Post by Andrei Tchentchik on Apr 13, 2020 15:42:06 GMT 2
(.#C.003).- Open letter to the Aliens.
OPEN LETTER TO ALIENS
An open letter by WORLD WIDE WEB inviting intelligent extraterrestrial life forms, to please, to say hello !!!
PREFACE:
First, a message from humans, for you there or arriving here, to read this right away!
As many of you know, I approach the subject of intelligent non-human life from two perspectives. As an author using fiction to explore notions beyond today's science, I explore the forms and motivations that aliens might have assumed of the exotic, grimly familiar. I am also involved in the same subject for scientific purposes, participating in the Sub-committee of the International Astronomical Union of Bio-astronomy.
SETI - the search for extraterrestrial intelligence - can be a difficult and confusing subject, avoiding the concerns of everyone, from sober researchers, to politicians and dreamers, hoping that extraterrestrial contact can somehow another save humanity "from ourselves."
The good news ? This widely shared interest seems to reflect an eager expansiveness and a willingness to entertain new ideas far beyond our mundane lives. The bad news is that our imaginations have so far forged beyond the sparse data in hand that things can get rather silly at times. Take these paranoid rumors that the United States government has kept an alien spacecraft hidden away, studying it for decades. (Hmmm ... so it has been studied endlessly by three generations of our brightest engineers ... without any of them blowing the whistle to date? Okay, nothing.
Almost all SETI researchers recognize that the public must be informed immediately, after any radio contact is confirmed. Most have initialed or signed a "protocol", agreeing in advance to the principles of openness - for example, that the content of any message should not be kept secret. However, there is disagreement over the details. For example; if no signal from an interstellar civilization has ever been confirmed, controversy rages over whether or not we should respond, when and if someone really takes such a message. Should our openness policy extend to announcing the exact sky coordinates of the signal source and the frequencies that the aliens are using?
Many SETI researchers believe that any confirmed signal will automatically lead to a cacophony of responses, sent immediately by any nation or of interest in technology to form a radio signal. Everyone from the Mafia Ayatollahs, from science fiction fans and Klington-speaking scholars to the recently discovered Amazon tribes, will begin making targeted calls to a particular point in space, almost the next day.
A minority in the SETI community think that it would be better in this sense not to respond immediately. Waiting a decade to gather data and discuss the ramifications might seem more prudent than crying out into the unknown instantly. It is enough to look at the history of contacts between human cultures, in our recent past. Technological progress has always been to the detriment of the weakest and they still suffer from it.
It is true that Extraterrestrials can be much nicer than the European colonialists of the 18th century were. But would you bet our future? Our limited experience suggests that it is reasonable for the weaker side to be careful, and to focus on listening before shouting.
As I have written elsewhere, the apparent emptiness of the cosmos seems to suggest that something may be dangerous from our Galaxy, the Milky Way.
But in fact, it looks like a message to the Extraterrestrials is about to be sent, whether we like it or not! This does not involve expensive transmitters or expensive engravings on a space probe. There will be no extravagant cries in interstellar space, because this message will come out quickly and cheaply ... on the Internet. The University of Toronto, to whom "Dr. Allen Tough" and 80 colleges plan to launch a call via the World Wide Web, inviting Intelligent Alien Lifeforms to please say hello.
The assumption of exploitation of Professor Tough - is that an intelligent probe of some advanced civilization can already control our telecommunications. Or maybe it has resided in our solar system for centuries or longer. Or maybe it was established recently, by radio signals from our little world. In any case, if it is kept up to the level of increasing sophistication of our signals, it can be tracked on the web right now.
In other words "they" may already be here, in a manner of speaking. They simply chose not to speak.
Dr. Allen Tough hopes to do something about this possibility. Its website is designed to grab the attention of any Extraterrestrials from here or there.
He hopes that the content of the hello page will persuade the Extraterrestrials to abandon their current policy of silence. Perhaps the right type of invitation will be swinging ET (or the ET probe) to call us.
All right, let's go with this assumption. Before developing and processing such a message, we should ask ourselves - what do we already know and know?
The only clear fact about any alleged aliens from outer space, from a probe or from extraterrestrial probes, is that most of us are currently unaware of their existence. It has been silent so far. At least a majority of humans.
The most likely conclusion to be drawn from this single fact? Well, such an Extraterrestrial civilization probably does not exist!
However, this is not the only possible explanation. My 1983 story - "The Dipneuste or Lungfish" - explored this situation, inviting a number of possible alternatives. I admit, the subject fascinates me.
‘’Lungfish: an elongated freshwater fish with one or two bags that function like lungs, allowing it to breathe air. It lives in poorly oxygenated water and can summer in the mud for long periods to survive the drought.’’
So let's stretch our imagination! In the development and writing of this essay, committed in electronic form and thrown into space, here is what I came up with, to date.
FOR ALL ALIENS LOWING HERE OR WAITING THERE:
If you are reading this, browsing the electronic network of our lonely little planet of communication, please choose the one of the applications from the following, from what suits you and ignore the rest:
1. If you have spent years controlling and monitoring our radio, television - and now our Internet - and the reason you have not responded is that you are afraid of the ungodly or violent behavior that you see portrayed in our media ... please be reassured!
