A Few Thoughts on Extraterrestrial Intelligence

The issue of Extraterrestrial Intelligence is one that interests me greatly and is one of my favorite topics to talk about with anyone of similar predilections. The idea that somewhere out there on a distant world could be alien species either more primitive or advanced than us, is one I find incredibly intriguing.

Just imagine if a 10th-century C.E. human were somehow brought back to life in our present century, and still retained all the knowledge they had before their death. This 10th-century human awakens to a world remarkably different from what they left behind. People can communicate with someone thousands of miles away with a device no larger than their palm. People move around in boxes, not horses, and at incredible speeds. People are also capable of entering even bigger boxes capable of flight, some of these boxes even capable of traveling faster than the speed of sound. Even more impressive, people are capable of leaving Earth and landing on the moon. This doesn't include the ability to transplant organs.

This 10th-century human, seeing all this, would be full of awe and would get on their knees to worship us. We would be like deities in their eyes capable of feats once deemed impossible.

Now, Imagine an advanced alien civilization with technologies that dwarf ours with a gulf greater than ours and the 10th-century C.E. Earth.

Would we worship them? Would we regard them as gods?

Any sufficiently advanced civilization is indistinguishable from magic.

Also, science fiction across diverse media platforms frequently portrays aliens with anthropomorphic features—such as eyes, noses, and limbs—ranging from grotesque distortions to near-human appearances.

However, if aliens do exist, they likely wouldn't look anything like we imagine. This is because they evolved on worlds different from ours with different environmental factors shaping their evolution. Just consider our planet, Earth, for example. Different species with different physical and biological characteristics exist depending on the demands of their ecological niches. Some organisms thrive in the deepest parts of the ocean, where the pressure is immense and sunlight never reaches. These organisms have evolved ways to go about their businesses. The things that are important for the survival of terrestrial beings like us are of no importance to them. What use are our type of appendages, for instance, to them?

Another example is bats. They are capable of navigating in complete darkness using echolocation—bouncing sound waves off objects and interpreting the returning echoes. This phenomenon allows them to detect obstacles, locate prey, and even distinguish their own echoes from those of other bats. What use are such advanced use of echoes to us when we conduct our businesses primarily using light?

Point being, environmental conditions are different everywhere and an alien that evolved on a different world would have experienced a whole different set of events that would shape their biology and make them different from we Earthlings.

Also, while many people are fascinated by the possibility of aliens and wish to make contact with them, there's a possibility that our encounter with aliens wouldn't be without conflict. History has shown how technologically advanced humans seek to exploit those less advanced than them. The European colonizers and their exploitation of Africans and Native Americans, for examples. Maybe this could be the case with advanced beings and us?

I end this with a quote -

"Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying."

- Arthur C. Clarke