I often find myself splitting human response to First
Contact into two poles for this blog. In reality, most human responses operate
on a spectrum- a nuanced range from one pole to another. Fear is such a thing.
There is, of course, legitimate fear. Such fear has kept
animals of all sorts, including humans, alive for millions of years. A little
paranoia is not a bad thing. Caution would be important in the wake of First
Contact.
Fear also has negative side. It can be irrational and not
based on fact. Or more likely, it could be an overly fearful response to
something that should provoke caution. This kind of fear can be fueled by
misinformation and rumors. Irrational fear can be really dangerous. It can cause
people to do all sorts of awful things in reaction.
The spectrum tells us that humans will likely have a wide
variety of responses to First Contact, with some responses falling to the
poles. Some people won’t be fearful at all. To the contrary, they will welcome
any alien interaction with open arms. Those on the opposite side of the
spectrum will want to halt all contact and build space-based missile batteries
in defense. The more well considered reactions would probably fall to the
middle: openness balanced with caution.
It may seem that I am always promoting the moderate response
on this blog. It doesn’t have to be a wishy-washy position, if the moderates
are taking the best ideas from throughout the response spectrum. Moderation can
be people diluting everything to build consensus. I would agree that moderation
of that sort is not helpful. It seems to me that what is required is active and
bold moderation. This may be an entirely different animal than what we are used
to in human decision making.
My big point for this post is that there are people who will
attempt to use fear to get what they want in the wake of alien First Contact.
These individuals will speak to groups of humans and stoke the fires of fear to
provide the leaders of the groups with power After First Contact. They will use
rumors and falsehoods to get people agitated and then provide a fear-based
solution of their own making. If people look behind the scenes they will see
that there is a clear agenda with this type of individual. They hope to gain
something from the agenda: power, money or influence. Exposing this agenda in
the course of discussion will be critical. People must ask themselves: is this
leader working for their own benefit or for the benefit of humanity? It won’t
be easy. The debate inspired by First Contact is likely to be a cacophony at
first.
Media outlets around the world will have a huge role to play
in this situation. They will have to sort through the tumult and find the
carefully considered ideas. They will have to expose those who use fear to
leverage their own power. The fear mongers could come from politics,
religion…almost any of the human institutions. They may be very highly placed
individuals in government or business. The media and the public will have an obligation
to go beyond the rhetoric and find the true nature of each fear-based argument.
Is it designed to increase power for an individual or organization? Is it a
well-considered concern that can help all of humanity? I would imagine that,
like so many other things in the human realm, those things will often be
wrapped up together. A legitimate concern may be turned into a fear-based power
grab. The best human lies start with a kernel of truth. Politicians have been
playing these games for centuries.
Critical thinking will be essential After First Contact. It
isn’t an easy thing to do. We are all lazy at times and would like someone to
tell us what we should think. This is fine for some things. None of us have the
time to dissect everything around us. But for the big issues, critical thinking
is important. It must be utilized by institutional leaders and the media. But
more importantly, it must be utilized by the public and the public in every
nation on Earth. This may be demanding for countries that don’t allow for
freedom of expression. But those governments will have to allow debate
internally if they want to truly be part of the global discussion. Sociologists
and political scientists will have to design methods of listening to the public
in many different nations at once. We may have to refine global opinion polling
and take it to a new level.
In the end, we will need to think beyond ourselves. Sure,
there is plenty of reasonable fear to be had when considering the impact of
Alien First Contact. But if we are thinking about everyone on the planet and
considering future generations, our decision-making can move beyond fear and to
a place that will help us move forward with equal parts of optimism and
caution.
What do you think? Give your opinion in a comment here or
visit the Alien First Contact Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alien-First-Contact/158053114322999
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