True, many of our movies and television stories portray distrust, selfishness, hot characters and extreme violence. But you should know that, in fact, very few of us ever experience events as disturbing or disturbing, those you see in our dramas. Most of us actually hate and dislike these violent traits in ourselves. By exploring these old feelings, inherited from a dark past, we hope to understand them better.
Also note; in a large majority of these stories, the "loser" tends to be according to the person or group was more aggressive or intolerant at first. Doesn't that tell you something about our moral position?
The same goes for non-fiction. Despite reports describing a tumultuous world, news reports depicting a rowdy world. The actual rate of chaos and disorder in human society has dropped dramatically, over the past five decades, if measured on a per capita basis. Look at the actual numbers! Over two thirds of all humans living today have never personally witnessed war, massive famine or major civil unrest - an unprecedented fraction who have been allowed to improve their lot in peace. Many bigotry and ancient cruelties have been diminished, or have at least been put into bad repute. And with the spread of education, many much greater advances now seem possible.
True, these achievements are still very sadly incomplete. They leave huge amounts for us to do, working towards a fair and mature civilization. But they are obvious signs of progress and general goodwill by a majority of our species.
Despite the self-critical newsletters and the blazingly exaggerated "action" stories that you may have observed, please rest assured that most human beings are calm, non-violent people who treat strangers well. Several millions of us would be delighted to meet you, and to devote all efforts to ensure this peaceful welcome, to honest visitors.
2. If you have checked and monitored our TV, radio and Internet, and the reason you have not responded is that you are damaged, or unable to ship, rest assured that we are on our way!
We slowly began to explore our solar system. If you are not too deeply hidden, we should come to you in due time. We hope to make peaceful contact and learn your needs. If you are incapacitated, and our probes believe that you don't want to hurt, they will surely give you back whatever help they can give you, and use the resources of our planet to bring more. Try to find a way to let us know where you are and what you need.
If you are lost and far from home, welcome to our little part of this huge Universe. We offer all that warmth and housing that we have to share.
3. If you have controlled and monitored our TV, radio and the Internet, and the reason you have not responded is that you see us as competitors, we ask you to reconsider.
In our long and slow struggle to reach a certain level of decent civilization, humans have slowly learned that competition and cooperation are not inherent opposites, but twins, both in nature and in advanced societies. Under the terms that are right and with goodwill, even those who start out, suspicious of one another can discover ways to interact towards mutual benefit. (Use the web to search for the concept of a positive sum game, where "win-win" solutions bring success to all sides.)
Certainly, there are ways that mankind - and other species on Earth - should be able to reach the cosmos without causing harm to your legitimate goals. Remember, the most stable species and crops seem to benefit from a little competition, now and then! So please answer. Let's talk about it.
4. If you have controlled and monitored our TV, radio and internet, and the reason you have not responded is that you are waiting for us to go through some stage of development ... well, how about you a clue? Pretty please?
If this milestone is for us to confidently apply for membership in a certain society of advanced (promoted) wise beings, please take this paragraph as the affirmed step, taken by a subgroup of humanity, hoping to be in the interest of our entire planet. Please give us the application forms ... and all the information (including costs and benefits (allowances)) that we may need in order to make an informed decision about joining.
5. If you have controlled and monitored our TV, radio and Internet and the reason you have not responded is that you are investigating us and have a non-interference policy, let us now say that we understand the concept.
Observing more primitive species or cultures may seem to require silence, at least for a time, for the observer not to collide or interfere with the subject's natural behavior. Your specific reason may be scientific detachment, or to let us take advantage of our "innocence" a little longer, or perhaps because we are unusual in some way rare or precious. In fact, one can imagine many possible reasons you could give for keeping the flow of information going in one direction - from us to you - and never vice versa. Similar rationalizations are common in humans.
Of course, some humans might respond that it was cruel of you not to contact us during the Cold War, when the news of contacts could have pushed us far from our near-brush with nuclear annihilation. Or that you should have warned us about the dangers of ecological degradation. Others may argue that it is cruel to retain advanced technologies that could help solve many of our problems, saving millions of lives.
For the sake of fairness, other humans would say that we have gained great dignity by doing everything by ourselves. They are proud of the fact that we are showing early signs of reaching maturity by our own hard efforts, alone. If the reason for your silence is to leave us this dignity, which could make sense ... as long as it is not just an excuse, a rationalization, to cover more selfish motives.
Intervene or not? It is a moral and scientific difficulty that you answer by observing silently, to see if we are going to solve our problems by ourselves. (Maybe we are doing better than you expected?) Who knows? Your reasons may even have great validity.
However, if you continue this policy, you cannot expect deep confidence or gratitude when we have finally overcome our difficulties. Oh, let's try to be friendly and fair. But your long silence will make it difficult, at least at first, to be friends.
