Sunday's 'Comment of the Day': Michio Kaku on the Threat of Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life

 

             

'I don't believe for a second that highly sophisticated technological advancement (like interstellar travel) will make us less predators towards others.'

"Yes, technological progress per se does not change our primitive instincts of aggressiveness, anger and domination. But evolution is also at the level of intelligence, which is crucial for survival. Intelligence, as it evolves, discovers futility of certain primitive behavior and that is how slavery, racism and territorial expansionism do not have the same respectability as in the past. Civilizations progress means enhancement of the ability to subdue or outgrow from the primitive urges. 

"When humans travel beyond this tiny planet, the vastness and enormity of the universe would make them humble and realize how insignificant and mean they are with their primitiveness. In sum, the technological progress over thousands of years (if we survive) will also entail growth of intelligence and positive aspects of our humanness."

Rajnish Roy 

Read Original Post

Comments

[Michael]

I agree especially if we find something valuable, there's no telling what kind of conqueror stance we'll take to get what we want, look what greed has done to our society today.

[Olga Altstatt]

DOMINATION, AGRESSIVENESS, ANGER! IT SEEMS THAT THERE IS NO END OF ALL THAT? SO, THERE IS NO HOPE TO BE FRIENDLY WITH OTHER BEINGS? HOW EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE? HUMANS WITH AGRESSIVENESS AND ANGER MUST DOMINATE EVERYWHERE?
TALKING ABOUT COOPERATION!

[Farticustheelder]

There is nothing out there of sufficient value to warrant aggressive action to acquire. The universe is overflowing with free stuff that no one has yet laid claim to. Long before we can achieve practical space flight we will have full blown nanotechnology which will have the capacity to satisfy all material needs. The only scarcity will be of the plans for making new and interesting things, and that scarcity will be short lived. If you look up meatloaf recipes on the web google reports 5,410,000 entries which is so large a number that you couldn't sample them all if you devoted your entire life to just that. Even though we don't need anymore meatloaf recipes more are coming just the same. Knowledge is the only item of value that different species can have, it is infinitely sharable and inexhaustible. The need for violence now arises out of science fiction's need for action to drive the plot. The galaxy will turn out to be a very peaceful place.

[Jerry]

i would hope that we eventually evolve beyond our primitive aggressive survival skills, but we could also go the other way, with evolution making the survival mode worse.

[Frederick Martello]

This is all the more reason to sign the Ceteacan Bill of rights. Both whales and dolphins possess highly sophisticated brains, with self awareness , empathy, "not to mention Sonar!" and that doesn't stop Norway or Japan from murdering them.
Let's see what we discover under the ice on several moons in our solar system.

[mark phelps]

What galaxy is pictured above.?

[Frank Glover]

"The need for violence now arises out of science fiction's need for action to drive the plot. The galaxy will turn out to be a very peaceful place."

First, *all* fiction, whether SF or not, depends on characters with a problem or conflict of some kind, that they attempt to resolve. All of it. No one would read any fiction that didn't have it.

Second, not all wars or conflict is over material resources. Some of it is purely over differences in politics, religion philosophy...or conceivably the alien equivalent of those concepts. That can happen even in an advanced, material resource rich 'post-scarcity' world.

[Casey Kazan, Editor]

That's spiral galaxy NGC 4631...

[Mark]

Thanks very much for the info on the galaxy snap!

[Sad King Billy]

We have met the aliens and they are us.