Extraterrestrial Intelligence Discovered: Consequences for Society

June 2, 2001

Abstract

Inevitably society would change should extraterrestrial intelligence be discovered. The question is to what extent. We might react in the same way we did with the new millennium when it was imminent, but it proved to be much ado about almost nothing. The same may be true for the discovery of one or more extraterrestrial civilizations. On the other hand, the extreme opposite is a scenario where all of our worst fears are fulfilled.

It is very difficult to know exactly how we are going to react if or when we detect another intelligent civilization in the universe. Our reactions depend on many things, such as how the discovery is made (through some kind of signal or direct contact) and people's individual beliefs, experience, and knowledge.

1 Introduction

Have you ever looked up at the cloudless sky a dark night and wondered if we are alone, or if life exists anywhere out there? If you have, you are not alone. There seems to be something about space that fascinates us. Perhaps it is the vast distances, the immense number of stars, or the great colors we know from photographs that space is capable of producing. But there is more to it than just the aforementioned: humans have in all time been looking up at the skies, be it for observing celestial objects or in their quest for contact with gods.

The question of whether or not humankind is alone in space is one of the oldest philosophical questions, and it has interested a great number of people. One reason for this can be the impact the definite answer to that question would have on our society.

Most scientists are taking the search for extraterrestrial intelligence seriously and support it ("SETI—Frequently Asked Questions"), and there is a project called SETI going on. SETI is an acronym for the "Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence", and its mission is to find evidence of intelligent life in the universe. So far the project has yielded nothing, but there have been a couple of false alarms (Davies, 1995).

Computer users all over the world can help the SETI scientists by participating in the SETI@home project (http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/) which analyzes data packets consisting of information collected by the Arecibo Radio Observatory. To date no genuine extraterrestrial signal has been detected through SETI@home.

The focus of this essay lies on the possible consequences for society following the detection of extraterrestrial intelligence, and the reasons for those consequences. Hence it will not deal with such things as arguments for and against the existence of intelligent life in the universe.

Moreover, the possibility of extraterrestrial non-intelligent life (i.e. bacteria and other lower life forms) will not be discussed in the essay, even though the discovery of the tiniest extraterrestrial bacteria would have great importance, as Davies (1995) points out. I am quite certain that scientists will find extraterrestrial non-intelligent life or at least traces of it in a near future. To me such findings would not come as much of a surprise, and they would most likely not overthrow the society.

The discovery of intelligent life in the universe on the other hand would most likely drastically change the way we look upon ourselves, our place in the universe, and the world. It is the detection of extraterrestrial intelligence that would have the greatest effects on all of us. It is my belief that the consequences of such a discovery would be profound and reach all the way down to the very foundations upon which our whole society is based.

Yam (1998) writes that defining intelligence is most likely a mission impossible, but in an essay such as this one a definition of intelligence is required. Therefore, in this essay, "intelligent" refers to our level of thinking, our ability to communicate, solve problems of various kinds, and interact with other beings of the same race in a social context. However, what says that extraterrestrial beings are intelligent in our definition of the word? Perhaps they are intelligent in a completely different way. We might not even be able to perceive their intelligence because it is so dissimilar compared to ours. I have chosen the above definition of intelligence because it is the one we understand at least to some extent, but the reader should bear in mind that intelligence does not necessarily manifest in a form recognizable by us, thus falling outside the range of this essay.

It is my firm belief that life exists on other places in the universe and/or in other universes and dimensions if such things exist. I am confident that among the existing extraterrestrial life intelligence in one form or another must have evolved. In my opinion the search for extraterrestrial intelligence must continue. We cannot cease our efforts just because the chances are small that we will find something—we might be lucky some day. (I argue more for keeping SETI running in my article "Keep SETI Alive" that can be read on the Web at http://pericson.com/writings/keep_seti_alive/.)

2 Are They Like Us?

For obvious reasons this question is impossible to answer without actually seeing extraterrestrial beings or at least being able to ask them. I think that the possibility that they are similar to humans is small, because in order for such beings to develop and evolve like we have they would need to have developed in an environment that much resembles our own solar system. When we hear the words "intelligent extraterrestrial beings" we tend to think of if not little green men so human-like beings with a body and mind looking and working much like ours. How come we take for granted that extraterrestrial beings even have bodies? They might just as well be like spirits or ghosts. Perhaps they can move through space and time without any equipment at all (i.e. they are like cosmic ghosts). They can get from one side in the universe to the other in just a second or perhaps less. Maybe they are interdimensional and can travel easily between dimensions, not limiting them to our universe.

Even if the extraterrestrial beings are like us, the possibility that they have our view of right and wrong, justice, ethics, political systems, religion, and so on is infinitesimal because they most likely have not evolved under the same conditions that we have. Furthermore, some of the things mentioned above might be peculiar only to intelligent life on earth.