We understand the scientific detachment in cold blood. But consider - the universe sometimes plays tricks on the mighty. In a distant age, our roles can be reversed. We hope you will understand if our future position towards you is determined by your past and present behavior towards us.
6. If you have controlled and monitored our TV, radio and internet, maybe you have a policy of non-interference for another reason ... to save us and our culture from a little bit of harm and some damage that could come as a result of contact. An erosion of our sense of free will? Or our feeling of having a high culture? We can understand this notion, too. Certainly, the history of the first contact between human cultures says that the one with inferior technology and sophistication has often suffered from the harmful effects.
If mercy motivates your reluctance, we understand the concept. However, this does raise a question - are you absolutely sure? Can you be sure that we are so fragile? Is it possible that you could be cheated? Or (again) maybe streamlining a decision you made for other reasons?
Maybe you should test it in contact with small groups of humans - perhaps via the Internet - to explore the issues that concern you. This will be surprisingly easy and safe, since you can make inquiries in the form of e-mail letters, or by participating anonymously in online discussion groups. You can even call yourself by your real names! Everyone on the discussion group will just assume you are eccentric humans, using internet pseudonyms for comedy as strangers! Any mistake with our language will be considered as another part of your act.
On some sites, your openings will be rejected. Elsewhere, bright individuals will happily enter the game, engage you in a conversation with keen enthusiasm, pretending to believe that you are a stranger and discuss your concerns for the sheer intellectual joy of doing so. Either way, you will have a chance to taste the diversity of human thinking, plus a chance to reconsider your assumptions.
Sure, it's possible that you're already doing this and testing us out, perhaps pretending to be eccentric participants in some of today's Internet discussion groups ... or probably writing science stories - fascinating fiction under a pseudonym, to tease our imagination.
7. If you have controlled and monitored our TV, radio and internet, and the reason why we do not know is that you are already in contact with one or more human subgroups - perhaps a government or a click of individuals - please consider the following measures.
Humans have discovered that secrecy is rarely an effective means of creating or carrying out good policy. It can have many temporary uses. But in the long run, we seem to be doing everything possible and making the most creative decisions - and making the fewest mistakes - in open franchise situations.
The groups or governments with which you speak may claim that there are good reasons for keeping the secret from the public. It is even conceivable that such reasons have short-term validity. But small groups of humans are also infamous for rationalization - elites have always claimed that the masses are too stupid or fragile to understand. After all, it helps to justify their special and special position in society. Such rationalizations can be self-sustaining, far beyond their original usefulness.
We suggest that you verify this using our Internet as described above (in section 6 #). You can join discussion groups.
Inform them of the supposed reasons for confidentiality - in the sense that you are just a simple man, reflecting on an abstract notion. If most or all of the participants disagree with these reasons, you may find that it is time to reassess your policy, and make yourself known to the rest of humanity.
8. Suppose you have controlled and monitored our TV, radio and internet, and the reason you did not respond is that you enjoy watching. Perhaps you are drawing the entertainment from our painful struggles to survive and develop. Worse, you can take advantage of our cultural, scientific and artistic wealth on the internet, without wanting to know what reciprocal need you could make in exchange or pay for them.
In this case, there is a word for what you are doing. The man called it theft.
Stop now. We assert ownership over our culture and a right to share it only with those who share in return. In the name of whatever legal or moral code applies there, do not take without giving or paying in return.
The same is double if you have been responsible for any of our current problems. For example, if you are behind so-called "UFO sightings."
The author of this site is part of a group which consists mainly of SETI researchers who do not believe in UFOs. But millions of human beings really believe it. The reports that circulate describe alleged visitors behaving in a manner that is almost universally concealed and mean, often downright vicious. Others claim that foreigners have interfered with our politics, social structures or even our genes. Again, we in this group don't believe these stories. But if any of these cases happen to be true, and you are responsible, we ask that you give up immediately.
Instead, come forward openly, as reputable visitors should do. SETI staff would be eminently qualified to make the arrangements.
Consider that being malicious inevitably has consequences. If any of the scenarios described in this section are true and you still refuse to present yourself honestly, then we have just one thing to tell you. Go! Ask your parents, guardians or other responsible people to please come and see us instead.
We hereby affirm and demand any rights we may have, to appeal for compensation or protection against the type of behavior described above.
9. Let's say you have controlled and monitored our TV, radio and internet, and the reason you have not responded is that you are secretly interfering in ways that you deem beneficial to us. If so, please consider what has happened to human civilization in the last century.
We spent the first half plunging our heads first into passionate ideologies, giving so much devotion to simplistic political doctrines - from communism and fascism to nationalism, fundamentalism and even solipsist individualism - as we had the habit of devoting to religion. Was this in part your doing? Or was it a horrible adolescent phase, that you couldn't just watch us go by, like a terrible fever? In any event, this almost killed us.
