Extraterrestrial Contact: Embracing the Weird

You could call it the ultimate exercise in diversity acceptance. If we have trouble understanding and accepting other races and cultures here on Earth, how would we handle extraterrestrial First Contact? Perhaps the most important step would be overcoming our expectations.

We have spent most of human history trying to conquer our surroundings. We seek to control our environment through agriculture, technology and science. We have expectations of how living creatures should live and sometimes its well apart from what nature has designed. There was an interesting article in the New Yorker recently by Elizabeth Kolbert called “Recallof the Wild”. She describes a nature preserve in the Netherlands that seeks to recreate a paleolithic ecosystem. As Kolbert describes it’s just the latest attempt at “rewilding”. Now, clearly this project shows human attempts to control and shape the environment. It also provides a flip-side to that idea. The ecologist largely responsible for the Oostvaarderolassen, as the preserve is called, has attempted to introduce species similar to those that would have been found in a Paleolithic ecosystem in that area of Europe. The idea is to let the introduced animals reproduce and settle in the nature preserve without much interference from humans. That has lead to die-offs, especially in the winter. Kolbert describes Dutch TV stations showing video of animals starving to death. It’s part of the natural process but one that humans find it hard to accept. There was outrage among many in the Netherlands. One could argue that a man-made ecosystem should have man-made controls to help prevent such harsh natural die-offs.  They have suggested her culling by shooting animals unlikely to make it through the winter. However, the entire debate shows our attempt to humanize nature. Humans like to see nature as a pastoral setting. We want to see the abundance of biological diversity, but we want it to behave as we think it should. Natural behaviors and outcomes can be brutal and sad from our perspective. We can’t truly accept that the natural system works that way. We even call nature “Mother Nature” in an attempt to anthropomorphize the natural environment.

So, what would we do if we were to meet aliens some day? It seems likely that we would make judgments about their appearance, actions and society based on our human characteristics. That makes sense- we have no other lens to consider extraterrestrial intelligence. However, that lens could also be problematic. If we have trouble accepting the brutal side of our own natural environment, how would we accept beings from a vastly different environment? Would we think less of them because they had characteristics that we consider unacceptable?

Extraterrestrial contact with intelligent beings would require a great deal of diversity understanding. We would need to set aside our human expectations and learn about aliens in an objective way. This may be fine for the academic community, which is used to considering challenging ideas as part of the job. For other humans it could be quite tough. The appearance, culture and actions of aliens could be off-putting. That could lead to public resistance to diplomatic relations.

A certain amount of caution from the public is to be expected and would be quite healthy. The last thing we would want to do is consider aliens to be better than us and seek to transform ourselves to better fit their way of being. There has to be a middle ground of learning and understanding, while also protecting who we are and what we hold important in our civilization. It will be up to world leaders, academics and scientists to establish this path and help the human race stay on course. There may be Oostvaarderolassen moments when it comes to what we learn about extraterrestrials. It’s critical that we keep learning and don’t let our human perspective get in the way.

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Extraterrestrial Contact: Chaos

Riots in Cairo. Violence in Libya. Chinese protests calling for war against Japan. Has the world gone crazy? Can a video really inspire such social unrest? Should a territorial dispute over a small island lead to calls for military action?

The world has not gone crazy. It’s merely humans surrendering to fears and then whipped up by dissidents and opportunists into frenzy. Let’s not be naïve. The violence in the Middle East is not just the result of a stupid and insulting video. It’s just the latest pinprick in a conflict between the Muslim world and Christian world that has burned for hundreds of years. The Chinese protests over the ownership of small Islands in the East China Sea are not just a reaction to longstanding national land disputes, but also Sino fury focused on a nation that brutalized Chinese during World War Two.

So, what’s my point? The same simmering conflicts, and many others that exist all over our little planet, could come into play in the wake of First Contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. That may be hard for folks to understand. We like to view extraterrestrial contact as an event that would join humans together. And while that may ultimately be the case, along the way there would likely be plenty of conflict. That conflict would not come from humans freaked-out over extraterrestrial contact. Many surveys have shown that individually humans would probably be calm in the wake of extraterrestrial First Contact.

However, this isn’t just a question of individual reactions. Those same opportunists and dissidents whipping up frenzy today could decide that there is an opportunity to make a point and gain advantage in the wake of First Contact. Media reports say that the Chinese government may be fueling the fire in the Japan protests. In Libya, there are suggestions that political dissidents may have used the video as an excuse to stage a planned attack on the American Embassy.