Just because we are what we are does not necessarily mean that beings that have evolved on other places in the universe or maybe even in other dimensions are like us. So how can beings that can travel in space and time without any kind of technology have developed when we have not? Well, we cannot be sure that we really have not gotten these capabilities. Perhaps what we call our mind is really an entity that exists independently of space and time, but for some reason possesses a human body during the body's lifetime and when death comes the entity leaves it for something else. Maybe the minds are the same throughout the universe and all dimensions, and the only thing that changes is the bodies that the mind takes possession of. If this is the case the things mentioned in the paragraph above may indeed be almost the same throughout the whole universe and other dimensions as well. Is this the versatility of life or does it indicate an intelligent architect of life? We might never know the answer.

3 Consequences for Society

According to Couper and Henbest (1998) the public's reactions would be diversified. Some people would feel extremely happy whereas others would be worried and feel threatened.

Some of the possible reasons for being happy are those listed below:

• It is highly probable that the intelligent extraterrestrial beings have a much better understanding of everything than we have. For instance, they might have developed a panacea that cures even the worst diseases on earth. Maybe they even have some sort of vaccine for all diseases. And they are willing to share.
• They could educate us, help us understand things such as the nature, the universe, and the most advanced and difficult-to-grasp quantum-physical laws and phenomena.
• With their help, we might be able to build our own spaceships and other means of transportation, and visit distant places in the universe, places that astronomers barely can observe. If the intelligent extraterrestrial beings traveled to earth in such a spaceship, then we can travel to their world.
• They could protect us from external threats such as asteroids or comets risking to crash into earth, or at least provide us with the technology required to accomplish this by ourselves.
• They can help us develop and rise to a higher level of understanding our place in and connection with cosmos.

People who feel threatened have of course reasons for that as well, and below are some reasons that could cause feelings of threat:

• People might fear that the discovered intelligent civilization is much more advanced than we are. If they are not good-hearted their technology may pose a great threat to humankind. If they have the ability to travel to earth, and have malicious intents, they might simply annihilate all life on the planet. If they are not of such destructive nature they might want to use what the earth has to offer, and to avoid doing any labor themselves they use humans as their working force. But as Tough (1991) points out it is quite possibly the case that civilizations that have reached a much higher level of development will not interfere with those who are developing (or higher-developed civilizations for that matter).
• The intelligent extraterrestrial beings may decide to come here to observe us, to find out what we are. It is possible that they will choose to do it clandestinely without the earthlings knowing about it. They might deceive scientists on earth that they only communicate through radio waves or some other indirect way of communication; they do not plan to visit us at the time being. Meanwhile, scientists from the intelligent extraterrestrial civilization secretly travel to earth to conduct research and experiments. Most likely scientists from another civilization will want to know as much about humans as possible. Even though the other civilization after examining humankind may decide to initiate more detailed contact with us and is benevolent, the preceding surveying may not be very pleasant. It might include abductions of humans with various kinds of experiments following, or some other types of invasive procedures.
• If they are more advanced than us, then we are not at the top of the hierarchy. The feeling of inferiority can indeed render strong emotions such as anger, frustration, and panic among people.
• Contacts between different cultures in history on our own planet have proved devastating for the people involved ("Cultural Aspects of SETI"). Despite this, analogies cannot be regarded as predictions of what will happen if extraterrestrial intelligence is discovered, but rather as guidelines of what could happen. This is not to say that analogies are useless because they can give us some information. (Dick 1993.) Where it is possible to use analogies these indicate a piecemeal shift towards an attitude of acceptance of the fact that we are not alone ("What Are the Possible Societal Effects?").

As we can see there are many reasons for various feelings in society if intelligent extraterrestrial life is discovered, and those listed above are in no way all the reasons for such feelings. There is always the possibility (and probability) that many people will react in certain ways according to their individual thoughts, level of education, ideas, philosophy, religious affiliation, social status, etc. As the "What Are the Possible Societal Effects?" document says there are people whose religious beliefs are not be compatible with the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence.

As suggested by Carl Sagan (1985) in his science fiction book "Contact" the newspapers would focus on the detection of extraterrestrial intelligence, as would TV. Other non-related news come in second. On TV many documentaries and films about UFOs, aliens, contact with extraterrestrial beings, etc. would be broadcast.

Religious groups, both those that existed before the discovery was made, and new ones created after the discovery (it is likely that such groups will form after the detection is made public) start working on the consequences of the discovery from a religious perspective. Has the intelligent life something to do with God, or is it related to the Devil, or neither? Some people might interpret the discovery as a sign of the impending return of Christ, whereas others interpret it as a sign of the approaching Armageddon. (Sagan, 1985.)

Nations around the world would become friendly towards each other in an effort to unite the world against the extraterrestrial intelligence. This will happen regardless of whether the extraterrestrial beings are benign or pose a threat to our world. Differences on earth looses significance. (Sagan, 1985.)

The notion that life was a miracle would not survive irrefutable evidence of extraterrestrial life if it can be proved beyond doubt that the extraterrestrial life and humans do not have the same origin. (If life miraculously began on earth and then somehow propagated through the universe the blow to the idea of life being a never-to-happen-again miracle will not be as severe.) Also, this would call in question the argument that we were uniquely created by God. If the discovered intelligence is more intelligent than we are (which it is likely to be) then we cannot be the number-one priority of God. (Davies, 1995.)

