Aliens vs Humans

Humans have long wondered if there is an extra-terrestrial civilisation out there

in the gigantic unexplored space which, just like them, is in search of other
species. The technology in use today is developed to us but not advanced
enough to even explore our own galaxy, in fact only two satellites actively in
contact with the earth are leaving the solar system. As popularised by movies,
books and comics, the aliens are thought of as intelligent species with advanced
technology trying to destroy the planet earth with their greedy intentions. But
what if humans actually made contact with alien life? If humans were to hear
from intelligent life beyond earth, what would really happen next?
No government has officially adopted a ‘Post Detection Policy’ and when asked
how they would deal with a confirmed message from extra terrestrial
intelligence, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs simply said that
their job does not include any issues regarding the question posed. Does that
mean that we are unprepared? Would chaos ensue? These things are very
unlikely but the way humans prepare for and anticipate our species
encountering one from beyond earth is important.
Historically, the human kind have acted as though alien life exists. Back
contamination is a concern that a man-made object returning from space could
carry with it undiscovered alien lifeforms especially viruses and bacteria that
could wipe out life on earth. This was a serious concern dealt by serious people
who first sent humans to the moon. When Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and
Buzz Aldrin returned from the lunar surface, they didn’t immediately hug their
families or join the public parade. Instead they were sealed in biological
isolation garments and flown to a quarantine facility to be locked away for three
weeks. But Forward Contamination has also been a real concern. When NASA
sent the Galileo spacecraft to survey Jupiter and its moons, it got amazing data
but there was a problem, it had never been sterilised because life even liquid
water could exist on the moons. NASA made the decision to avoid
contaminating an alien biosphere and when the mission was over, steered
Galileo into Jupiter where it burned up and was destroyed along with any earth
life possibly on board. Groups like SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial
Intelligence) are the ones actively listening, they have an ear to the space. They
have created a declaration of principles concerning activities following
detection of extra-terrestrial intelligence.
There are trillions of trillions habitable planets like earth in the solar system
which means there should be lots of opportunity for life to develop and exist.
But where are they? Even if there is an alien civilisation, we will never know
about them. Everything outside of our galactic neighbourhood is pretty much
out of our reach forever because of the expansion of the universe. It will take
billions of years to reach another galaxy. But in our own Milky Way galaxy,
there are roughly ten thousand stars for every grain of sand on earth. Estimates
suggest that a fifth of them have earth-like planets in the habitable zone. Even if
only 0.1% of those planets harboured life, the would be one million planets with
life just in the Milky Way. But then where is everybody? This is Fermi Paradox.
It is also possible that there is not other life in the universe other than on earth
and if that is the case, humans must venture out and keep the delicate flame of
live alive.
Finding of alien life might not be as exciting as it sounds. It could bring doom
to the humanity. Let’s say a squirrel lives its life in the forest and humanity,
being the superior species, cut down the forest for resources without any bad
intentions. Similarly, a hyper-advanced civilisation might just discover earth
and decide to use it for resources, wiping out all the humanity. Humans might
be the first civilisation to come this far or just one of the many which sooner or
later faced extinction. Maybe we are the only species that cleared all the barriers
and are capable of deciding our destiny. We might just be the creatures that got
lucky.
Stephen Hawking warned, “If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as
when Columbus landed in America which didn’t turn out well for the Native
Americans.” Anthropologist Katheryn Denning frequently points out that the
ways we imagine contact with aliens happening often says more about ourselves
than it does about hypothetical aliens. It is thought that any aliens out there
trying to contact our race might want to hurt us. Maybe that’s simply because
when we have met new people, we have tried to ‘enslave’ them, or pity them or
take advantage of them. Its also possible to think aliens will be friendly. They
will want to help us. We don’t all get along with each other here on earth. We
are afraid of each other. We don’t trust each other. Imagining how aliens would
interpret that, communicate with us and how we would and should respond
teaches us a lot about ourselves.
There are two possibilities: humans are alone in the universe or they are not.
Both are equally terrifying.