“Humanity has come
late upon the scene. And the Galaxy has a big head start.” - David
Brin, Existence.
“To assume that
humanity is the highest-performing, most intelligent life in the
galaxy is the ultimate in arrogance.” - Me, deriving from some
readings by Carl Sagan a long while back.
What form will they
take? How will we communicate with them? Will they just tap into
our minds, being so advanced that they are like gods? Or will they
be a bit merciful and use more conventional methods. At what point
will the human race be ready to talk to our superiors, and join a
larger confederation of species than we ever imagined?
Or is it all a waste
of time? Or at worst, an invitation to disaster, when ‘they’
do arrive, and stomp us insignificant ants into the ground? No one
can know until we all do.
Some possibilities:
The ambient radiation present in our solar system is profuse. Some
from the sun, some from Jupiter and maybe Saturn. Some of that
might possibly be encoded messages being passed back and forth by
extraterrestrials.
Some random
meteors, comets and the like could disguise ET travelers.
ET’s could be
sitting just outside our Solar System, watching and waiting for us to
emerge intact, or at least waiting to see if we destroy ourselves
first.
We could be a
zoological experiment, started, seeded and set in motion by some far
older race. And they could still be watching and monitoring our
progress, or lack thereof.
At times ET’s
could have subtly, quietly intervened in small ways to decide the
outcomes of various major events. Wars, natural disasters,
epidemics and the like. Unlikely, but possible.
It could be
said that the Galaxy, even the Universe, has already been populated
by our imaginings and suppositions about ET races and civilizations.
In a sense, we have populated the galaxy with our imagination. If
and when the first real contact is made, how bad will our illusions
be shattered, and how good or bad will that effect the psyche of the
human race? One of the only reasons I might wish to live forever is
to be present to witness the meeting between humanity and
civilization X. It will be an amazing time for sure.
If they are
ever able to upload a person’s brain into an artificial AI shell,
will the uploaded person be aware in both places at once? Probably
not. Both entities will be self-aware, but they will still be two
separate entities. At most, the person will have bought a copy of
themselves eternal life. That person will still, unfortunately, die.
Enough deep
thoughts. Time to break out the wine. Happy Holidays to all.
