The Search for Extraterrestial Life
Over the last century, humanity has been fascinated with the possibility of extraterrestial life. There are institutions in our world today like SETI (short for Search for Extraterrestial Intelligence) whose sole purpose is to seek out sentient beings in other worlds. In the search for intelligent life, some people even go through the trouble of informing the extraterrestials of our existence, so that they can perhaps, search for us. Personally speaking, I am curious about whether or not extraterrestial life exists. However, I'm far more interested in discovering aliens than to be discovered by aliens. It is good to know your opponent, but I would rather that my opponent knew little about me.
If the aliens are in anyway similar to human beings in nature, then there are two possibilities:
1. We are technologically more advanced than them;
2. They are technologically more advanced than us.
"I would put forward a law of social and political relationships," so says David Landes, a historian, "namely, that three factors cannot coexist:
1. A marked disparity of power;
2. Private access to the instruments of power; and
3. Equality of groups or nations.
Where one group is strong enough to push another around and stands to gain by it, it will do so."
He was referring to different nations, but his context could be applied to different worlds as well. Our world is far more peaceful today than in the past, because we have achieved an equilibrium of sorts. It took us centuries to reach the equilibrium we have today, to establish the institutions, rules, the legal framework, codes, laws and regulations that govern interstate relations. We will not fire nuclear weapons at other countries because we know they will fire them back at us. We cannot assume that any alien race would possess similar notions of government, or interstate relations as we do. Any contact with such beings will most certainly throw our paradigm into turmoil, and we would need to seek a new equilibrium that would govern the relationships between our races.
While the word "equilibrium" carries a positive connotation with it, the process of seeking equilibrium may not necessarily be a pleasant one. The new equilibrium may not necessarily be what we expect, and may not even be an outcome of our choice. A recent example that comes to mind would be the Native Americans, who did eventually find some sort of equilibrium with the Europeans. The process of seeking this equilibrium was to be hunted to near extinction. The final equilibrium was to live in reservations.
Picture an alien world that is rich in say, oil, a scarce commodity that has been the cause of many wars in our world. Let us assume that an alien species already lives on this world. What will the likely outcome of contact between our two worlds be? If the alien species is of a sufficient level of technology and civilization, we would trade with them for their oil. If the species were very primitive, say, with the intelligence of prehistoric cavemen, we would likely treat them as animals that are slightly more intelligent than monkeys. These beings will then be subjugated to our wills, owing their existence to our pleasure.
On the other hand, if the aliens are far more technologically advanced than us, there is every reason to expect them to treat us the same way we would treat our weaker brethren. We cannot assume that any contact between two different civilizations will be a pleasant experience for both. Thus, I am perplexed as to why we are sending messages out to the galaxy to let other intelligent beings know about our existence (and hope they will come and look for us). Surely, it would be better to discover these beings first, gather knowledge about them, and formulate a strategy to deal with them? "Know yourself and your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles," said Sun Tzu, the ancient Chinese military strategist. What gain would there be for us to be discovered? All one has to do is to look back in history, and recall how the Native Americans were "discovered" by the Europeans.
If the aliens are in anyway similar to human beings in nature, then there are two possibilities:
1. We are technologically more advanced than them;
2. They are technologically more advanced than us.
"I would put forward a law of social and political relationships," so says David Landes, a historian, "namely, that three factors cannot coexist:
1. A marked disparity of power;
2. Private access to the instruments of power; and
3. Equality of groups or nations.
Where one group is strong enough to push another around and stands to gain by it, it will do so."
He was referring to different nations, but his context could be applied to different worlds as well. Our world is far more peaceful today than in the past, because we have achieved an equilibrium of sorts. It took us centuries to reach the equilibrium we have today, to establish the institutions, rules, the legal framework, codes, laws and regulations that govern interstate relations. We will not fire nuclear weapons at other countries because we know they will fire them back at us. We cannot assume that any alien race would possess similar notions of government, or interstate relations as we do. Any contact with such beings will most certainly throw our paradigm into turmoil, and we would need to seek a new equilibrium that would govern the relationships between our races.
While the word "equilibrium" carries a positive connotation with it, the process of seeking equilibrium may not necessarily be a pleasant one. The new equilibrium may not necessarily be what we expect, and may not even be an outcome of our choice. A recent example that comes to mind would be the Native Americans, who did eventually find some sort of equilibrium with the Europeans. The process of seeking this equilibrium was to be hunted to near extinction. The final equilibrium was to live in reservations.
Picture an alien world that is rich in say, oil, a scarce commodity that has been the cause of many wars in our world. Let us assume that an alien species already lives on this world. What will the likely outcome of contact between our two worlds be? If the alien species is of a sufficient level of technology and civilization, we would trade with them for their oil. If the species were very primitive, say, with the intelligence of prehistoric cavemen, we would likely treat them as animals that are slightly more intelligent than monkeys. These beings will then be subjugated to our wills, owing their existence to our pleasure.
On the other hand, if the aliens are far more technologically advanced than us, there is every reason to expect them to treat us the same way we would treat our weaker brethren. We cannot assume that any contact between two different civilizations will be a pleasant experience for both. Thus, I am perplexed as to why we are sending messages out to the galaxy to let other intelligent beings know about our existence (and hope they will come and look for us). Surely, it would be better to discover these beings first, gather knowledge about them, and formulate a strategy to deal with them? "Know yourself and your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles," said Sun Tzu, the ancient Chinese military strategist. What gain would there be for us to be discovered? All one has to do is to look back in history, and recall how the Native Americans were "discovered" by the Europeans.
