When Aliens Don't Attack
Since the dawn of man, we have stared up into the sky at night and wondered what the stars are. The ancient Greeks believed that their gods existed as the planets in the night sky, and they may not have been far off. Given the age of the universe, and the laws that govern it, it is highly probable that a race exists in the far reaches of space with such advanced civilization as to be considered godly by ancient Greek standards. The fear of this type of unknown power is prevalent in human culture; spanning from the ancient Greek mythology to modern science fiction. The movie âIndependence Dayâ features an alien race that travels from world to world consuming everything and destroying the inhabitants in the process: a terrifying and unlikely premise. If an alien race visits Earth, the violence that ensues is far more likely to be as a result of human societyâs faults then that of ill intent on the part of the visiting race.
Much like any other phobia, xenophobia (the fear of things external to oneâs self) must be dealt with in order to continue work in the related area, in this case astrobiology. Additionally, it seems exceedingly foolish to conduct extensive searches for intelligent life without first considering the social and biological consequences. Since there are no presently known intelligent alien species to study, any arguments on the topic must be inferred from what little is known about the extra-terrestrial universe and what is known about intelligent life on Earth. When considering confrontation between Humanity and alien life, it is extremely important to consider humans because we make up fifty percent of the confrontation and know nothing of the other half.
The universe is extremely large, but the fact of the matter is that the term âastronomicalâ is synonymous with enormous for a reason. Currently, the universe is estimated to be at least 156 billion light-years wide. (Barrow 840) That means that to travel from one side to the other it would take 156 billion years traveling at the impossible to attain speed of light (299,792,458 meters per second). Einsteinâs general theory of relativity states that it is impossible to travel at the speed of light because as oneâs velocity increases, so does oneâs mass. That is to say that as an object speeds up it gets more massive, and as it approaches the speed of light its mass becomes infinite. Because acceleration (the act of speeding up) is defined by the equation force equals mass times acceleration, the amount of force to accelerate an infinite mass is infinite. Because obviously there is no way to generate an infinite force, traveling at the speed of light is impossible, additionally, to travel at even half the speed of light (or any other meaningful fraction therein) is very difficult. (Hawking 19) The end result of this in terms of space travel is that it is very time and energy intensive when dealing with interstellar distances.
Visitors to the Hayden Planetarium at the Natural History Museum in New York are told that âthe third planet from the sun in the system Sol in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way galaxyâ is the âuniversal addressâ of Earth. That address represents our best guess as to where we are in the universe. Because the Milky Way galaxy is estimated to be 28,000 light-years across, it makes a much better area for arguing on extra-terrestrial life then the prohibitively large area of the universe. According to the experiments of Reid Thompson, the elements and conditions required for the âfirst stepsâ toward life as they may have occurred on Earth should occur commonly throughout the universe, obviously including the Milky Way.(Grinspoon *7.16) Considering mammalian evolution, there seems to be a tendency for mammalian intellect to dominate whatever niche it fills, an assumption that intelligence is the natural outcome of evolution can also be theorized.
Out of the previous implication stems the first major assumption required in deducing the nature of humanityâs hypothetical visitors. In order to detect and locate Earth, and then transport themselves here from any other star system requires the visitors to possess technology far advanced beyond what humans can currently produce, or even understand. Any race capable of creating such technology must be considered to be a super intelligent one, that is to say that they are much more intelligent then humanity. To solidify this point, our space program should be taken into consideration; namely the Voyager 1 deep space probe. Voyager was launched September 5th, 1977, nearly thirty years ago, and has traveled a grand total of approximately 40 light minutes. (Biever 1) At that rate it would take about 85,066 years for Voyager to reach Alpha Centauri, the very closest star system to Sol, one extremely unlikely to contain intelligent life. Even if intelligent life existed within a distance of 1 percent of the galactic diameter of us, that would still be about 280 light years distance and about 15,555 years travel time. A race with the power to travel these types of distances makes our evolutionary gain over monkeys seem trivial.
Even as a super-intelligent civilization, traveling interstellar distances would by no means be inexpensive in terms of time or energy required. This realization leads to several extreme possibilities regarding the reason for the visitorâs massive trek. Whatever the reason for the visitors to make such a journey must be astronomically extreme otherwise they would not make the investment required to come to Sol. One possibility is that they are extremely curious about humans. One of the few things that a super intelligent society could not learn on its own is information about other intelligent life. Such a race would certainly be as interested in the origin of life as we are, leading them to seek out other life, just as we are. In fact, without actually studying a separate intelligent life, they can only deduce information about it by studying themselves, as this paper seeks to do.
