if your first reaction is to shoot it down.
Big picture, consider the possibilities, don’t get locked into a preconceived idea of who aliens are and how they would operate. Why is it that they would have to be some all powerful, untouchable, super shield wielding species/craft? What If the secret to space travel is some simple concept that doesn’t require some kind of super defense against kinetic weapons and once discovered, a species could quickly start exploring? What if an alien species that is early in their exploration of space travel finds us before they refine and perfect their spacecraft with god mode defenses? I think the holllywood view of an all powerful alien species has taken root in your mind.
Or, consider a place that didn’t have a “Dark Ages” (500AD to 1000AD) and normal progression happened. Where would we be in 500 years? That’s assuming every intelligent planet is our age, or there about.
To travel these distances they can likely fold space, or are really good sleepers We would pose as much a threat to them, as Bows and Arrows pose to us
There will always inevitably be a theory where you travel too far into technology that you wrap around and can't formulate a defense against the primitive.
E.g. a force field that can stop energy weaponry, but not kinetic weaponry.
Necessity dictates innovation.
if micro-meteorites are your concern, then a field that stops kinetics would be required.
If an energy weapon, then a different field, or perhaps a reflective surface (ie. laser) where the energy is either reflected or absorbed by a material.
If a charged particle (such as ionic cosmic rays), then you would want a magnetic field that would re-route the energy.
With our technology being able to grasp the mathematics required for folding space; but no idea what to use as "handles" to grab space; there may be a solution that manages all of them. We just don't know what we don't know.
What i do know, is I wouldn't want to be shooting a bow at a WWII battleship. I think it would end badly for me. I may not be able to hurt them, but I could make them irritated.
Why not? Maybe they would have excellent defenses, maybe they don’t. What if they intentionally send unmanned(?) recon ships to do first contact that are vulnerable to see how your interaction with a first contact would go. Maybe they want to see if your first reaction is to shoot it down.
Big picture, consider the possibilities, don’t get locked into a preconceived idea of who aliens are and how they would operate. Why is it that they would have to be some all powerful, untouchable, super shield wielding species/craft? What If the secret to space travel is some simple concept that doesn’t require some kind of super defense against kinetic weapons and once discovered, a species could quickly start exploring? What if an alien species that is early in their exploration of space travel finds us before they refine and perfect their spacecraft with god mode defenses? I think the holllywood view of an all powerful alien species has taken root in your mind.
Or, consider a place that didn’t have a “Dark Ages” (500AD to 1000AD) and normal progression happened. Where would we be in 500 years? That’s assuming every intelligent planet is our age, or there about.
To travel these distances they can likely fold space, or are really good sleepers We would pose as much a threat to them, as Bows and Arrows pose to us
There will always inevitably be a theory where you travel too far into technology that you wrap around and can't formulate a defense against the primitive.
E.g. a force field that can stop energy weaponry, but not kinetic weaponry.
Like the marines who got past an advanced detection system by hiding in a box.
Necessity dictates innovation. if micro-meteorites are your concern, then a field that stops kinetics would be required. If an energy weapon, then a different field, or perhaps a reflective surface (ie. laser) where the energy is either reflected or absorbed by a material.
If a charged particle (such as ionic cosmic rays), then you would want a magnetic field that would re-route the energy.
With our technology being able to grasp the mathematics required for folding space; but no idea what to use as "handles" to grab space; there may be a solution that manages all of them. We just don't know what we don't know.
What i do know, is I wouldn't want to be shooting a bow at a WWII battleship. I think it would end badly for me. I may not be able to hurt them, but I could make them irritated.
Or what if the interstellar aliens really are super-advanced?
Probably. But I love the idea of interstellar travelers who are actually very primitive, and stumbled onto the tech, but have no idea how it works.