[Modernman]

Not so much we, as our CATTLE, that are the culinary delicacy,

For an extremely intelligent, advanced species, we might very well be no better than cattle.

They also need Gold, of course.

Doubtful. Gold's value as a precious mineral is a very human concept. We find gold pretty, who says aliens will? Gold is a good conductor, true, but a spacefaring civilization will have access to much more highly advanced conductors.

Humans are useful both to raise and slaughter the cattle, and mine the gold.

Robotic laborers can do these job better than humans.

[Chris Talk]

And who was it that taught humans to value it, enslaving them to work in their mines?

[Chris Talk]

Ever seen a robot round up a herd? What a laugh, my heroes have always been cowboys, say the aliens.

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

Doubtful. Gold's value as a precious mineral is a very human concept. We find gold pretty, who says aliens will? Gold is a good conductor, true, but a spacefaring civilization will have access to much more highly advanced conductors.

I don't think we have found much gold in meteorites. Gold seems to be very rare in this solar system. It's not just pretty and a good conductor(actually only fair its used for contacts because it does not corrode). It has many uses, one very important one is as an effective radiation shield, better than lead yet it does not corrode. Because of the longevity of gold it would be very useful in a very long distant space craft which travel for hundreds of years as a robot or as its beings are in suspended animation.

[Quix]

Einstein's closest friends daughter . . . said to me personally that . . .

at least one alien race has learned to grow meat as in muscle apart from the animal originally obtained from . . . slabs of muscle growing in a medium container. I forget whether it was a liquid container or a misted container. I think the latter.