A global poll has been launched to clarify how people will react when they learn that extraterrestrial civilizations definitely exist.
The survey was "launched" by enthusiasts of the UK Seti Research Network (UKSRN), who are looking for intelligent inhabitants of the Universe. Their idea is this: by answering specially posed questions, earthlings will express their attitude towards aliens. And this will help scientists and politicians understand what exactly needs to be done, and will help develop an optimal strategy of behavior, supported by the norms of international law. It will probably be needed in case it becomes known for sure about the existence of intelligent life on other planets. If astronomers, for example, catch a meaningful signal from space, find some obviously alien man-made artifact, they will unearth a humanoid skeleton on Mars. Or directly somewhere they will meet aliens. In a word, they will receive solid evidence.
Evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations can become a meaningful signal received from them, which will take time to decipher. Scientists fear that delay threatens with riots. The authorities must not allow them..
- We want to know the opinion of people, - explained the purpose of the venture, one of its authors, Martin Dominik (Dr Martin Dominik,) from the University of St Andrews. - People are more impressionable than scientists, their reaction can be decisive.
According to Dominik, the main thing is to avoid panic and unrest. They may well be provoked, both by the sensational information itself, and its interpretation in the media - especially tendentious and deceitful.
Who knows if the aliens are already here? And did they hide this sensational information from us? Or is it leaking out, overgrown with speculation and turning into a fake one?
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On the other hand, the authorities can hide the truth and organize the case in such a way that the leaked news will seem fake - they will drown in a sea of other various nonsense, which is already filled with the information background.
BTW
Atheists and Buddhists are not afraid of aliens
A few years ago, Ted Peters, a professor of theology at the University of Chicago and publisher of Theology and Science magazine, took care of the upcoming "acquaintance" with representatives of other worlds. At one of the meetings of the British Royal Society, he announced the results of his sociological research conducted to find out: will world religions collapse after it becomes known for sure that aliens exist? Will faith in God be shaken at all?
The professor interviewed 1,300 people - representatives of different faiths. He was also interested in the opinion of non-believers.
The strongest - in the sense of faith - turned out to be the Buddhists: almost all said that aliens would not influence her in any way. But they doubted the resilience of the rest of the earthlings. Approximately 40 percent of Buddhists surveyed suggested that the undeniable fact that there are brothers in mind would create problems for other religions. Will shake them.
Approximately 8 percent of Catholics saw a threat to their personal religious beliefs. They said they would personally be greatly shaken. Concerns about the state of their religion as a whole were expressed by 22 percent. And more than 30 percent believed that the threat was hanging over representatives of other confessions.
The fears of other Christian communities, such as evangelicals and Protestants, are distributed in about the same proportion. The professor could not find out how Muslims, Hindus and Jews would behave - the scientist did not have enough data for generalizing conclusions.
Atheists have likened themselves to Buddhists. Among them, Peters counted only one percent of those who believed that aliens would somehow change their perception of the world around them. And the majority - 69 percent of non-believers in God - do not doubt that meeting brothers in mind will plunge the world's religions into a crisis. Among believers, 34 percent of those polled hold this opinion on average.
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Astronomers already have a new plan
The first - old - plan of appropriate actions in case of detection of aliens is already 30 years old. It was developed in 1989 by the participants in the search for extraterrestrial civilizations - SETI. In their opinion, first of all, it was necessary to turn to colleagues for advice and confirmation. Then it was necessary to inform the authorities and only after that inform the public through press releases.
Further sensational news would be spread by newspapers, television, radio. They, if something happened, would give a refutation.
But time has made its own adjustments, as they say. The Internet, social networks, bloggers and hackers appeared. The risk of information leakage, kidnapping, and premature disclosure has increased incomparably.
To avoid the hype, speculation and misunderstanding today and in the near future, prominent astronomers Duncan Forgan and Alelexander Scholz of Cornell University have proposed a new plan of action to be followed after discovering intelligent life on alien planets.
Forgan and Scholz believe that now, on the contrary, the discovery should be announced first. And without delay. So that the authorities or special services do not have time to "lay their paws."
Astronomers propose to announce that we are not alone in the universe in a pre-created blog. There they also plan to agree on further actions. For example, what is considered confirmation and what is a refutation. The blog should also contain the entire course of work.
According to scientists, it is worth notifying about the alleged discovery of brothers in mind even if there are only suspicions about it. It will be necessary to tell in detail and also as soon as possible about what will never be confirmed. Explain why the error occurred.
VLADIMIR LAGOVSKY