I was in a Burger King earlier, (which is rare for me) and I was thinking about the imagery that is used in selling burgers and the uniformity of the fast-food dine-in experience. The way that advertising works struck me as similar in spirit to evangelism. Take Coke and Pepsi for example. For some, the advertising evokes a reaction tied to identity as in, "I'm a Coke drinker, shove it Pepsi," or vice-versa.
It seemed to me, as I let my mind wander, that an alien person looking at all the stuff of contemporary civilization might conclude for example, that the prevailing religion in the US revolved around gluttony and that a BK or McD's might be centers of worship.
Anyway, the question is, if there were an observer with no prior contact or possessing context for human behavior, what assumptions might they make about us based on what they could observe?
I don't think that they would see a religion revolving around gluttony. Advertising is not similar to evangelism (evangelism has an implied element of teaching) and uniformity doesn't point towards a religion. There's also a lack of large and frequent gatherings, religious texts, nor grand structures, which are hallmarks of a religion. A religion is much more complex than what you'd see at a fast food restaurant. I think what an outside observer would think would depend on the range of their sight, so to speak. But either way, I don't think they could make many conclusions about our race as a whole. I think they'd recognize that we all have a sense of identity because of how different we all are. They'd realize that we are sentient life forms, and that that's all they could figure out with a quick glance observation. Assuming we were meeting an intelligent observer.
In regard to identity, that's an awfully human thing to assume. If there were an intelligent, alien observer, the chances that their biology, social structure and interactions, not to mention expectations might be so radically different (alien) that they would really have no idea what to make of what they were seeing except through the lens of their own experience. If there are humans who have trouble telling members of another human race apart, as Europeans in various parts of the world do with Asians and vice-versa, then I doubt that alien observers would be sensitive to "how different we all are." As for advertising not being similar to evangelism, I contest this. There is advertising for things where teaching is not only implied, it's the product being sold. As for the lack of large and frequent gatherings, well, if the observer came from a species and culture where large, frequent gatherings do not imply religion, then that would mean nothing. No religious texts? There are many religions that began as oral traditions. Why would an outside observer assume that humans would deviate from that? Perhaps the oral tradition is sacred and cannot be put on to paper. No grand structures? Religion being much more complex than fast-food dining? Who knows. That could be explained in any number of ways, including humbleness before god/s or frequent, prayer in small groups rather than large congregations for whatever reason. The point is, how would an outsider look at things, not how would you as a human look at things. Heck, they might not even realize we are sentient at a quick glance. Perhaps the observers would be so far beyond our mental capacity that we'd appear very much to be animals, albeit a higher order of other animals on the planet.
(I know this is ages ago, but I haven't been on Hubski for a while, and I hope you don't mind me replying still). You completely misunderstood me. I'm talking about people as individuals. We aren't a hive mind; we have behavior sets distinct to each and every person. And if you're going to argue that way about religion, then I'd say what if aliens had no concept of religion at all? That we wouldn't meet an extremely secular and scientific race where all beliefs are defined by empirical data? I could argue the same thing. It's how an outsider would look at things, not you as a human sees everything. Your view is just as "humanly" biased as mine is.
And they would realize that we were sentient. Math is the universal language, and even if they see our work in that field as elementary and basic, it's still evidence of intellect.If there are humans who have trouble telling members of another human race apart, as Europeans in various parts of the world do with Asians and vice-versa, then I doubt that alien observers would be sensitive to "how different we all are."
Seinfeld had a funny bit back in the day about how aliens would think the dogs were in charge if they observed our behaviors.