Researchers working on the SETI program - the search for extraterrestrial civilizations - dream of one thing: to receive a confident signal from distant aliens who are trying to contact us. But imagine that one day this signal arrives and will be thoroughly tested and proven, and its strength will be equivalent to the WOW signal once received by the Ohio radio telescope in 1977.
We together congratulate each other, pat scientists, they will receive their prizes. And here another question arises. What to do next? Should scientists send a signal in response, they say, we got your message, let's talk, hello? Or is it worth listening to Stephen Hawking, who warned in 2010 that we should avoid contact with aliens so as not to encounter them in a bloody (or whatever they spill) battle?
Scientists have been discussing this issue for a long time. Back in 1960, a special document was prepared at the Brookings Institution in Washington, which examined the potential risks of contact with extraterrestrial civilization.
The consequences in any case will be unpredictable, but they will depend primarily on how we, earthlings, who cannot find a common language even within our human society, will turn to aliens. Even if the whole planet gathers to talk with aliens, the fact is obvious: in the Universe only a society superior in strength and development dominates. The rest survive and change. And the better we can understand the factors that influence such situations, the better we will be prepared.
Brookings said the US government is carefully considering a potential public reaction to such a discovery - it can range from a sense of solidarity among people to disorientation, paralyzing anxiety and panic fear of aliens, as in the 1950s films “War of the Worlds” and “The Day When The earth has stopped. ” Brookings offered to study how terrestrial civilizations of the past reacted to alarming discoveries before clearly defining whether to make the news public or to keep the discovery secret, which, in my opinion, would be an absolute disgrace.
That is exactly what scientists thought decades later, when they came to the conclusion that the discovery of an extraterrestrial civilization would be too important an event to keep it secret. Therefore, they began to try to coordinate the international response. In 1989, SETI researchers approved a protocol for contact with an extraterrestrial civilization , which was supplemented in 2010. Here are his most important principles :
1. Anyone who detects a signal must make sure that the most likely explanation for its source is extraterrestrial intelligence, not natural or human noise, before proceeding to the second step.
2. Before disclosing the result, the discoverer should secretly warn other SETI researchers so that they can confirm the presence of the signal and join efforts to observe it.
3. The discoverer must notify the International Astronomical Community and the UN General Secretariat.
4. Do not answer the signal before consulting with international departments.
In 1993, scientists from the United States and the then Soviet Union gathered at the SETI conference, and NASA spokesman John Billingham introduced this document, calling it “SETI Post-Discovery Protocol: What do you need to do after a signal is detected?” Billingham noted that the complexity of the answer lies in the fact that aliens have been aware of our existence for some time, which means that they had more time to observe and study what they have to deal with. He suggested that scientists and governments from all over the world need to come to a single agreement on the protocol of contact. Anyone who will communicate with aliens should appeal on behalf of the entire civilization, and this appeal should be predefined by the protocol. The actual message should contain the following information: Intelligent life is present on Earth, we have received the signal and understood it. There should also be information about which living organisms, including humans, live on Earth, and the sender should encourage aliens to send additional messages to establish dialogue.
In 2010, the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs began work on an international agreement on a contact protocol. The head of the department, Malaysian astrophysicist Mazlan Othman, told colleagues that extraterrestrial life in the Universe is most likely present due to how many planets we have discovered outside the solar system and how much more we have to find.
“When we make contact, we need to get together and give one answer that will take into account all the feelings, emotions, experiences associated with the discovery. It is the UN that is the prepared mechanism for such coordination. ”
But despite the existence of a single protocol, scholars and political leaders still face a dilemma that people have not had to deal with since the clash between Europeans and Native Americans in the late 15th century. We are haunted by the realization of how devastating the consequences of a meeting of two fundamentally different cultures can be, especially when one is less technical savvy. In a 2011 document entitled “Fear, pandemonium, composure and triumph: the response of people of an extraterrestrial civilization,” psychologist Albert Harrison noted that we have already recreated the archetypes of strangers, and our public reaction to their appearance is almost ready. If they are “wise, kind and friendly” creatures, humanity will survive the new Golden Age, everything will be fine. The “catastrophic model” implies that strangers will be “threatening, imperialistic, using force, bluff and pressure”, intend to use our world or long for to destroy it. There is a third option: aliens will be a post-biological species, combining organics and technology, practically achieving immortality.
In my opinion, this scenario will be the most unexpected, since earthlings will have to reconsider the established concepts of life and death and abandon the religious beliefs that we have been following for centuries.
However, in the event of a favorable outcome, there will be much to learn from aliens.
The article is based on materials .
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