WHY WE SHOULD STOP TRYING TO CONTACT ALIENS

Throughout history, mankind has been fascinated with the idea of discovering life forms that do not originate from Earth. Most historians generally agree that the birth of the concept that true extraterrestrials exist came along with the development of heliocentric understanding of the solar system, which drastically reduced the egotistical façade that humans had then lived under, as they realized that they were not the center of the universe. Though obsession with extraterrestrials has been present for centuries, the popularity soared during the Golden Age of Science Fiction (1930s-1940s), in which the word “extraterrestrial” was first published. This fanaticism continues even today, as countless UFO flying saucer sightings, tingling sensations, and personal anecdotes of individuals “being taken to ships and probed” constantly dot the social media landscape. Many individuals, including those within the sci-fi community, would argue that this obsession is harmless and innocent; the idea of aliens is simply a fun story to tell young children and a hobby or a pastime for imaginative adults. However, with the advent of the concept of extraterrestrials came the inevitable attempt to communicate with them, and this is where the problem lies. Since the invention of modern space technology, humans have sent messages into space in the hopes of reaching other life forms, including the Arecibo Message, a project designed to commemorate an Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico. Just last year, private contractors from active SETI, an organization whose purpose is to make contact with extraterrestrial life, leased the Jamesburg Earth Station and has since been sending a constant stream of messages to a red dwarf star. These attempts at contacting extraterrestrial life need to stop. Aside from the chance that these messages are pointless, as there is no evidence that aliens exist in the first place, the risks and dangers that could come from direct contact with extraterrestrials would far outweigh any benefit that could come out of our encounter.

Imagine that the messages sent from the Jamesburg Earth Station do, against all odds, reach extraterrestrials. Furthermore, imagine that not only do these aliens receive the message, but also are able to trace it back to our home planet. Why do we assume that they would come and visit us? From the mind of the astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson: “I wonder if, in fact, we have been observed by aliens and upon close examination of human conduct and human behavior they have concluded that there is no sign of intelligent life on Earth.” Let us first consider our own planet from a biological viewpoint. While it is clear to see that human beings are the most intelligent species on Earth, the runner-up species are the chimpanzees. Note that 99.99% of our genetic material is completely identical; it is within that .01% difference that creates the difference in intelligence between us and the chimps. Now imagine an alien species with the technology to retrieve our blindly-fired messages and with the technology to visit our planet. How much more intelligent they would be! Even if their genetic material was only .01% different from ours, their intelligence compared to ours would be that of our intelligence compared to chimps, and thus they would hardly recognize us as intelligent life forms. They would consider Dr. Stephen Hawking to be a babbling baboon, and would regard his work as something that their toddlers could do at school. Now, with this notion in mind, if these aliens

were truly that much more intelligent than us, they would also give very little attention to our well-being. When you step on an ant on the road, you do not wonder to yourself, “I wonder what he is thinking, how his life is.” These aliens would act in a similar manner, hardly caring for the species on Earth in the event that our planet comes into crossroads with their goals. Thus, instead of attempting to contact aliens, we should be praying that any extraterrestrials in the universe ignore us in their astronomical endeavors.

There is simply no guarantee that aliens would come and visit us even if they knew that we were here. Look at the current state that our planet is in, at the devastation that humans have caused it. The earth is slowly dying, as we rob it of its resources, pave destruction across nature, and ultimately cause devastating global phenomenon, including global warming. Why would they even come here? If they were technologically advanced to the point that they could travel to us, why would they make the trek? Perhaps their own home planet was ravaged by natural disasters, and they have to find a new planet to relocate to, but they would never choose Earth in its current condition. Perhaps they might even eliminate us in order to protect other civilizations on other planet systems! From afar, extraterrestrial beings might view changes in Earth's atmosphere as evidence that we are “pests” growing out of control and must be exterminated; they just might take drastic action to keep us from becoming a more serious threat. Imagine a species so advanced that it has taken upon itself to be an intergalactic police task force, with the goal of preserving all life forms and civilizations for the greater good. Should they come into contact with us humans, an animal race seemingly bent on the self-destruction, would they even hesitate to quarantine us? Ultimately, we should not be trying to reach extraterrestrials, for these extraterrestrials may be wary of civilizations that expand very rapidly and without caution, just as humans have pushed species to extinction on Earth.

Finally, we arrive at the worst case scenario: colonization. Many fanatics entertain the idea that, were aliens to land on earth soil tomorrow, we would have no trouble communicating with them. Not only is this thought naïve but also surprisingly dangerous, because the closer that an extraterrestrial species comes to our intelligence level so that we can effectively communicate, the higher the probability that they will use us for their purposes. We have already established that these extraterrestrials will indeed be more intelligent than us; the question now is, by how much? If they are only slightly more intelligent than we are, this bodes very ill for the human race, for it will most likely result in a situation that Dr. Stephen Hawking warns about: "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." While most aliens were in all probability simple organisms, Dr. Hawking said that it would only take a few intelligent ones to spell disaster for humans. Dr. Tyson reiterates Hawking’s point by stating that there are many reasons why aliens might want to make contact with a new planet, however underdeveloped, including economic goals (natural resources) or even political goals (perhaps we occupy a strategic location in this region of space). Perhaps they would want a new client-state for their growing resource-dependent empire, and could use 6 billion workers to run it. Also, consider the diseases and

catastrophes that would ensue from our encounters; we could be wiped out by pandemics, just as the Native Americans died from smallpox brought by the Europeans. Thus, it would be our best option to avoid any alien encounters, especially since an encounter might result in the subjugation and enslavement of the entire human race.

Every situation in which we meet extraterrestrial life forms would end terribly for us, short of encountering a super advanced species that was dedicated to promoting peace and offering their knowledge of medicine and science to us. Whether we are stepped on as just a minor casualty of their end goals, quarantined because of our threat to the universe, or colonized and wiped out from diseases that came from their contact, meeting extraterrestrials becomes a serious threat to our very own existence, let alone well-being. It is very narrow-minded to think that we would make contact with cooperative organisms that would help us advance our knowledge and solve global problems such as hunger and poverty, or that we would triumph over a more powerful alien aggressor and be able to reverse-engineer alien technology. The more probable endings are much bleaker for our species. Only in the future, after we have developed the technology to travel through space to distant worlds and begin our own colonization endeavors, can we begin to attempt to make contact with alien terrestrials, for at least the tables would be balanced, and we would have a fighting chance, should communications turn sour. Ultimately, until that time comes, or even if we never make contact with extraterrestrials, considering these disastrous potential scenarios may help us plot the future path of human civilization, avoid collapse, and achieve long-term survival of the human race.