/sci/ - Science & Math

/sci/
describe a realistic first contact scenario.

WARNING, this is long and i make the following (possibly erroneous) assumptions;
-they are corporeal
-they are organic
-they see on somewhat similar wavelengths
-they communicate vocally or in some meaningful way we can compensate for
-their language is able to be translated into english
-our technology levels are marginally similar (within 200-600 years)

WAY I SEE IT:
will most likely happen a few decades after the initial invention of FTL (it will happen, somehow, some when) so we have time to spread over a large area of space. A small scout ship of ours runs into one of theirs, or perhaps we cross a shipping lane, or something equally innocuous.

Initial response is frantic. People are simultaneously terrified and inspired. An ambassador party is assembled within days. Scientists the world over attempt to find common ground to communicate, such as a specific branch of mathematics. The other species MOST LIKELY does something similar, but their cultural nature could be just about anything,i will assume they are primarily peaceful like us.

first dialogs are awkward, experts wrack their brains to translate their language. If we're smart, we exchange children's books or television shows (jam packed with vocabulary and grammatical data conveyed in image form).

Earth is in uproar, at least at first. Lots of high expectations, lots of fear. Many radical thinkers start pushing for a global government, cultures begin to become more stereotypical in a sense of "identity". Hopefully asshole warlords and petty conflicts stop, due to the crushing sense of small-ness, at least for a time.

Scientific exchange is rapid and behind closed doors. They probably differ from us wildly (perhaps they didn't have a readily available source of cheap energy such as hydrocarbons? Perhaps they went full-speed ahead on physics and left medical technology by the wayside?)