Another very interesting thing Davies (1995) discusses is the possible existence of intelligent machines in the universe. Maybe technological evolution supersedes biological evolution; at one point in most (all?) civilizations machines build machines, thus degrading its creators. I think it is more probable that a civilization creates really intelligent machines to help them deal with various chores and do things they cannot do for some reason, rather than as a replacement of them. (Of course a machine insurrection could become a reality, but most likely this would have been thought of and preventative measures taken when the machines were designed, even though complete security is impossible to attain.) One thing we could use machines for is sending them out in the universe in the hope that they will come across another intelligent civilization. There are many advantages with letting an intelligent machine explore remote parts of the universe, and a few of them are these: they do not require food and water, they can repair themselves given the right equipment, and they do not get tired by carrying out boring tasks. The first extraterrestrial contact we establish could very well be with an artificial intelligence.

4 Will They Help Us?

If there are extraterrestrial beings out there and they are benign, will they help us with thing we wish to be helped with?

There might indeed exist a very friendly civilization that wishes to help us develop, and that sends information or some other kind of aid that can help us.

Nonetheless I think any one extraterrestrial civilization is likely to just observe earth and the life on it, and see what happens. This is probably done secretly and without anybody knowing about it, because if we found out that we were being monitored by an extraterrestrial civilization, they would then have interfered unintentionally with life on earth. If they make their presence known to us people will undoubtedly look to them for help, education, and so on. Maybe the extraterrestrial beings do not have the time or willingness to help us, even though they are benevolent. I believe it is wrong to automatically assume that intelligent extraterrestrial beings if they exist would be willing to help us with whatever it is we think they can help us with.

5 Cover-Ups?

Often governments and their more or less arcane agencies are accused of not telling the truth about UFOs and extraterrestrial beings. There are many theories on why governments would conceal information, for example such information may be too much for society to handle, and hence it could break down.

A more interesting question is if governments of the world really could hide such information considering that they have problems to keep peace between each other? That being the case, how would they at the same time manage to cooperate to hide information pertaining to extraterrestrial intelligence?

As Davies (1995) writes, the idea that world governments and scientists are the only ones who can deal with the knowledge of extraterrestrial beings in a properly manner seems far-fetched.

In fact, there is a document called "Declaration of Principles Concerning Activities Following the Detection of Extraterrestrial Intelligence" that contains guidelines for what should happen if or when extraterrestrial intelligence is discovered. This document can be read on the Web at http://www.seti-inst.edu/science/principles.html.

The "SETI—Frequently Asked Questions" page states that the discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence would be an enormous event and therefore impossible to conceal.

Nevertheless, in the event of a detection of extraterrestrial intelligence, UFO fanatics may accuse governments and other bodies of knowing about this for many years before releasing it to the public. Such people will give several reasons for information being kept from the public, one being "national security".

6 Conclusions

• We cannot know how extraterrestrial beings look and think, but they would probably not be like us in any respect.
• The detection of extraterrestrial intelligence would have widespread consequences, affecting all groups of society. Some people would be excited and others worried, both for good reasons. A detection would raise philosophical and religious questions, such as if life on earth is a miracle or not.
• The first contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence could be with an artificial intelligence sent out by a civilization or representing a civilization of intelligent machines that has "lived on" when their creators and their civilization died.
• If they are more advanced then we are, they probably could help and educate us. The question is if they really want to interfere with our natural development process.
• It is unlikely that governments around the world are covering up information about UFOs and extraterrestrial beings. Nevertheless they would inevitably be accused of doing that should we detect an extraterrestrial intelligence.

There are two possibilities. Maybe we're alone. Maybe we're not. Both are equally frightening. SETI Central: http://www.seticentral.com/

References

For references without a given year of publication (i.e. most Web pages), only the titles of those references will be specified in the essay.

Couper, Heather and Nigel Henbest (1998). Is Anybody out There? London: Dorling Kindersley Limited. (Amazon.com/Adlibris.se)

Davies, Paul (1995). Are We Alone? London: Basic Books/Penguin Books. (Amazon.com/Adlibris.se)

Dick , Steven J. (1993). Consequences of SETI: Lessons from the History of Science. URL: http://www.nidsci.org/articles/steve_dick.html. Accessed May 19, 2001.

Sagan, Carl (1985). Contact. New York: Simon & Schuster. (Amazon.com/Adlibris.se)

SETI Institute. Cultural Aspects of SETI. URL: http://www.seti-inst.edu/science/culture.html. Accessed May 19, 2001.

SETI Institute. SETI—Frequently Asked Questions. URL: http://www.seti-inst.edu/faq.html. Accessed May 19, 2001.

SETI Institute. What Are the Possible Societal Effects? URL: http://www.seti-inst.edu/science/soc-fx.html. Accessed May 19, 2001.

Tough, Allen (1991). Intelligent Life in the Universe: What Role Will It Play in Our Future? URL: http://members.aol.com/AllenTough/bok.html. Accessed May 19, 2001.

Yam, Philip (1998). Intelligence Considered. URL: http://www.sciam.com/1998/1198intelligence/1198yam.html. Accessed May 19, 2001.

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