I think one reason people hope for alien contact is the
possibility that humans could receive technological help, especially scientific
ideas that would allow us to solve big challenges, such as climate change and the
need for clean, high-power energy sources. Such information sharing sounds great at first
glance, but if you consider the possibilities, it becomes a more complex issue.
Why would we want alien information? If we discover a
far-off signal, extraterrestrials could be of advanced technological
development, at our level of technology or even lower. No matter what, they
would likely have a unique take on the workings of the universe and that alone
could prove interesting, if not helpful. If aliens come to our solar system
then they would clearly be more technologically advanced. That is the scenario
I am considering here.
There is no reason to think that visiting aliens would want
to help at all. Giving us their technology could make us a threat. But let’s
say the extraterrestrials were willing to share, would we want to take them up
on the offer of technological help? I think there are two good reasons to turn
down, or at least closely examine, such a proposal. Receiving alien technology could
make us dependent on their technology. Unless they take a lot of time to explain
their entire system of science from the ground up, we would simply be receiving
devices and processes. We would have no foundation, which would provide the
tools to fix or change such technology. We would be dependent on the aliens. I
don’t think that would be a safe or practical position for humanity. Extraterrestrials
could use such methods to keep us constricted in development and confined to
our solar system. They could even use it as leverage to control our society.
The other reason to be wary of technological help from
aliens I have discussed previously. The human system of science builds on
itself. Our current level of scientific knowledge comes from the work of
hundreds of thousands of humans throughout history. Observations have been
made. Questions have been developed. Hypotheses have led to experiments.
Results have been analyzed, communicated and refined. That scientific process,
for any specific hypothesis, can involve many researchers and many institutions
working for many years. Along the way, we use the data to discover new ideas
and follow new paths. Science rarely travels on a direct route to success and
it’s not easy or pretty in the making. Receiving spoon-fed knowledge from
extraterrestrials could threaten to undermine our system of science and weaken
the entire structure. Unless each and every piece of alien knowledge was
deciphered and then carefully integrated into our scientific system, alien knowledge
could create holes in our disciplines. A flood of alien scientific information
could wash away our scientific foundations all together.
Receiving information about alien history, and the history
of other civilizations in the universe, could be safer. We could even learn
about the make-up of the universe from the extraterrestrial perspective in such
a way that we could adapt their ideas into our scientific system. But we would
want to be very intentional about that process and carefully evaluate each step.
And we would have to judge whether the aliens were telling us the truth. Another
possibility for rendering humans less of a threat would be sharing incorrect or
confusing information.
This entire train of thought is based on the premise that
aliens would be in a physical position to share a great deal of information
with us. That type of communication would most likely require close proximity.
In reality, if an extraterrestrial civilization is discovered in a far-off
galaxy, communication could be difficult, taking many years to send even a
single message. However, at this point the entire question of extraterrestrial
intelligence is pure conjecture, so I do think it’s helpful to consider many
different possibilities. If close-proximity, high-information alien First
Contact does occur someday, humans will be quite excited, and we could make
decisions before thinking them through. Not that we ever do such things. It
would seem prudent to take a deep breath and ask ourselves some important
questions before reacting. The welfare of future generations could depend on
our caution.
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