A mutual possibility is that the visitors may simply be extremely generous and consider us deserving of a hand up out of the savagery we exist in by comparison to them. Examples of this type of generosity exist in human history. During the Cold War, American Air Force pilots volunteered regularly to make the extremely dangerous flight across the Iron Curtain to bring supplies to the needy inhabitants in what has become known as the Berlin Air-Drop. Because American planes were not allowed to land in enemy Soviet territory, the planes could only touch down, push food out the back, and lift off without stopping.(Redente 1) The air-drop was conducted for no American gain, possibly out of a sense of duty because it was within American ability to help. The generosity needed to come all the way to Earth could possibly stem out of extreme boredom, likely as a result of a utopian or peaked society where the members are not required to do anything to sustain themselves. An American who joins the Peace Corps has a similar mindset to this type of alien visitor: he or she finds themselves in a situation where a life in their own advanced society seems trivial next to a life spent aiding those in less advanced societies.
The most commonly thought of and least logical possibility is that the visitation is driven by an extreme animosity towards humanity. This animosity could be derived from a biological incompatibility for communication or coexistence between our two races. If the alien race communicated completely via scent and our odor was incredibly offensive, that would be considered biological communication incompatibility. Though unlikely, the visitors may be exceptionally paranoid and see us as a potential threat to them in the future (the very far future). The standard movie reasoning for alien animosity is even less likely then humanity posing a threat: the prospect of the super intelligent race traveling across the galaxy to steal our resources or enslave humanity is preposterous. The probability that Sol is the closest system to their home world containing any given resource is supremely slim, and that resource being more valuable to them than a relationship with other intelligent life is simply illogical. Moreover, any task would undoubtedly be better suited to efficient robotic laborers than human slaves. A super intelligent race has no reason to approach Earth with mal intent; it just doesnât make sense.
Humans are as much animals as any other species on Earth, and as such the rules of evolution apply to us. By definition, evolution through the means of survival of the fittest creates species that are best adapted to survive. Humanityâs so called ânatural reactionsâ are in fact just that; the instinctual behaviors that occur without thought below the conscious level in order to ensure our individual survival and thusly survival as a species. One such reaction is the reaction to fear and mistrust things that are external to self (essentially in-born xenophobia) to the point of lashing out violently at the threat. Research done in this area has yielded surprising results. Human brains can maintain stable relationship information for only about one-hundred and fifty other entities as a part of the self (about the number of residents in a large village). This cognitive limit (named Dunbarâs number after the researcher who uncovered it) is based on the discovery that there is a direct correlation between the mean size of various primate social groups and their relative neo cortex volume. (Dunbar 3) It is important to note that this number can only include âothersâ that an individual considers to be of the same type as itself, or at least similar. There is no way to know how Dunbarâs number might apply to an alien life form.
On the opposite end of the spectrum from violently lashing out lies the behavior of embracing those more powerful than oneâs self. A clear example of this type of behavior is the pack social structure by which human societies function. In a pack there is generally an alpha male and female and a beta male and female. The alpha male is the leader of the pack, and is generally given some honors such as eating first or having pick of mates (as is largely the case with humans). The other members of the pack embrace this more powerful entity because it is in their best interest to have them as an ally instead of an enemy. The beta members exist essentially to maintain the alpha members as the most powerful in the group by being ready to challenge for dominance at the slightest hint of weakness in the leaders.(Benedict 207-213) The rest of the members of the group would stand little to no chance in a challenge. History presents an excellent human example of this type of embracing in the American Revolutionary War. The Iroquois Indians of what is now largely upstate New York and Canada sought to increase their chances of survival in the conflict by allying themselves with the military superiority of Great Britain.(Richter 545-560) Although the alliance proved to be a faulty investment for the Indians, it illustrates the behavior nonetheless.
In the scenario of the super-intelligent visitors, the benefits of embracing could potentially be gargantuan. If the visitors decided to share knowledge with us, the gain for mankind would be especially massive. As stated before, simply by finding Earth and traveling across the galaxy to visit it implies that the type of technology imparted onto humans would certainly advance our space capabilities exponentially beyond their current state. It is important to note the necessarily long standing nature of the visitorâs civilization. One can assume that to amass such extensive knowledge and achieve a virtually utopian (by comparison to Earth) society must require substantially longer amounts of time than humanity has existed. When this assumption is juxtaposed with the impending depleted state of Earthâs resources caused directly by human advancement, the only logical conclusion is that the visitors must have long ago solved similar problems on their own world. Thusly, Earthâs fledgling environmental issues would also almost undoubtedly be addressed and cured as easily as a sore throat is cured today. Along that line, medicine would see unprecedented expansion and a substantial lengthening, if not indefinite as may be inferred by the lengthy voyage, in lifespan.
An analogous example to this type of logical embracement after the initial meeting of two essentially alien races exists in the historic âdiscovery of Chinaâ by Marco Polo and his crew. At the time of the meeting, China had technological prowess that included such wonders as gunpowder, silk and paper, all of which were far beyond anything the European explorers had seen. They discovered a new world populated by a more advanced culture that they logically should have considered a threat due to the fact that it was strange and far more powerful than the nation they represented, but instead of seeking to destroy it, they sought to gain from the meeting.(Cordier 586) Both cultures (Eastern and Western) involved continue to gain from the mutual acceptance of each other through trade and socio-cultural interaction to this day. In this case, the benefit of embracing outweighed that of lashing out violently, and thus a non-violent path of action was taken.
