The Greatest Gift for Humanity

Let’s face it: the happy view of extraterrestrial First Contact is a bit like waiting for Santa Claus. The more optimistic among us hope that extraterrestrials would shower us with knowledge, not only answering the mysteries of the universe, but also solving our energy and environmental problems. What we could gain from communication with an extraterrestrial civilization, as well as what could be jeopardized by that relationship, are matters of pure speculation. There is one thing that we could count on, and quite frankly it might be the greatest possible gift of all: new perspective.

Many of the problems facing humanity today are global problems. We’re about to hit a population of seven billion people and that’s expected to jump to 9.3 billion humans in 2050, according to new projections by researchers using United Nations data.

Extraterrestrial First Contact would give us new awareness of the fact that we are really a single civilization made up of many nations and cultures. The only way for a planet with seven billion people to move forward, especially given the challenges that all those people create, is as a single entity with closely interconnected systems of government, finance and science. Those interconnected systems are developing now and in ways we never could have imagined 50 years ago. Technology is the catalyst for this change, lead by communications and information infrastructure. Where we take it though, is up to the cultural institutions in our civilization. The heads of nations and our other cultural institutions need to have the vision to see where we are headed and prepare now for that future.

The best part of the greatest gift is that we can find that new perspective right now. We don’t have to wait for extraterrestrials to show up on our doorstep, if they even exist at all. Awareness can come now. It comes down to this: we are one planet, one people- citizens of the universe.