It’s also likely that an advanced alien species with an interest in getting rid of humans would do it by creating some nasty nanotech or redirecting a few asteroids, rather than going through this elaborate and unreliable blackmail scenario. It’s not a dilemma if you parse out all the practical considerations, so don’t.
Suspension of disbelief is important for what-if scenarios. I find little black spheres to be weirdly possible given a particular world-state (“crazy aliens”); thinking of 90% of humans being kidnapped evokes a very different possibility-view of the result. I can’t stop thinking about post-apocalypse movies in the latter case.
It’s also likely that an advanced alien species with an interest in getting rid of humans would do it by creating some nasty nanotech or redirecting a few asteroids, rather than going through this elaborate and unreliable blackmail scenario. It’s not a dilemma if you parse out all the practical considerations, so don’t.
Suspension of disbelief is important for what-if scenarios. I find little black spheres to be weirdly possible given a particular world-state (“crazy aliens”); thinking of 90% of humans being kidnapped evokes a very different possibility-view of the result. I can’t stop thinking about post-apocalypse movies in the latter case.