Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence - Results of Extraterrestrial Contact For Humanity

Results of Extraterrestrial Contact For Humanity

A part of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence involves the analysis of the implications of extraterrestrial contact for humanity, culturally, scientifically, technologically, and socially. Numerous contact scenarios have been created by scientists who are involved in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence in order to better contextualize what may eventually occur when humanity is contacted by an extraterrestrial species. These studies reveal that the result of extraterrestrial contact will be strongly governed by the benevolence or malevolence of an extraterrestrial civilization, how advanced it is technologically, and whether or not such a species sends robotic probes to contact humanity, as opposed to radio signals from a centralized source, as well as biological similarities and differences between humanity and the extraterrestrial species.

Malevolent civilizations, as speculated by Dr. Michio Kaku (2009) and Robert Freitas (1978) independently, may possess resources which can destroy humanity with little effort on the part of the extraterrestrial civilization and with little chance at resistance. Supporting the view of aggression, Seth Shostak, a senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, speculates that the finite quantity of resources in the galaxy and the "explorer" nature of any civilization would cause it to be aggressive in the same way that human explorers have been historically.

However, these views have been disputed by, among others, the late Carl Sagan, who speculated that any technologically advanced extraterrestrial civilization would be advanced ethically as well, and would not be aggressive, and that humanity would, due to the extraterrestrial civilization's technological prowess, reciprocate this non-aggression. Corroborating this view, a study conducted by James W. Deardorff states that only a small percentage of extraterrestrial civilizations may be aggressive. Such civilizations may use various methods in order to help humanity, such as immediate actions to avert catastrophe (i.e. creating computer glitches in nuclear-weapons systems on the eve of global nuclear conflagration) or long-term mitigation of risks which may destroy humanity before true technological cooperation.

Extraterrestrial civilizations may also have specific implications for various aspects of humanity against a backdrop of these broad contact scenarios. In particular, religion may undergo various degrees of change, from a reinterpretation of religious texts by theologians to accommodate the new discovery to a complete reinvention of religion, with extraterrestrials bringing humanity into an all-encompassing cosmic faith.

In addition to the religious problems which may arise, Michaud (2006) and Othman (2011) speculate that extraterrestrial contact may cause problems for global foreign relations, causing global political divisiveness over the involvement of radio astronomers worldwide in post-detection processes and over which bodies represent humanity as a whole in the wake of contact, as well as how, with what content, and whether a message should be sent in reply to what has been received from extraterrestrial intelligence. On a larger scale, Harrison (2000) has speculated that, as humanity builds relations with an extraterrestrial civilization, humanity may be given an invitation to a "Galactic Club" with numerous other civilizations.

As well as political implications, extraterrestrial contact may have scientific implications as well. Extraterrestrial civilizations may, as Harrison (2002) speculates, cause a profound technological and societal impact of a magnitude much greater than the Industrial Revolution of the late-eighteenth to nineteenth centuries, and extraterrestrial life in general may give us knowledge of extraterrestrial biochemistry. However, extraterrestrial civilizations, if they know terrestrial biology and its weaknesses and are malevolent, may conduct biological warfare by means of pathogens and invasive species completely unknown to the Earth previously.