Although not perfectly analogous to the visitorâs hypothetical actions, it is nonetheless relevant that the more powerful entity of China did not react violently towards the European explorers. This lack of dominating action may have resulted from similar background to the theoretical visiting race; specifically a supply of materials and land that completely satisfied the needs of the more powerful entity. China had no need or reason to attempt to dominate or destroy European civilization. Great China did however have a potential to gain from what it could learn from studying and interacting with another civilization.
In addition, the hypothetical visiting race may have made previous contact with other intelligent races throughout the universe. Extrapolating from previous assumptions there is a possibility that intelligent life is or will be fairly widespread, there may be an entire network of intelligent races who have made contact with one another that the visiting race would expose us to. This is simultaneously extremely unlikely and probable. It is unlikely because of the sheer vastness of space and the difficulty in finding another intelligent race in the first place. However, the task of finding and contacting other intelligent races becomes easier as each new race is actually contacted. This is functions similarly to a concept developed by Jon von Neumann known as a âvon Neumann machineâ. The technical term for the machine in question is a von Neumann Clanking Replicator Probe; one that is launched from a planet to seek out planets of a specific type (whatever the builder is seeking), and capable of replicating itself in order to do so. A single such probe could spawn a fleet theoretically able to search the entire galaxy in approximately a half million years due to the fact that with each planet that is searched, the number of âeyesâ is increased.(Gilbreath 1)
The most concrete reason for humanity embracing the super-intelligent visitors is simple enough for the whole world to comprehend. Humanity would have no chance at all in any type of provocation against an adversary possessing the power implied by their arrival in our star system. The visitors will not be defeated by any type of biological virus as H.G. Wells would have us believe from âWar of the Worldsâ, nor would they be defeated by a digital virus as the writers of âIndependence Dayâ would have us believe. Any technology we possess will be stone-aged at best by comparison, and early humans wouldnât stand to decent a chance against a nuclear bomb. Therefore the only logical conclusion would be to embrace the visitors with open arms, anything else would be akin to self inflicted xenocide (the destruction of one race by another) (Card 286).
Unfortunately, not everything can be determined through the use of logic. For example, one possible reason for the interest in Earth is extreme illogic, essentially no reason at all. In a plateaued society where boredom is rampant, there may be a distinct potential for members to wreak havoc on less civilized species out of sheer maliciousness. Human children often behave this way toward insects and other lower life forms. There is no reason for a child to burn ants with a magnifying lens, and yet he or she does it anyway. The ants are so far below the child in his or her own mind that the consequences of killing ants or not killing ants are irrelevant, it is only the act of killing that makes the child feel powerful that inspires the act. (Derriennic 371)
When dealing with arguments on alien life, one cannot deny the fact that it is completely unknown what might drive alien logic, or lifecycles, or biology, or even something as basic as evolution. Simply because a series of events transpired in the system of Sol to allow humanity the chance to spring into being as the intellect that we are does not mean that the same or even similar events are required to occur to create parallel intelligent races. It is entirely possible that any extraterrestrial societies may be completely beyond analogies and relation to human civilization. An alien intelligence may even be entirely beyond the spectrum of human comprehension, possibly existing in some form too fundamentally different than us to even be considered.
A wholly disturbing concept to apply is that the members of the race actually visiting may not accurately represent the desires of their race. Once again human exploratory history yields a prime example through Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus. Even though the Crown refused a proposal by Columbus to enslave natives due to their apparent good natured and helpful society, the famous explorer and his crew took 500 Awak Indians as slaves for Spain. Two hundred died en route. (Mann 201) Representatives of the visiting race could act out of individual self interest and easily position themselves as the rulers of Earth. It is simply unlikely that they would because even being the ruler of our entire planet would be unlikely to yield anything they would consider worthwhile. There is little power in ruling ants.
A return to the human aspect of the hypothetical visitation displays its most frightening facet. If by some chance Earth is visited by a malicious alien race, we will undoubtedly unify with extreme quickness to fight a quick and losing battle. Unfortunately, if we are visited by a peaceful, or even benevolent alien race, we will likely be so divided by opinions on the proper course of action that we will be driven to massive world-wide civil war. This war will not result in the destruction of the species, rather a severe point of social evolution. Essentially it will come down to groups of people who are willing to embrace the visitors, and groups who are only able to lash out at them. Over time it is likely that the visitors will build trust through their aid to humanity. The violence will rage on until virtually all humans see that resisting benevolence is foolish, at which point human society will have completed its evolution into one capable of dealing with other intelligent civilizations.
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