Abstract
For over 50 years, scientists involved in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) have searched for evidence of alien civilizations, and several messages have been transmitted into space with the intention of communicating with intelligent extraterrestrial beings. In April 2010, the esteemed British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking warned that such attempts could be potentially dangerous. He based his conclusion on historical analogies on Earth, such as the conflict between Native Americans and European settlers, and he reasoned that when a more technologically advanced civilization encountered a less advanced one, the results have often been catastrophic for the weaker party. Although this argument has intuitive appeal, upon closer examination, it appears misguided. Even for technologically-advanced civilizations, interstellar voyages would probably be justified only for major purposes, and plundering the Earth for its resources would be neither practical nor desirable.
This chapter is an adaptation of Michael, George. 2011. “Extraterrestrial Aliens: Friends, Foes, or Just Curious?” Skeptic 16(3):46–53 and is published here with permission of Michael Shermer, publisher and editor-in-chief of Skeptic.
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Notes
- 1.
That is with the possible exception of the “Wow signal,” which after numerous attempts to rediscover, has not been found again. On August 15, 1977, Jerry Ehman, a SETI volunteer at Ohio State University, observed a startling strong signal received by telescope. After circling the indication on a printout, he scribbled “Wow!” in the margin. Some observers consider the message to be the most likely candidate from an extraterrestrial source ever discovered. However, subsequent searches have failed to detect it again. The powerful narrowband spike most likely emanated from a man-made satellite.
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Michael, G. (2014). Extraterrestrial Intelligence: Friends, Foes, or Just Curious?. In: Vakoch, D. (eds) Extraterrestrial Altruism. The Frontiers Collection. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37750-1_2
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