Monday, October 1, 2012

Extraterrestrial Contact: Worry


Worry is a balance on the part of human beings. Worrying can help keep us safe and it can also make us miserable.
David Ropeik points out in a New York Times article this weekend that human nature can also cause use to worry more than we should in some circumstances and less then we should in other cases.
Why do I bring this up? There would likely be plenty of worry involved in any extraterrestrial First Contact situation and it’s something leaders will need to understand in planning a human response.
Ropeik mentions a “risk perception gap” that comes into play when we are overly worried about something. After all, fear can cause us to do all sorts of irrational things. It’s certainly something to consider from a First Contact perspective. If humans react in an overly fearful way to extraterrestrial contact, it could cause us to take military action where none was warranted. And that could lead to catastrophic reactions on the part of the aliens; a situation that could have been avoided.
Of course, worry exists for a reason. It puts us on our toes and responsive to potential threat. It would similarly be unwise to view seemingly unaggressive aliens as not threatening. Threat can come in a myriad of ways. Friendly aliens could worm their way into our society and create all sorts of intended or unintended havoc. A little skepticism would go a long way in First Contact.
And that appears to be Ropak’s main point. Humans often respond instinctually and emotionally. He describes neuroscience research as showing that we “feel first and think second.” The fight or flight part of the brain receives a signal before the deliberate, critical thinking part of the brain. That can leave us in trouble when it comes to complex situations. I can’t say much about First Contact with any certainty, but I can say that like most things in life it will be complex, despite what the initial appearance might be. Seemingly aggressive aliens might be less of a threat if we stop to consider their reasoning and actions. Seemingly unaggressive aliens could, as pointed out previously, provide plenty of threat, no matter what their motives.
Our governmental, military and scientific leaders will have to exercise caution and careful consideration in any First Contact situation. If it’s a dramatic and direct First Contact event that could be tough. In the end, it will be up to all humans to try and take a deep breath and get beyond that architecture of the brain.
What worries you about First Contact? Let us know on the Alien First Contact Facebook page.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree with your assessment that the likely greatest challenges would be on the human side. Alien civilizations that have travelled interstellar distances will be more advanced than present-day humans (indeed, more advanced than we can even now anticipate). The good fortune of this disparity is that they can anticipate human responses more accurately than we can. Consequently, they will be directing the flow of contact, including, if they so deem appropriate, letting us believe (inaccurately) that we somehow are deciding how to proceed. It is like a game of chess where they can see hundreds of moves in advance, when we might only see one dozen. One point of disagreement that I may have is your suggestion that individual humans would well tolerate contact. The human psyche is unfortunately quite limited in adaptability, no matter how much we would like to think otherwise. A human might expect assistance from aliens, and if it is not rendered to the extent desired, the human would become frustrated or even resentful. Alien species undoubtedly have well-developed protocols for contact. Having the patience and tolerance to work within this protocol might challenge even the best of us!

Anonymous said...

I agree with your assessment that the likely greatest challenges would be on the human side. Alien civilizations that have travelled interstellar distances will be more advanced than present-day humans (indeed, more advanced than we can even now anticipate). The good fortune of this disparity is that they can anticipate human responses more accurately than we can. Consequently, they will be directing the flow of contact, including, if they so deem appropriate, letting us believe (inaccurately) that we somehow are deciding how to proceed. It is like a game of chess where they can see hundreds of moves in advance, when we might only see one dozen. One point of disagreement that I may have is your suggestion that individual humans would well tolerate contact. The human psyche is unfortunately quite limited in adaptability, no matter how much we would like to think otherwise. A human might expect assistance from aliens, and if it is not rendered to the extent desired, the human would become frustrated or even resentful. Alien species undoubtedly have well-developed protocols for contact. Having the patience and tolerance to work within this protocol might challenge even the best of us!

Eric Melcher said...

That's an interesting point Anon...yes, humans might have unrealistic expectations in a First Contact situation. We have been lead to believe that aliens will either want to kill us or give us the keys to the universe. Anything else, could be aggravating to humans.

Anonymous said...

It is an interesting mind experiment to try and understand the perspective of another civilization that is much more advanced than ours. I think humans unfortunately have a greatly exaggerated sense of being an advanced civilization, when in reality, a First Contact situation would be akin to humans contacting squirrels (or an ant). In such a contact, humans would probably not be too interested in socializing with squirrels - there simply is not that much interesting to discuss with the squirrels.

Anonymous said...

By the way, thanks for providing a rational approach to alien contact.

My heart aches for you, however, with respect to your views of the likelihood of contact. Although you repeatedly note that you don't see such contact happening any time soon (a plausible, seemingly justifiable, and most definitely widely-held view), I would suggest you consider some widely-held scientific facts. First: Think of the accepted age of the universe. Second: Think of the number of generations of stars and planets that have come and gone (our solar system is far from being the first generation of planetary systems). Third: Think of how humans always seem to have that tendency of putting themselves in the center of the universe and along with that, so willingly and so easily maintain a view that humans are the end all and be all of existence.

Corollaries of the third point being: (1) of course it is possible that Earth is the only place in the universe that harbors life; (2) eventually followed by, of course there might be life somewhere else, but the chances of it being intelligent are trivial; (3) eventually followed by, of course there is intelligent life out there, it is just so unfortunate that they would be so far away or could not practically travel interstellar distances; (4) .

Eric Melcher said...

Anon: Agreed...visiting extraterrestrials would be far in advance of us in terms of technology. As far as interest on their part? I bet you could find thousands of human scientists who spend their entire careers studying squirrels. Thanks for your comments, all very good points and thanks for reading

Anonymous said...

You are quite right about squirrels! I even enjoy watching them in my yard, and find great joy in giving them some bread, especially in the winter. I could contact being something akin to what we would call a hobby....

Eric Melcher said...

Sure, it could be a hobby contact or a scientific study. I just think that given what we currently know about the probability of life in the universe (we don't have any evidence that there is extraterrestrial intelligence) it seems possible that if there are alien civilizations out there some members of those civilizations would be interested in studying and perhaps contacting other civilizations. Curiosity drives our development...why might it not drive extraterrestrial development?

Anonymous said...

Curiosity yes . . . but there is an issue with the impact of contact and the allowance for the development of diversity in the universe.

Imagine if the first intelligent and advanced life in the universe (from more than 10 billion years ago) decided it was going to contact and interact with all subsequent intelligent life. Contact and exchange of information would severely diminish the subsequent development of diverse life in the universe. Although there might be certain limited instances where contact is permissible, by in large, the notion of a prime directive that allows different species to develop on their own seems quite plausible. Of course, as human beings (being the inferior species in contact scenarios) we might wish for increased contact. Alas, one could only speculate at the rules the more advanced species impose upon themselves.....

Eric Melcher said...

That's a really good point anon. I agree that intelligent beings would want to carefully consider the impact of contact with other intelligent beings or on development biological environments. They may very well have principles that would keep them from interfering...or contacting other beings in a way that could alter their development. It's a major theme in my new book "The Ashland City Landing". Would extraterrestrials want to provide information about science and technology...and undermine our system for science in the process? Would humans yell and scream for help if extraterrestrials denied them such information? Thanks for the great post.