Confused: Aliens would likely be far different from us. They
may have an indecipherable language and an agenda that we could not understand.
Unless they were willing to teach us, First Contact could be one confusing set
of actions after another.
Full of questions: A lack of explanation about their
civilization and intentions would dash our hopes for First Contact. When we
speak of contact we are really talking about information. We hope that aliens
would teach us new things about the universe. If the aliens can’t communicate
or choose not to communicate, we could be left with only questions.
Worried: Any extraterrestrial civilization with the ability
for significant space travel would be a threat to humanity. Such ability would
show a higher level of technology than ours, and that would suggest that they
have the skills needed to build weaponry that we might not be able to match. If
we don’t know the intentions of the aliens we would be left with only the
possibility of threat.
SETI researchers often warn of this disturbing middle ground
in part because most things that humans experience are at first confusing and
worrisome. We would like life to be black and white, but as we well know, life
is seldom so. Our hopes for a warm and fuzzy First Contact experience and our
concern about alien invasion each seem rather unlikely. What is much more
likely would be a murky mess that may take years of study to unravel. And even
then, there may be very few definitive answers.
Can we handle such uncertainty? Would we spend our time and
money building space defenses? Would we become a more cynical society out of
constant worry? Perhaps the most important step in the maturity of the human
race is not some sweeping step into a wider universe, but merely the ability to
handle radical ambiguity? It’s not all sad. Such events could leave us even
stronger as a civilization in the long run and perhaps better able to handle
the next murky moment.
What do you think? Is this cynicism on my part or a strong
possibility should First Contact ever occur. Chime in on the Alien FirstContact Facebook page.
1 comment:
I prefer this kind of contact. Mysterious first contact , no dead like in violent fisrt contact, no answer given in a silver plate in peaceful first contact. What we will have is the most important thing : Question and the will to answer them because of Fear. Fear of the Unknown will drive us to discover new tech( like in the Cold War), it will force us to put aside our differences for the greater good of the human race .
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