I have no evidence that aliens exist anywhere in the universe, let alone in a location near enough to Earth to allow for high information contact. The point of this exercise is to consider humanity from an alien perspective. Since we have no idea how such aliens might think, we have to consider humans- in particular the organization of human society and the state of our science and technology.
Let’s think like an alien researcher that has been examining our solar system and human society. We need to assume that they wish our civilization well. That means they don’t want to harm our human society or our planet. Hostile aliens are, of course, a very reasonable possibility. That scenario provides different questions to be asked, outside of my area of focus.
Let’s start with some basic ground rules to help define our discussion. We will assume that:
-A group of alien researchers has spent time studying humans.
-They
understand that contact with humans could lead to problems for us.
-They
have been waiting for certain criteria to be met.
-They
won’t make contact until those criteria are met.
This isn’t an original idea on my part. Gene Roddenberry thought of it when he wrote the Star Trek series in the 1960s. The Prime Directive, also known as General Order 1, prevented Star Fleet personnel from interfering in the development of alien civilizations on their home planets. The purpose was to prevent disturbance to the alien culture.
So, what if Roddenberry was correct in his overall concept- just not in predicting that humans were the society being protected from outside influence? If there is a threshold of criteria to be met before contact occurs, what might that criteria be?
Human Criteria:
Most Likely to Have Been Met
Reach
of instantaneous global communication networks
Public
understanding of basic concepts of extraterrestrial intelligence
Governments
accepting of possibility of ETI
Close to Meeting
Understanding
critical concepts in advanced physics
Development
of SETI research
Tools
to find extraterrestrial life
Tools
to find extraterrestrial intelligence
Space
exploration
Ability
to send spacecraft outside of the solar system
Ability
of humans to track incoming spacecraft and surveil solar system
Mechanism
for international cooperation between governments
Acceptance
of ETI by largest institutional religious sects
Most Questionable in Meeting
Acceptance
of ETI by groups with high level of cultural conflict
Acceptance
of ETI by groups with high political conflict
Acceptance
of ETI by fringe religious groups
Global
cooperation between nations
Stable
governments for those with nuclear weapons
Intelligent extraterrestrials could also have criteria for themselves to meet:
Criteria for Aliens to Meet
Preparation
of humanity for acceptance of ETI introduction
Need
for intervention in human society
That final question is the big one: why would aliens feel the need to introduce themselves? Perhaps they think we are on the brink of discovering them through our scientific research? Or they could decide that we need help in sorting out our many challenges? Or perhaps they have completed their preparation for the introduction, by flying objects through Earth skies for many years?
I could go into many related discussions, such as the Zoo Hypothesis and Fermi Paradox. For more on those concepts, take a look at previous blog entries and check out my new book: “The Extraterrestrial Big Hello: A Guide for What to do When the Aliens Introduce Themselves.” It’s available on Amazon worldwide.
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