Forget tentacles—what matters is the mind. We explore how alien behavior might emerge from evolution, culture, and technology, and why our biggest first contact risk may be misunderstanding.

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Credits:
How Would Aliens Behave?
July 13, 2025; Episode 732
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images 
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator
Stellardrone, "Red Giant"
Chapters
0:00 Intro - Alien Expectations vs. Reality
4:04 The Evolutionary Roots of  Alien Behavior
8:19 From Common Ground to Alien Paths: Divergent Behaviors
13:19 First Contact: Communication & Misunderstanding
20:11 Alien Morality: Do They Even Have Ethics?
26:04 Alien Minds, Human Limits: The Final Reflection

How Would Aliens Behave? (Narration Only)

Such a fleeting and ethereal thing, won't even survive being tightly held in one's grasp. And yet, while easily smothered, it never truly dies. It only becomes more real in its absence, and somehow, it always finds its way back to you again.

After all the worldly wealth and power will have crumbled to nothing, all the flames burnt out and all waters dried away, sit down on the last piece of rock, open your palm and close your eyes. It will be there, waiting for you.

How Would Aliens Behave? (Narration Only)

Isaac Arthur

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