A theory on Extraterrestrial Intelligence

Extraterrestrial Intelligence and Our Potential Relationship with It

Joshua Plovanic

December 5, 2015

 

 

    Extraterrestrial intelligence has been the marvel of mankind’s imagination since we first conceived of its possibility in our universe.  Our entertainment and culture is flooded with conceptualizations and ideas about extraterrestrial beings and the many forms such intelligence can manifest itself. As our understanding of the universe has progressed over the centuries, the idea that there could be life elsewhere in the universe became ever more enchanting and, according to some theorists in Astrobiology and other fields of study, actually quite probable. Formulas have been developed, such as the Drake equation, which attempt to estimate the number of extraterrestrial civilizations in the universe. Although many in academia have concluded that there is a significant probability of intelligent extraterrestrial civilizations existing elsewhere in the universe, there are many difficulties that intelligent species, including our own, face in their development into advanced intelligent entities with the necessary sophistication and complexity to allow for interstellar travel and communication. One of these difficulties is simply the sheer vastness of space. Other difficulties include surviving the tumultuous calamities that civilizations and their planetary systems face and having the necessary conditions present for a Darwinian evolutionary process or an unforeseen type of process to arise and be allowed to develop a significant intelligent species or beings of some sort. I would make the argument that if an intelligent civilization were to develop the technology to cross the vastness of space in reasonable time, then they would be far more advanced than us not just technologically, but socially, culturally, ethically/morally, politically and militarily as well, and as a result of this they would not have hostile intent.

With regard to the probability of extraterrestrial civilizations existing elsewhere, there is a situation known as the Fermi Paradox, or Great Silence, which simply states that if extraterrestrial intelligence is widespread, why haven’t we had any contact with them. (Baum S. D., et al, 2011) My primary resolution to the Fermi paradox is the previously mentioned factor of the sheer vastness of space. The fact remains that without a significant technological breakthrough that can bridge space or propel a vessel faster than light, space remains virtually impossible to cross within a lifetime of a biological life-form like ourselves. For example, at current propulsion maximums of 36,000 mph, it would still take around 100,000 years to reach Alpha Centauri, our closest star system. An article by Seth Baum and colleagues from Pennsylvania State University’s geography department discusses this resolution in a different way, referring to sustainable expansion. It states that rapid expansion may not be sustainable on a galactic scale, just like it is unsustainable here on earth. (Baum, S. D., et al., 2011) The sustainability should include the fact that not all planetary systems are going to be abundant in resources or life-sustaining planets. The distance, as well as the resources required to traverse such distances, would have a high likelihood of dissuading ETI (extraterrestrial intelligence) from endeavoring to reach these systems. Even the systems with habitable planets are not guaranteed to be reasonably close to you (within 50 to 100 light years) and distance becomes a dissuasion factor again.

With the distance factor being accounted for, if a civilization were ever to reach the milestone technological achievement of developing reasonable space travel, this civilization would have immense technological and cognitive superiority in relation to us. A result of this fact would most likely include an advancement in more fields than just technology. Socioculturally, it may have reached a level of sophistication incomprehensible to us. Ethically and morally their sophistication and development in these fields would most likely far surpass our own. I believe that ethical/moral advancement would not be regressive and follow the same altruistic and benevolent progress that we conceive of to be the natural progress of these fields of understanding. In the article discussing the ethical considerations for planetary protection in space exploration, the authors describe how “International efforts to provide for the protection and use of outer space environments are gaining momentum.” (Rummel, J. D., et al, 2012) The fact that an article discussing planetary ethics simply exists and that this article supports a benevolent and altruistic approach to encounters with extraterrestrial life strongly reinforces my argument that benevolence and altruism are the natural progress of ethics/morality. This is based on the only model of ethics/morality within an intelligent species’ civilization  that we have, which is ourselves.

The primary fear of an encounter with an ETI is that of a hostile encounter. One argument for the likelihood of said encounter is the desire for habitat and resources, of which our existence might inhibit the ETI from gaining access to these things. It would need to neutralize our species as a threat to its ambitions and get us out of the way to achieve its goals of resource and habitat acquisition. In short, they may not like to share. The ethical and moral development of this hypothetical ETI may have developed in a way that would give them a sophisticated justification for taking a hostile course of action, in a similar manner by which the United States justified its potentially resource-motivated invasion of Iraq in 2003 by stating that we were spreading good democratic and superior western values to that country. This argument for a resource-driven galactic expansion of an ETI and its encroachment into our sovereign solar system can be well substantiated given our understanding of how our own species works and our collective motivations and intents toward ourselves, which are often hostile and malevolent.

 I would make this argument against hostile intent based on the fact that survival is necessary for a civilization to develop the technology for space travel, and engaging in catastrophic self-destructive behavior such as conflict with itself or environmental abuse goes against that survival necessity. To allow for survival, you have to have multifaceted development of a civilization, which includes ethics and protective systems and ideas. In human beings, many of our ethical and moral standards are based on what is known as the disgust and aversion response, which are natural responses to certain sensory perceptions and events. A study on the disgust factor in morality gave many hypothetical situations to a surveyed group of people and asked them to rate the wrongness of each situation on varying scales. There was a strong correlation between disgust and morality found in these studies. (Schnall, S., et al., 2008) Pertaining to the aforementioned subject of survival necessity, a disgust and aversion response and the subsequent moral/ethical evolution from that response could allow for the overall stability required to achieve interstellar transportation capabilities. This moral/ethical progress towards benevolence and altruism not only could stem from a foundation in an ingrained disgust response but also result in an efficient self-supporting and mutualistically altruistic society that benefited from the cooperation it can foster and the stability it can create. Since this advancement would stabilize this hypothetical ETI, it would end the often tragic cycle of self destruction that the only known intelligence in the universe perpetually engages in. This glorious and groundbreaking paradigm shift that could occur in the ETI’s society would be the catalyst for achieving interstellar transportation by creating social, political, cultural, ethical, and technological stability in its civilization. I believe that any extremely advanced civilization would extend their altruistic approach to our planet as well, treating us as they would like to be treated for the mutual benefit of both sides.

The wonder and aura surrounding the concept of an extraterrestrial intelligence is gloriously enchanting to me and many like myself. I find myself enthralled in the potential for another form of consciousness and intelligence to interact with and learn from. The possibilities of what may happen if we do encounter new intelligence are vast and can be intimidating to some. I think this intimidation has some grounds to stand on, but many of our fears are often unnecessary. The Fermi paradox shows that space is silent of life. The sheer vastness of space shows the immense difficulties of communicating in and travelling through interstellar space in reasonable time. The final fact that I believe should alleviate your fears is that a civilization sufficiently stable enough to develop interstellar travel capabilities is probably advanced enough to realize the overwhelmingly superior benefits of interspecies cooperation rather than the mass death and destruction of conflict and hostility. Human beings  are so young on a geological and cosmological scale that we have not  reached the required maturity and achieved those necessary paradigm shifts that allow us to expand throughout the cosmos and achieve a state of stability within our own species to survive the eons in abundance. These conditions could very well be met or already have been met by an ETI.