The second half of the century was also a crisis, featuring many episodes of anger, violence and ultimate risk. And yet, in the past five decades, ideologies have gradually lost their grip on millions. Instead of simplifying hypotheses or "the rules" of human behavior, multitudes began to live according to pragmatic systems which allow mutual concessions among complex and innumerable citizens. Our media filled with messages promoting both tolerance for diversity and suspicion of central authority. Eccentricity has become more acceptable. And while various forms of hatred still fill many hearts, hatred itself has acquired a growing odor of bad reputation, more and more discredited.
As bigotry slowly gives way, there has also been change (money) among our utopian dreamers. Even idealists now admit that there are roles for both competition (competition) and cooperation in human affairs. Urging people to be good has never worked as well as giving them the freedom to hold each other accountable.
Are you helping to bring about this recent trend? If so, thanks. We can understand why you would like us to ignore the possibility of help from you. It makes children proud to think that they did something by themselves.
On the other hand, maybe this recent trend is baffling you. Do you have a little ideology that you believe in? Some simple prescription that you think should be right for us? Something that worked for your species and now you hope to grow on us "for our own good"?
If so, we suggest that you reconsider. Almost all of the positive things we have accomplished have recently happened in recent times by abandoning simplistic formulas and learning to embrace our complexity instead. Please see our recent scientific discoveries regarding emerging properties, complexity theory and related issues. (A good start could be Kevin Kelly's book, Out of Control.) Then join some of the best discussion groups, as recommended in articles 6 and 7 above. Maybe we can guide you towards a better understanding of our complex and sometimes confusing natures.
In the meantime, please stop interfering with things you don't understand.
10. Okay, suppose you didn't answer because the universe is awfully dangerous. For example, perhaps radio / transmissions tend to be picked up by global "berserker" destroyers, sent to destroy blossoming civilizations, as soon as they pitch up and speak.
In that case, maybe you could spare us some shots of the battleship cruisers and disintegrator-ray ships? A certain spin (spin)-dizzies and Alderson Terrain generators (Fields) would be timely.
Please don't try to hurry.
11. I guess we could stop at ten options. But that would have been terribly parochial and narrowly disposed, revealing a chauvinistic cultural bias in favor of beings with five figures on each of just two hands. So, for all of you prowlers out there who use the eleven math math base and the like, here's one last assumption - that you controlled and monitored our TV, radio - and now our Internet - and the reason you didn't answer is that you are weird.
Are you waiting until Earth develops a more physically attractive (attractive) Wise Race, more like thingyroaches?
Have you looked down at our extravagant road networks and imagined that automobiles are the dominant form of life?
Are you afraid that permission by you to surf the Galactic Internet will trigger torrents of advertising spam and pornography?
Maybe you think of us, ah !, humans who all look good when we get old when galactic level immortality technologies exist, so you let us leave our bodies with smooth skin looked disgusting for centuries, so we are better off without them?
Perhaps you have an excuse like the following, sent by a member of an ETI-CONCERNING discussion group:
"Yes, we have checked and followed up your land communications, but we cannot respond yet. The Knodl Decree states and declares that all first contact situations with initiated beings must be initiated only during the high season of Jodar , which on our calendar only starts in 344 years. Sorry, but your first radio / transmissions only reached us nine years too late for the last one, and the Lords of Vanathok do not seem sympathetic to violations of the Decree. This may seem like we are a bunch of close minded religious fanatics, but I think you have to go out and see the rest of this galaxy heap before you make a judgment like that. All praise Knodl and may its seven tentacles protect you from harm. "
If your reason is something like that ... or if you take pride in some other special strangeness ... well, all I can say is that you wait until we get there .
Do you think you saw it oddly? We have beings, here called Californians! They'll show you a thing or two about weird ....
Enough. This message is now over ... for now, at least. Take it for what it's worth, you Stealthy / Exotic Aliens from there.
Meanwhile, I now turn my attention to the humans who read this ... real people who buy science fiction stories and help pay my bills.
In other words, people really worthy of my time and attention.
Outside ... for now.
Hello again, human brothers.
Of course, what I have just told you above is just a sampling of the possible reasons why foreign prowlers might not openly say hello. Can you think of even more hypothetical reasons why life or entities of the machine, already prowling in the space nearby, could detect us and still choose not to contact us? One of the reasons that agrees with us, is the fact that the majority of contemporary human beings are not currently aware or aware of contact with extraterrestrials.
Again, the most likely explanation is that there are no foreign space probes hiding in our solar system, absorbing our radio and web traffic while listening silently. If extraterrestrial intelligence exists, it probably lives far too far.
Indeed, a stronger assumption is that we can be the ones who will risk ahead and save others from the isolation of this awesome and huge Cosmos. We have the brains (intelligence), the guts, the potential ... and the dream.
If this does not really become our destiny, I hope we will find good reasons to behave better than some of the scenarios described above.
In the end, this topic is interesting and important, but it is not the most important thing of all. It is now happening to humans to solve today's problems and realize their potential as a species. Whether we like it or not, we're probably going to have to do it alone. It's a tough and lonely challenge ... and one that I think has come to light.
Are we finished discussing this issue? No, by a light year! After all, whenever Humans discuss the possible nature of Aliens, what we are actually talking about is ourselves.
