You, my reading friends, are a very small group. This blog is a bit odd and I think it tends to alienate (pun fully intended) the two largest groups of potential readers. The UFO community doesn’t seem to like it much, primarily because I don’t believe that there is any evidence that aliens have visited, or are visiting Earth. I think that what is being currently presented as evidence is not real evidence. The scientific community, for whom I have immense respect for their efforts and incredible achievements, tends to shy away from this blog because of my focus on Direct First Contact, which is arguably the least likely form of First Contact, should it ever occur.
That’s fine. I don’t mind chatting with a small group. I am fascinated by a few things about you, the readers. First, you are an international group. From the time I installed Google analytics on the blog, a few years ago; it has received hits from 112 different nations. Most readers are in the United States and Europe. The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Poland, Germany, Finland, India, Brazil and Ireland make up the top ten nations. And this part is perhaps the most interesting to me: China, the most populous nation on the Earth, has exactly one page view, out of Shanghai, in all of those years. Are the Chinese just not interested in this subject? Or perhaps they are blocked from being able to search about this subject? I’m not sure why the Chinese government would care enough to block viewing. Who knows? Interesting, though.
A few locations stand out as regular readers: Hello Rohnert Park, California, Lambeth, England and lately Stuttgart, Germany. And also a shout out to long-time readers in Georgia and Utah. I thank all of you for taking the time to read and I encourage you to chime in on the comments. They are open to everyone.
Welcome.
10 comments:
Eric-
I love your blog and I think it's important. I appreciate your primary focus within ETI studies and its what I'm most interested in; First Contact. I'm surprised there is not more blogs out there like yours given the fact SETI Studies are getting really popular. The psychological, sociological and economical effects of Contact would be amazing to watch. Literally, all the Sciences would be affected and would want a seat at the table.
I try to get my hands on as many books I can regarding speculative contact and SETI studies. It is enjoyable. I'm currently trying to gather all serious papers, pieces, articles and op-eds I can on Fermi Paradox (problem), explanations (speculations) on the Fermi Paradox, consequences of discovery, first & post contact, how communication would or could happen, psychology of interstellar communication, what they may be like physically, panspermia, the great filter, phase transition model, Olum's paradox, Virtual Reality & Fermi paradox, Simulations and Holograms, methods and modes of interstellar travel.
I have found the public figures in Future Studies and Transhumanism have written some interesting things I have never contemplated before. They enrich the conversation, however I do not usually agree with their conclusions. Most are pessimistic on the possibility that intelligent, sentient,advanced technological civilizations exist in the Universe. Of course we may be alone, but as Seth S. said...in astronomy there is 0,1 or an infinite amount.
I hope you continue to write, I look forward to reading each post. Perhaps you could list and recommend new or old papers you really enjoyed.
Thanks,
Carson
Thanks Carson. It is enjoyable reading about this stuff and considering what our future might hold. Most of the stuff I read I talk about on the blog, but since that now stretches back four years a "best of" bibliography of the works I found the most insightful might be in order. I always appreciate your observations. It's good to be able to share ideas with someone who has done so much research on the subject.
Hello,
I read your blog every time you have a new post. I like it because it's something different. First contact is something that I just sit and daydream about, and when I found your blog awhile ago I was thrilled. I am really into astronomy, science and pure logic. I really appreciate your writings and look forward to more of it. I'm in Las Vegas, Nevada if your keeping track.
Jimmy :)
Good to hear from you Jimmy from Las Vegas! Thanks for reading
Hello Eric,
I started to read your blog quite time ago. Mainly because I'm into all sorts of mystic stuff - first contact being one of the most anticipated topics.
You write well, but sometimes text tend to be too long for me to read as 'am not native english speaker. :)
But I always come back and read last few posts.
So keep it going! There will be time when your writings can be for real value!
Thanks for reading Starchild. I have often wondered how many folks might be reading who don't read English as their first language.
Hi Eric,
I was randomly having a conversation about first contact with my wife tonight and then decided to read about it more online and then I found your blog from Google. Definitely very interesting information you present, I totally agree that the best way to gauge how an ET civilization may act towards us would be to think about how we would act or interact with a civilization much less advanced than us. Great blog!
- Jobin NY
Thanks for reading Jobin!
Hi Eric,
here is Stuttgart, Germany. (Though momentarily posting and viewing from Aachen, Germany). Greetings back to you.
I am currently working on a first contact scenario for a work of fiction, especially the political turmoils it would create. Unfortunately most fictional first contact depictions are more concerned with the ordinary people or depict governments' reactions as black and white, so there's not much inspiration to find there. Though on the other hand, that means I am free to explore the possibilities without fearing to repeat scenes that everyone has seen and read about a thousand times already.
I really do appreciate your blog. Your insights into the social dynamics and the communication problems are really helpful to me, though my scenario will be more "messy" so not everything is applicable. And the links and references you give have already provided me with more material than I could ever hope to read.
Just one word: Thanks!
John: I'd be interested to read your book when you're finished. I think messy is a good approach to take. I find it hard to believe that First Contact response by humans won't be messy, especially considering that everything is messy in human life anyway. I suppose the big question is what extraterrestrials bring to the First Contact table. If their motivations are messy, or even just unclear, it will cause even more problems for humans in their response. Thanks for reading!
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