Contact with Alien Civilizations Our Hopes and Fears about Encounter
This book describes a wide variety of speculations by many authors about the consequences for humanity of coming into contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. The assumptions underlying those speculations are examined, and some conclusions are drawn. A
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Contact with Alien Civilizations Our Hopes and Fears about Encountering Extraterrestrials
Michael A.G. Michaud
COPERNICUS BOOKS An Imprint of Springer Science+Business Media
© 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Published in the United States by Copernicus Books, an imprint of Springer Science+Business Media. Copernicus Books Springer Science+Business Media 233 Spring Street New York, NY 10013 www.springer.com Library of Congress Control Number: 2006923105 Manufactured in the United States of America. Printed on acid-free paper. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN-10: 0-387-28598-9 ISBN-13: 978-0-387-28598-6
The considerations of the intelligent always include both benefi t and harm. —Sun Tzu, fi fth century B.C.
Contents
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hopes and Fears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Searching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Consequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Before and After 1960 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An Apology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1 3 3 5 7 8 8
A BELIEF IN OTHER MINDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An Ancient Idea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Closed Universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Copernicanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Triumph of Observation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fictional Aliens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An Impersonal Universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Evolution and Sharpened Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lowell, and Alien Invaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Expansion and Skepticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ubiquitous Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9 9 11 13 14 15 17 19 20 22 24
A NEW ERA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Searching for Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Disappointment and Revival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Metadiscipline . . . . . .
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