From: WORLD WIDE WEB inviting intelligent extraterrestrial life forms to please say hello ...
END…
OPEN LETTER TO ALIENS
An open letter by WORLD WIDE WEB inviting intelligent extraterrestrial life forms, to please, to say hello !!!
PREFACE:
First, a message from humans, for you there or arriving here, to read this right away!
As many of you know, I approach the subject of intelligent non-human life from two perspectives. As an author using fiction to explore notions beyond today's science, I explore the forms and motivations that aliens might have assumed of the exotic, grimly familiar. I am also involved in the same subject for scientific purposes, participating in the Sub-committee of the International Astronomical Union of Bio-astronomy.
SETI - the search for extraterrestrial intelligence - can be a difficult and confusing subject, avoiding the concerns of everyone, from sober researchers, to politicians and dreamers, hoping that extraterrestrial contact can somehow another save humanity "from ourselves."
The good news ? This widely shared interest seems to reflect an eager expansiveness and a willingness to entertain new ideas far beyond our mundane lives. The bad news is that our imaginations have so far forged beyond the sparse data in hand that things can get rather silly at times. Take these paranoid rumors that the United States government has kept an alien spacecraft hidden away, studying it for decades. (Hmmm ... so it has been studied endlessly by three generations of our brightest engineers ... without any of them blowing the whistle to date? Okay, nothing.
Almost all SETI researchers recognize that the public must be informed immediately, after any radio contact is confirmed. Most have initialed or signed a "protocol", agreeing in advance to the principles of openness - for example, that the content of any message should not be kept secret. However, there is disagreement over the details. For example; if no signal from an interstellar civilization has ever been confirmed, controversy rages over whether or not we should respond, when and if someone really takes such a message. Should our openness policy extend to announcing the exact sky coordinates of the signal source and the frequencies that the aliens are using?
Many SETI researchers believe that any confirmed signal will automatically lead to a cacophony of responses, sent immediately by any nation or of interest in technology to form a radio signal. Everyone from the Mafia Ayatollahs, from science fiction fans and Klington-speaking scholars to the recently discovered Amazon tribes, will begin making targeted calls to a particular point in space, almost the next day.
A minority in the SETI community think that it would be better in this sense not to respond immediately. Waiting a decade to gather data and discuss the ramifications might seem more prudent than crying out into the unknown instantly. It is enough to look at the history of contacts between human cultures, in our recent past. Technological progress has always been to the detriment of the weakest and they still suffer from it.
It is true that Extraterrestrials can be much nicer than the European colonialists of the 18th century were. But would you bet our future? Our limited experience suggests that it is reasonable for the weaker side to be careful, and to focus on listening before shouting.
As I have written elsewhere, the apparent emptiness of the cosmos seems to suggest that something may be dangerous from our Galaxy, the Milky Way.
But in fact, it looks like a message to the Extraterrestrials is about to be sent, whether we like it or not! This does not involve expensive transmitters or expensive engravings on a space probe. There will be no extravagant cries in interstellar space, because this message will come out quickly and cheaply ... on the Internet. The University of Toronto, to whom "Dr. Allen Tough" and 80 colleges plan to launch a call via the World Wide Web, inviting Intelligent Alien Lifeforms to please say hello.
The assumption of exploitation of Professor Tough - is that an intelligent probe of some advanced civilization can already control our telecommunications. Or maybe it has resided in our solar system for centuries or longer. Or maybe it was established recently, by radio signals from our little world. In any case, if it is kept up to the level of increasing sophistication of our signals, it can be tracked on the web right now.
In other words "they" may already be here, in a manner of speaking. They simply chose not to speak.
Dr. Allen Tough hopes to do something about this possibility. Its website is designed to grab the attention of any Extraterrestrials from here or there.
He hopes that the content of the hello page will persuade the Extraterrestrials to abandon their current policy of silence. Perhaps the right type of invitation will be swinging ET (or the ET probe) to call us.
All right, let's go with this assumption. Before developing and processing such a message, we should ask ourselves - what do we already know and know?
The only clear fact about any alleged aliens from outer space, from a probe or from extraterrestrial probes, is that most of us are currently unaware of their existence. It has been silent so far. At least a majority of humans.
The most likely conclusion to be drawn from this single fact? Well, such an Extraterrestrial civilization probably does not exist!
However, this is not the only possible explanation. My 1983 story - "The Dipneuste or Lungfish" - explored this situation, inviting a number of possible alternatives. I admit, the subject fascinates me.
‘’Lungfish: an elongated freshwater fish with one or two bags that function like lungs, allowing it to breathe air. It lives in poorly oxygenated water and can summer in the mud for long periods to survive the drought.’’
So let's stretch our imagination! In the development and writing of this essay, committed in electronic form and thrown into space, here is what I came up with, to date.
FOR ALL ALIENS LOWING HERE OR WAITING THERE:
If you are reading this, browsing the electronic network of our lonely little planet of communication, please choose the one of the applications from the following, from what suits you and ignore the rest:
1. If you have spent years controlling and monitoring our radio, television - and now our Internet - and the reason you have not responded is that you are afraid of the ungodly or violent behavior that you see portrayed in our media ... please be reassured!
