One:
We could use the help. I’m not talking about humans acquiring alien
technology or great knowledge. Those things could easily undermine our society.
As I have argued in the past, the best work is difficult. Difficult scientific
advancement yields all sorts of benefits. By help, in regard to First Contact,
I’m simply talking about a change in perspective. Some of us are pretty damn
comfortable down here. We’re fine with tootling around in our inefficient and
environmentally damaging cars. We don’t mind piling up dangerous waste or
contaminating the oceans. We’re okay with having one-eighth of humans living
chronically under-nourished. And the people who are the most comfortable are
the ones who are making the decisions.
I’m not suggesting that we would want to change
our civilization to meet alien expectations. We could simply use the reminder
that it’s a big universe out there and we need to take care of home. That means
caring for our planet and for other humans. We need to view our civilization
from the outside and then decide how we want to proceed. It may sound strange,
but I think knowing that an extraterrestrial intelligence is out there would
help us better understand ourselves.
Two:
We can handle it. There are many scientific studies that show how
humans might react to First Contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. For
the most part, people seem to be up to the challenge. Surveys show that people
would view such an event with wonder and not much fear. Clearly, that depends
on the event being peaceful and well-planned. Our religions have already begun
a process of assimilating ideas of extraterrestrial intelligence into their
framework.
Three:
Our institutions can handle it. Governments work together in
ways not imaginable even thirty years ago. Sure, there is still plenty of
conflict in the world. But we have linkages now that could help us handle an
alien First Contact event. The United Nations is probably the one that comes to
mind first. However, scientific associations, world economic groups and even
religions are robust and international in our modern world. Individual
governments are relatively stable. There are certainly disturbing trouble spots
across the world. But the largest nations are working together economically,
diplomatically and culturally.
Four:
We have the scientific foundation. This is a real leap on my
part. Not knowing anything about extraterrestrial intelligence (and that
includes whether it even exists) makes it tough to assert that humans could
handle interaction with aliens from a scientific standpoint. Still, we have
come a long way in recent decades. Theoretical physics and astrophysics have
made great achievements in recent years. Our understanding of the biological
world grows daily. Most importantly, we have begun to consider extraterrestrial
life in a scientific way through astrobiology. Even social scientists have
jumped into the fray with studies of human response to extraterrestrial contact.
Five:
We have the technology. Communication technology connects the
great majority of humanity. A dramatic First Contact event (as I have proposed here) would be able to reach most of humanity in a
matter of minutes. The only thing holding back such news would be human
editorial gatekeepers. The technology itself is simply the flick of a switch
and the push of a button. This would allow all of humanity to be involved in
First Contact. It would also allow aliens the ability to frame their own
message, without a reliance on individual governments of institutions.
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