When we meet face to face with our extraterrestrial neighbors, what can and should be done?
Recently, the Starship Congress was held in Dallas (USA), during which its participants discussed mainly the advancement of man into space. It quickly became apparent that thinking in terms of human exploration of the depths of the galaxy was not a science fiction concept, but an evolutionary imperative, according to Discovery News.
Let's assume for a moment that we overcome the enormous technological challenges of moving spaceships to neighboring star systems and begin a new age of galactic colonization. Let's also assume that the global question "Are we alone in the Universe?" the answer will be found. We will pave roads to the stars and make sure that life is just a chemical compound and, given the right conditions, biology is possible anywhere.
And when we meet face to face with our extraterrestrial neighbors, what can and should be done?
Ethical issues
Participants in the Starship Congress raised the ethical issues of making the first contact with aliens - regardless of whether they are intelligent beings or unicellular microorganisms in the process of evolution.
Building some kind of ethical framework would be necessary. An example was the "First Directive" from "Star Trek", which is used in a fictional universe to prevent the cultural interference of an advanced Federation in the internal affairs of another civilization, its natural development and progress. So: what should such a structure include? How much should she take from science fiction? And is she even needed?
Promotional video:
Deputy Head of NASA Advanced Technologies Department at the Space Flight Center. Marshall Museum in Huntsville, USA, Le Johnson has outlined some logical criteria for our descendants that reveal how to treat any extraterrestrial life they ever find.
1. Explore everything there is to learn before risking anything.
2. If it seems that it is alive, do not touch it.
3. Do not ship samples to Earth unless they are 100% sure they are compatible with our ecosystem.
President of Microwave Sciences Inc. Jim Benford, regarding the third criterion, believes that first of all we should take care of ourselves, and not about some alien microbe. He also believes that we need to be wary of what may "infect" us or pose a threat to our biology. In the event of a collision with foreign life, Benford proposed to build a staffed laboratory to carry out scientific research on site.
"Colonize" or not "colonize"?
Alpha Centauri Award winner Armen Papazian believes that our politics and history have distorted the concepts of "colonization" and "exploration".
“There are linguistic and historical problems here,” says Papazian. - What we understand when we say "colonization" in the context of the alignment of political forces is tied to certain historical events. In this respect, "colonization" throughout the world has different meanings."
Ultimately Papazian stated that we must understand why we are exploring the Galaxy, and if we approach it with an enlightened attitude, we must be able to explore it for the right reasons. “Are we going to hug or are we going to use? Are we trying to export our economy of scarcity or are we trying to enjoy rich space? He asks.
Joe Ritter, an optical engineer at the University of Hawaii, tried to answer the question in terms of personal experience. As a Maui, he knows that this small island had many problems with the expansionists: they did not understand and did not accept what was sacred to the islanders. Therefore, he doubts that people will be able not to interfere with foreign life and environment, regardless of whether it turns out to be reasonable or not.
“In my opinion, if we are enlightened, then we will leave them alone … Are people capable of this? I don’t think so,”concluded Ritter.
The probability of finding life at the same stage of development as on our Earth is incredibly small. We may not know about the contact, if it was or will be; we may not recognize the technology used by an extraterrestrial civilization tools; we can not assume about the possibility of the existence of a kind of intelligence, which possesses this hypothetical civilization. But, nevertheless, it seems unlikely that in a universe of seemingly limitless magnitude, we will never encounter another example of biology when we really enter the level of interstellar travel. But so far this is only pure guess. The only evidence of life is found here on Earth.