True, many of our movies and television stories portray distrust, selfishness, hot characters and extreme violence. But you should know that, in fact, very few of us ever experience events as disturbing or disturbing, those you see in our dramas. Most of us actually hate and dislike these violent traits in ourselves. By exploring these old feelings, inherited from a dark past, we hope to understand them better.
Also note; in a large majority of these stories, the "loser" tends to be according to the person or group was more aggressive or intolerant at first. Doesn't that tell you something about our moral position?
The same goes for non-fiction. Despite reports describing a tumultuous world, news reports depicting a rowdy world. The actual rate of chaos and disorder in human society has dropped dramatically, over the past five decades, if measured on a per capita basis. Look at the actual numbers! Over two thirds of all humans living today have never personally witnessed war, massive famine or major civil unrest - an unprecedented fraction who have been allowed to improve their lot in peace. Many bigotry and ancient cruelties have been diminished, or have at least been put into bad repute. And with the spread of education, many much greater advances now seem possible.
True, these achievements are still very sadly incomplete. They leave huge amounts for us to do, working towards a fair and mature civilization. But they are obvious signs of progress and general goodwill by a majority of our species.
Despite the self-critical newsletters and the blazingly exaggerated "action" stories that you may have observed, please rest assured that most human beings are calm, non-violent people who treat strangers well. Several millions of us would be delighted to meet you, and to devote all efforts to ensure this peaceful welcome, to honest visitors.
2. If you have checked and monitored our TV, radio and Internet, and the reason you have not responded is that you are damaged, or unable to ship, rest assured that we are on our way!
We slowly began to explore our solar system. If you are not too deeply hidden, we should come to you in due time. We hope to make peaceful contact and learn your needs. If you are incapacitated, and our probes believe that you don't want to hurt, they will surely give you back whatever help they can give you, and use the resources of our planet to bring more. Try to find a way to let us know where you are and what you need.
If you are lost and far from home, welcome to our little part of this huge Universe. We offer all that warmth and housing that we have to share.
3. If you have controlled and monitored our TV, radio and the Internet, and the reason you have not responded is that you see us as competitors, we ask you to reconsider.
In our long and slow struggle to reach a certain level of decent civilization, humans have slowly learned that competition and cooperation are not inherent opposites, but twins, both in nature and in advanced societies. Under the terms that are right and with goodwill, even those who start out, suspicious of one another can discover ways to interact towards mutual benefit. (Use the web to search for the concept of a positive sum game, where "win-win" solutions bring success to all sides.)
Certainly, there are ways that mankind - and other species on Earth - should be able to reach the cosmos without causing harm to your legitimate goals. Remember, the most stable species and crops seem to benefit from a little competition, now and then! So please answer. Let's talk about it.
4. If you have controlled and monitored our TV, radio and internet, and the reason you have not responded is that you are waiting for us to go through some stage of development ... well, how about you a clue? Pretty please?
If this milestone is for us to confidently apply for membership in a certain society of advanced (promoted) wise beings, please take this paragraph as the affirmed step, taken by a subgroup of humanity, hoping to be in the interest of our entire planet. Please give us the application forms ... and all the information (including costs and benefits (allowances)) that we may need in order to make an informed decision about joining.
5. If you have controlled and monitored our TV, radio and Internet and the reason you have not responded is that you are investigating us and have a non-interference policy, let us now say that we understand the concept.
Observing more primitive species or cultures may seem to require silence, at least for a time, for the observer not to collide or interfere with the subject's natural behavior. Your specific reason may be scientific detachment, or to let us take advantage of our "innocence" a little longer, or perhaps because we are unusual in some way rare or precious. In fact, one can imagine many possible reasons you could give for keeping the flow of information going in one direction - from us to you - and never vice versa. Similar rationalizations are common in humans.
Of course, some humans might respond that it was cruel of you not to contact us during the Cold War, when the news of contacts could have pushed us far from our near-brush with nuclear annihilation. Or that you should have warned us about the dangers of ecological degradation. Others may argue that it is cruel to retain advanced technologies that could help solve many of our problems, saving millions of lives.
For the sake of fairness, other humans would say that we have gained great dignity by doing everything by ourselves. They are proud of the fact that we are showing early signs of reaching maturity by our own hard efforts, alone. If the reason for your silence is to leave us this dignity, which could make sense ... as long as it is not just an excuse, a rationalization, to cover more selfish motives.
Intervene or not? It is a moral and scientific difficulty that you answer by observing silently, to see if we are going to solve our problems by ourselves. (Maybe we are doing better than you expected?) Who knows? Your reasons may even have great validity.
However, if you continue this policy, you cannot expect deep confidence or gratitude when we have finally overcome our difficulties. Oh, let's try to be friendly and fair. But your long silence will make it difficult, at least at first, to be friends.
We understand the scientific detachment in cold blood. But consider - the universe sometimes plays tricks on the mighty. In a distant age, our roles can be reversed. We hope you will understand if our future position towards you is determined by your past and present behavior towards us.