This is the reality of life on planet Earth. Depending on the nature of First Contact, social unrest could be a big issue in the weeks and months following such an event. The nature of contact, of course, has a lot to do with it. If scientists discover an engineered signal and take years to figure out what that signal means and where it came from, it seems unlikely that there would be immediate unrest. In the wake of Direct First Contact, meaning we meet up with extraterrestrials in our solar system and have a high-information exchange, it seems more likely that we would have human relations problems here on Earth.

That said, there is a window of opportunity in such a dramatic event. Direct First Contact might lead to a period of stasis, brought on by humans individually and collectively being stunned by the news. People would naturally want to watch and learn at first. Wall to wall media coverage would focus on the discovery. It could take days, weeks or even months for the old conflicts to come to the surface After First Contact. But as people begin to consider how they want to take advantage of the First Contact situation and old rivalries are inflamed by the possibilities raised by First Contact, it seems likely that human hostilities would come to the forefront once again. An active effort to join humans during the stunned period could help to alleviate those hostilities, especially if it is possible to show how out-dated such long-rooted hostilities are After First Contact.

First Contact could provide a new perspective for humans, hopefully rendering many old conflicts moot. Why would you bother fighting over an island in the East China Sea when the future lies out in the universe? The presence of extraterrestrials should show humans that religious differences are really a matter of tiny degrees of difference, not a great gulf, as compared to differences with extraterrestrials.

The end result will depend on individual humans. If we let the dissidents and opportunists whip us into frenzy there may be conflict and social unrest. We are the keepers of our own world. If we choose to ignore those angry voices and look for a wider perspective, we may have a calm and yet exciting future. It will be our choice.

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Extraterrestrial Contact: The Weight of Our Decisions

The question has to be asked when considering the response to extraterrestrial First Contact. What if we screw it up? That may sound like a worry not worth considering, as First Contact of any sort is hard to predict in terms of how it might happen. I do think it’s a question that will be foremost on the minds of those involved in the event, if it occurs some time in our future. Why? Primarily because high information First Contact would likely have a profound impact on human civilization.

It will also be a situation unlike any we have encountered in human history. That uniqueness presents problems. We can’t do a best practices review of First Contact situations. Well, that’s not entirely true. We could certainly do a review of human to human First Contact in history. The initial meetings between human societies have been well documented. A few of those situations may have turned out okay for the civilization with lesser technology, but as has been pointed out time after time, most of those situations did not turn out well for the technologically weaker civilization. There is a long list of human societies rendered extinct because of First Contact with other humans.

Aliens are unlikely to be like humans and such comparisons only go so far. And that means that we don’t have any roadmap for extraterrestrial First Contact. That makes it a potentially dynamic event and one where we are forced to fly by the seat of our pants, so to speak. If we screw it up- who’s to say what negative impacts there could be for the human race? (not to mention the rest of the Earth and it’s creatures that we usually forget to consider). If we are too open we could unleash biological dangers on Earth. If we are too open we could find ourselves flooded by alien information, causing a tidal wave effect for our scientific and social institutions. If we are hostile we could create conflict. If we are hostile we could cause the aliens to avoid us.

Of course, there is a middle road that could be followed. Staying on the middle road won’t be easy. The whole of humanity would be embroiled in a debate over the response to First Contact. It may be hard to reach consensus. World leaders may be forced to make tough decisions. Two hundred years later humans could point to those decisions and say that the wrong decision was made and that humanity was irrevocably harmed. Just a little pressure.

What can be done? Nothing. A bold and active response will be required in a direct First Contact situation. We must hope that the world leaders making those decisions are thoughtful, careful and have a clear vision for the future of humanity. We don’t want to screw this up. Future generations will be counting on us.

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Extraterrestrial Contact: Scrambling Humans

I bet you thought this blog entry was about aliens making breakfast of humans. Sorry. First Contact with an extraterrestrial civilization would create challenges for institutions and individuals across the world. Academic fields in the physical and social sciences would have new ideas to consider and perhaps entirely new academic areas for study. In the event of a high-information First Contact governments and world bodies would have many considerations. And if the First Contact is direct in nature those considerations could have a high degree of immediacy.

The plain fact is that we’re not ready. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Would we really want to spend time and energy considering something that might never occur and, if it does occur, something that is impossible to predict? We have no idea what aliens we might encounter and what challenges that contact might create. But we don’t need a detailed plan. What’s missing is a framework for diplomacy and interaction in a conversational First Contact event. A framework isn’t the details of response. It’s merely the structure used to support the development of those details.

