NBC NEWS: What Happens Next If We Find Proof Of Space Aliens?
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Subject: NBC NEWS: What Happens Next If We Find Proof Of Space Aliens? Tue Aug 08, 2017 7:04 am
NBC NEWS: What Happens Next If We Find Proof Of Space Aliens?
What would be the long-term effect of learning we’re not alone? Would we give up religion? Would we stop waging war? Would we cower in the face of possible interstellar aggression? Facing such questions, social scientists tend to look for historical analogies. For example, what were the consequences when Columbus discovered the American continent (or if you prefer, when the Vikings or Ice Age Asians did)? One problem here is that the analogy isn’t terribly apt. These folks weren’t doing exploration for its own sake. They found something new by accident […] There is little certainty about what the consequences of finding aliens might be, but there is this: We’ll immediately know something very important. We’ll know that we are neither unique nor special. But if you ask what the legacy of such a discovery will be hundreds or thousands of years from now, there’s simply no way to arrive at an answer that’s either useful or accurate.
NBC NEWS: What Happens Next If We Find Proof Of Space Aliens?