6. If you have controlled and monitored our TV, radio and internet, maybe you have a policy of non-interference for another reason ... to save us and our culture from a little bit of harm and some damage that could come as a result of contact. An erosion of our sense of free will? Or our feeling of having a high culture? We can understand this notion, too. Certainly, the history of the first contact between human cultures says that the one with inferior technology and sophistication has often suffered from the harmful effects.
If mercy motivates your reluctance, we understand the concept. However, this does raise a question - are you absolutely sure? Can you be sure that we are so fragile? Is it possible that you could be cheated? Or (again) maybe streamlining a decision you made for other reasons?
Maybe you should test it in contact with small groups of humans - perhaps via the Internet - to explore the issues that concern you. This will be surprisingly easy and safe, since you can make inquiries in the form of e-mail letters, or by participating anonymously in online discussion groups. You can even call yourself by your real names! Everyone on the discussion group will just assume you are eccentric humans, using internet pseudonyms for comedy as strangers! Any mistake with our language will be considered as another part of your act.
On some sites, your openings will be rejected. Elsewhere, bright individuals will happily enter the game, engage you in a conversation with keen enthusiasm, pretending to believe that you are a stranger and discuss your concerns for the sheer intellectual joy of doing so. Either way, you will have a chance to taste the diversity of human thinking, plus a chance to reconsider your assumptions.
Sure, it's possible that you're already doing this and testing us out, perhaps pretending to be eccentric participants in some of today's Internet discussion groups ... or probably writing science stories - fascinating fiction under a pseudonym, to tease our imagination.
7. If you have controlled and monitored our TV, radio and internet, and the reason why we do not know is that you are already in contact with one or more human subgroups - perhaps a government or a click of individuals - please consider the following measures.
Humans have discovered that secrecy is rarely an effective means of creating or carrying out good policy. It can have many temporary uses. But in the long run, we seem to be doing everything possible and making the most creative decisions - and making the fewest mistakes - in open franchise situations.
The groups or governments with which you speak may claim that there are good reasons for keeping the secret from the public. It is even conceivable that such reasons have short-term validity. But small groups of humans are also infamous for rationalization - elites have always claimed that the masses are too stupid or fragile to understand. After all, it helps to justify their special and special position in society. Such rationalizations can be self-sustaining, far beyond their original usefulness.
We suggest that you verify this using our Internet as described above (in section 6 #). You can join discussion groups.
Inform them of the supposed reasons for confidentiality - in the sense that you are just a simple man, reflecting on an abstract notion. If most or all of the participants disagree with these reasons, you may find that it is time to reassess your policy, and make yourself known to the rest of humanity.
8. Suppose you have controlled and monitored our TV, radio and internet, and the reason you did not respond is that you enjoy watching. Perhaps you are drawing the entertainment from our painful struggles to survive and develop. Worse, you can take advantage of our cultural, scientific and artistic wealth on the internet, without wanting to know what reciprocal need you could make in exchange or pay for them.
In this case, there is a word for what you are doing. The man called it theft.
Stop now. We assert ownership over our culture and a right to share it only with those who share in return. In the name of whatever legal or moral code applies there, do not take without giving or paying in return.
The same is double if you have been responsible for any of our current problems. For example, if you are behind so-called "UFO sightings."
The author of this site is part of a group which consists mainly of SETI researchers who do not believe in UFOs. But millions of human beings really believe it. The reports that circulate describe alleged visitors behaving in a manner that is almost universally concealed and mean, often downright vicious. Others claim that foreigners have interfered with our politics, social structures or even our genes. Again, we in this group don't believe these stories. But if any of these cases happen to be true, and you are responsible, we ask that you give up immediately.
Instead, come forward openly, as reputable visitors should do. SETI staff would be eminently qualified to make the arrangements.
Consider that being malicious inevitably has consequences. If any of the scenarios described in this section are true and you still refuse to present yourself honestly, then we have just one thing to tell you. Go! Ask your parents, guardians or other responsible people to please come and see us instead.
We hereby affirm and demand any rights we may have, to appeal for compensation or protection against the type of behavior described above.
9. Let's say you have controlled and monitored our TV, radio and internet, and the reason you have not responded is that you are secretly interfering in ways that you deem beneficial to us. If so, please consider what has happened to human civilization in the last century.
We spent the first half plunging our heads first into passionate ideologies, giving so much devotion to simplistic political doctrines - from communism and fascism to nationalism, fundamentalism and even solipsist individualism - as we had the habit of devoting to religion. Was this in part your doing? Or was it a horrible adolescent phase, that you couldn't just watch us go by, like a terrible fever? In any event, this almost killed us.
The second half of the century was also a crisis, featuring many episodes of anger, violence and ultimate risk. And yet, in the past five decades, ideologies have gradually lost their grip on millions. Instead of simplifying hypotheses or "the rules" of human behavior, multitudes began to live according to pragmatic systems which allow mutual concessions among complex and innumerable citizens. Our media filled with messages promoting both tolerance for diversity and suspicion of central authority. Eccentricity has become more acceptable. And while various forms of hatred still fill many hearts, hatred itself has acquired a growing odor of bad reputation, more and more discredited.
