Stuff We Could Throw Out to Make Room for a First Contact Discussion

Just one question this Monday morning: why are the aliens always in such a bad mood? Now, they're invading Los Angeles and apparently, at least according to the latest box office reports, people are loving Hollywood's latest explosion-happy alien slug fest "Battle: Los Angeles."

This blog focuses on the impact of extraterrestrial First Contact on the human civilization. People will point out that we have not yet met any extraterrestrials and there is no evidence that there are any extraterrestrial civilizations out there. Agreed. Many astrophysicists have also pointed out that given the size of the universe that doesn’t mean they are not out there. It’s far too early, given our relatively brief examination of the universe, to make that determination.

So, if we can agree that there is a possibility, no matter how slight, then why wouldn’t we take just a few moments of time to consider how we might handle such an encounter?  The usual argument goes: we have far more pressing matters here on Earth. That is certainly true. Natural disaster, disease, malnutrition, warfare, corruption and cultural and racial intolerance are much more important topics. However, I do believe we can carve out some room for the discussion of First Contact issues by throwing the following topics out of our collective discourse:

-Lindsay Lohan

-The British Royals

-Justin Bieber

-Celebrity marriages

-Diet trends

-All comments about granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances on HGTV

See, we’ve already freed up enough media time and energy to have a rather substantial conversation about the impact of space aliens on human civilization. And you know what? It didn’t hurt at all.