The true challenge behind First Contact response is that it demands that people think in a way that they have not done before. Many academics and professionals would have to consider their area of expertise in an entirely new light. High information First Contact would also demand that many institutions act in a way they have not done before. There would be a series of new responsibilities created and most likely a heated debate about who should handle those responsibilities. The institutional change would be the toughest. Institutions, such as governments, trade organizations, scientific bodies and NGOs, are built to support specific missions and act in carefully managed areas of interest. First Contact could bring about a power grab as some groups try to dominate the response. It could also cause a finger-pointing effect, where everyone expects the other guy to do it. This is perhaps the most dangerous part of not having a First Contact framework for response. We would be left scrambling and in the process our various conflicts and divisions would come into play. How might we react? We could hope that nations and world leaders could come together with a plan quickly. Some may look to the United States and China to lead the response. The primary group joining nations on Earth and creating a forum for debate is the United Nations. However, even a United Nations response is likely to come under some criticism.

So, should we hope that the aliens just leave us alone? Perhaps. However, I think we would eventually pull together and stage an effective response. If the aliens in question are patient we might have the time needed to build our framework and consider the situation. If the introduction is more demanding in nature we could be in trouble.

It is simply too much to ask for most institutions to consider alien First Contact right now. However, even a basic plan of response by the United Nations would do much to prepare us, if such an event ever occurs. It would also help answer the question of legitimacy in a First Contact event. It’s much easier for the United Nations to claim responsibility for diplomatic duties if they already have a protocol established. They currently have no such plans that have been discussed publicly. Astrophysicists have brought the issue to the attention of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) on several occasions and yet there has been no action taken.

Any aliens planning First Contact should build in a little extra pad. That will give the humans time to run around, trying to figure out what to do next.

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Extraterrestrial Contact: What if it Occurred Today?

It’s a simple question: What if Direct First Contact with an extraterrestrial civilization occurred today? Here are some possible reactions:

-A Scramble to Respond:

We’re not prepared for First Contact of any sort. Direct First Contact would raise immediate concerns and needs. Who should be in charge of the diplomacy effort? Should there be a military response? How do we want to proceed in the long-term? Is First Contact even something we want to move forward with?

-A Global Political Battle:

After an initial period of shock and awe there would be a fight for position and control by many countries. The type of conflict this creates would depend on the nature of the First Contact scenario. Was First Contact made to one particular government? How will other countries be engaged in the process? Who will control First Contact diplomacy?

-The U.N. Under Fire:

One would imagine that the United Nations would seek to establish itself as the primary diplomatic agency for First Contact. This would inevitably lead to a political battle, especially in the United States and other countries where United Nations power has been hotly disputed.

-Scientists versus Politicians:

Scientists, at least a small community of scientists, have considered First Contact much more than politicians. And yet in the wake of First Contact science will need to take a back seat to diplomacy. This tension would likely lead to conflict between scientists and governments.

-Economic Swings:

The world economy experiences hiccups weekly, if not daily. If the Spanish financial rating can cause the markets to lurch, one could imagine what First Contact might do. After the initial period of confusion investors will realize that there could be great opportunity in First Contact. The search for those opportunities could lead to wild market swings as the trading community considers the possibilities and the potential dangers.

-A Calm Public:

Most surveys conducted in regards to human response to extraterrestrial First Contact show that people would most likely remain calm and level-headed during a First Contact event. After the initial shock and awe period, though, splinter groups will begin to form and those groups could have much stronger reactions than the general public.

-A Crazed Media:

If the O-J Simpson case can provoke a media frenzy one could only imagine the nuttiness produced by a First Contact event. With any luck the media would go into a protector mode, much as the American media did during 9-11. That mode puts a responsible weight on the shoulders of journalists. There was very little hype during 9-11 coverage. In situations of an extreme nature the media tends to act as protectors and not instigators.

-Bad Information and Rumors:

After the shock and awe period it seems likely that rumors and bad information would start to come to the surface. At this point the media could leave protector mode and begin to chase the rumors. This could be a dangerous period for human reaction.

-A Debate over Reaction:

In the weeks after First Contact a fierce debate will well-up over the response. This may include two opposite poles: those who want robust contact with aliens and those who want the aliens to leave us alone. In the middle will be a world public grappling with the long-term questions of diplomacy.

Are we ready? Of course not. Will it matter? Probably not. There may not be any aliens out there at all, and if there are, they are probably far, far away. Still, these questions are worth asking, especially if you consider the incredible impact a First Contact event would have on our human civilization.

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