As bigotry slowly gives way, there has also been change (money) among our utopian dreamers. Even idealists now admit that there are roles for both competition (competition) and cooperation in human affairs. Urging people to be good has never worked as well as giving them the freedom to hold each other accountable.
Are you helping to bring about this recent trend? If so, thanks. We can understand why you would like us to ignore the possibility of help from you. It makes children proud to think that they did something by themselves.
On the other hand, maybe this recent trend is baffling you. Do you have a little ideology that you believe in? Some simple prescription that you think should be right for us? Something that worked for your species and now you hope to grow on us "for our own good"?
If so, we suggest that you reconsider. Almost all of the positive things we have accomplished have recently happened in recent times by abandoning simplistic formulas and learning to embrace our complexity instead. Please see our recent scientific discoveries regarding emerging properties, complexity theory and related issues. (A good start could be Kevin Kelly's book, Out of Control.) Then join some of the best discussion groups, as recommended in articles 6 and 7 above. Maybe we can guide you towards a better understanding of our complex and sometimes confusing natures.
In the meantime, please stop interfering with things you don't understand.
10. Okay, suppose you didn't answer because the universe is awfully dangerous. For example, perhaps radio / transmissions tend to be picked up by global "berserker" destroyers, sent to destroy blossoming civilizations, as soon as they pitch up and speak.
In that case, maybe you could spare us some shots of the battleship cruisers and disintegrator-ray ships? A certain spin (spin)-dizzies and Alderson Terrain generators (Fields) would be timely.
Please don't try to hurry.
11. I guess we could stop at ten options. But that would have been terribly parochial and narrowly disposed, revealing a chauvinistic cultural bias in favor of beings with five figures on each of just two hands. So, for all of you prowlers out there who use the eleven math math base and the like, here's one last assumption - that you controlled and monitored our TV, radio - and now our Internet - and the reason you didn't answer is that you are weird.
Are you waiting until Earth develops a more physically attractive (attractive) Wise Race, more like thingyroaches?
Have you looked down at our extravagant road networks and imagined that automobiles are the dominant form of life?
Are you afraid that permission by you to surf the Galactic Internet will trigger torrents of advertising spam and pornography?
Maybe you think of us, ah !, humans who all look good when we get old when galactic level immortality technologies exist, so you let us leave our bodies with smooth skin looked disgusting for centuries, so we are better off without them?
Perhaps you have an excuse like the following, sent by a member of an ETI-CONCERNING discussion group:
"Yes, we have checked and followed up your land communications, but we cannot respond yet. The Knodl Decree states and declares that all first contact situations with initiated beings must be initiated only during the high season of Jodar , which on our calendar only starts in 344 years. Sorry, but your first radio / transmissions only reached us nine years too late for the last one, and the Lords of Vanathok do not seem sympathetic to violations of the Decree. This may seem like we are a bunch of close minded religious fanatics, but I think you have to go out and see the rest of this galaxy heap before you make a judgment like that. All praise Knodl and may its seven tentacles protect you from harm. "
If your reason is something like that ... or if you take pride in some other special strangeness ... well, all I can say is that you wait until we get there .
Do you think you saw it oddly? We have beings, here called Californians! They'll show you a thing or two about weird ....
Enough. This message is now over ... for now, at least. Take it for what it's worth, you Stealthy / Exotic Aliens from there.
Meanwhile, I now turn my attention to the humans who read this ... real people who buy science fiction stories and help pay my bills.
In other words, people really worthy of my time and attention.
Outside ... for now.
Hello again, human brothers.
Of course, what I have just told you above is just a sampling of the possible reasons why foreign prowlers might not openly say hello. Can you think of even more hypothetical reasons why life or entities of the machine, already prowling in the space nearby, could detect us and still choose not to contact us? One of the reasons that agrees with us, is the fact that the majority of contemporary human beings are not currently aware or aware of contact with extraterrestrials.
Again, the most likely explanation is that there are no foreign space probes hiding in our solar system, absorbing our radio and web traffic while listening silently. If extraterrestrial intelligence exists, it probably lives far too far.
Indeed, a stronger assumption is that we can be the ones who will risk ahead and save others from the isolation of this awesome and huge Cosmos. We have the brains (intelligence), the guts, the potential ... and the dream.
If this does not really become our destiny, I hope we will find good reasons to behave better than some of the scenarios described above.
In the end, this topic is interesting and important, but it is not the most important thing of all. It is now happening to humans to solve today's problems and realize their potential as a species. Whether we like it or not, we're probably going to have to do it alone. It's a tough and lonely challenge ... and one that I think has come to light.
Are we finished discussing this issue? No, by a light year! After all, whenever Humans discuss the possible nature of Aliens, what we are actually talking about is ourselves.
From: WORLD WIDE WEB inviting intelligent extraterrestrial life forms to please say hello ...
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