Many experts are convinced that there are various forms of life in the universe. But there is no concrete, scientific evidence of this yet.
A team of researchers led by psychologist Michael Varnum from the University of Arizona told how humanity will react to the appearance of aliens on Earth.
For their experiment, experts studied media reports on the possible discovery of extraterrestrial life, for example, the discovery of planets similar to Earth or microorganisms on a comet. The reaction of people was also analyzed in texts about pulsars, which were originally interpreted as alien radiograms, and articles about an asteroid, the shape of which resembled the outline of a spaceship, therefore, it was mistakenly considered a UFO.
In the second phase, scientists asked 500 randomly selected people to write down how they would react if astronauts did find extraterrestrial organisms. Then, special text analysis software looked at the subjects' responses, as well as newspaper articles, to deduce a specific emotion from the words used. The result of the experiment: the media reports and the reaction of 500 respondents to extraterrestrial life were optimistic and expected.
In the third phase, the researchers recruited 500 subjects, who were divided into two groups. They had to write a short report. The first group was to document their point of view on paper on the discovery of microbes on a Martian meteorite. The members of the second group told what they think about creating artificial life in the laboratory, in which the research specialist of genetic technologies Craig Venter is conducting research.
Once again it turned out that the respondents were extremely optimistic about the discovery of extraterrestrial life. The artificially created life from the laboratory, although it was perceived positively, but not as euphoric as extraterrestrial life.
In general, people's interest in the potential risks and fears that a meeting with aliens may entail was also a place to be. However, the articles and reports dealt only with trace elements or organisms on other planets, not potential UFO sightings.
Psychologist Michael Varnum added that his research relies primarily on self-esteem of the subjects, and, of course, it matters what form the newly discovered extraterrestrial life has, as well as whether it behaves peacefully.
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Vitaly Romanyuk